(you’ve got the option to read EWsseason 1 recap here.
)First up, an inside look at the premiere…
If youve watched the first episode of our show (and we assume you have if youre reading this!
Credit: Netflix
), its probably clear to you that we love the films of the 70s and 80s.
The feeling was powerful and inspiring.
There was nothing better.
We wanted to capture that feeling again withStranger Things.
We knew this would be impossible without the right ensemble of actors.
A cringeworthy child performance will kill a movie or show like almost nothing else.
By the time they arrived in Atlanta, they were already a close-knit group.
We held our breath, called action, and… it clicked.
Other than when we sold the show to Netflix, this was the single biggest moment forStranger Things.
We slept pretty well that night.
Equally important, we needed an adult star to anchor the show.
Winona Ryder was Carmens first idea for Joyce, and we fell in love with it right away.
We grew up in the early 90s, so we were very well acquainted with Winonas films.
We loved the idea of seeing Winona back on screen in a leading role.
So we sent her the script and crossed our fingers and…
She liiiked it.
That was the email we got from Carmen.
We may have danced a little bit in our apartments.
If this was going to work, we all knew that we had to see eye to eye.
Luckily, we had a lot in common.
Winona is a film nerd herself with an even deeper knowledge of film history than us.
Shes like a walking, talking IMDb!
Its impossible now to imagine the show without her.
It just gets crazier, bigger, weirder, and scarier from here.
Thanks for watching and reading!
The man is a genius, and we hope we captured a little bit of his magic.
The Duffer Brothers onChapter Two here.
