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‘Stranger Things’ cast opens up about aging while playing young teens

Gaten Matarazzo and Noah Schnapp told TODAY's Al Roker that they had different experiences with aging on the show.

On Wednesday, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson visited TODAY to talk about the fourth season of "Stranger Things."

While they were filming Season Four in 2020, the show halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic and during that break, the cast went through some physical changes.

Al Roker noted that everyone looked "a little older" and Matarazzo, 19, and Schnapp, 17, couldn't deny that they've had to deal with their changing looks on-screen.

Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson visited TODAY to talk about "Stranger Things" Season Four with Al Roker.
Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson visited TODAY to talk about "Stranger Things" Season Four with Al Roker.Nathan Congleton / TODAY

"I think it's something that we're always thinking about and concerned about," Matarazzo said. "But it's something that we work with pretty well."

"Stranger Things" focuses on a group of young teens who deal with supernatural occurrences in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. The cast was close in age to their characters when the show started, but more time has passed in the real world than in "Stranger Things'" story.

Schnapp said that from as early as Season Two, he had to change the way he spoke on-screen.

“I remember in Season Two they told me, like, you need to lower the pitch of your voice, you have to speak at a different level and stand shorter and walk like — I was like, I can’t do that. I’m not like that anymore,” he said.

Things have been easier for Matarazzo, who was 13 when the show began.

"I've been the same height since I was 14, so it's been great for me," he laughed.

However, Matarazzo noted that it made sense for them to try and act younger because their characters are supposed to be "at transitional periods in their lives." But when he thinks about how much they've grown over the years, Matarazzo said, "it's crazy" to see how different they are now.

"Especially Priah (Ferguson)," Sink, 20, added.

Like Sink, Ferguson, 15, joined the show in Season Two. She said that it's been a "blessing" to have a recurring role on "Stranger Things" because it wasn't supposed to be that way.

"Erica was supposed to be a one-time role in Season Two just to introduce Lucas' family. But the directors thought it was good to write me in more, so that was a blessing," she said.

Noah Schnapp of "Stranger Things" as he's aged.
Noah Schnapp of "Stranger Things" as he's aged. TODAY

As for how their characters will change in Season Five, which will be the final season of "Stranger Things," Schnapp said that the audience will have to wait to see what his character, Will Byers, does with his hair.

Ever since Season One, Will has been rocking an '80s-esque bowl cut hairstyle.

"It's become kind of different every season. From Season Three, it was this huge wig and in Season Four, it was these little extensions, but I think it's Will's classic. It's who he is, but maybe next season we'll have a new haircut in store," Schnapp said.

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