"Whether they're a popular dude or some band nerd, a parent, a teacher, or a Russian scientist, everybody sort of feels like they're kind of an outcast - and I think this show is about bringing people like that together," reminisces Joe Keery on the gargantuan tight-knit community that has grown around Netflix's hit series, 'Stranger Things'.
First debuting in 2016, 'Stranger Things' returns this week with Volume 1 of Season 5 - followed by Volume 2 on Boxing Day and The Finale on New Year’s Day (NZT). "This is a season about fighting to the bone," teases Maya Hawke (who, for this final season, specifically requested that her character Robin wear a Tom Waits shirt with a leather jacket and jeans to mirror a real-life photo of Winona Ryder). "Even when you don't know that you're gonna win."
Coup De Main spoke to Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), and Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler) in anticipation of the release of 'Stranger Things' Season 5...
CDM: I think it's important to start off by addressing the elephant in the room... Maya and Natalia, how did you feel when you found out that Joe had written a song about Charlie, instead of about you?
MAYA HAWKE & NATALIA DYER: <exchange a look>
JOE KEERY: <puts head in hands>
MAYA: Well... <sighs> it's important to bring up.
CHARLIE HEATON: <chuckles> It's not about me, though!
JOE: Why did you bring that up?!
NATALIA: It's funny that you mention that, actually.
CHARLIE: It's not about me, it's about my garden! It has not too much to do with me. <laughs>
MAYA: It's hurtful and it's sad.
NATALIA: He promised us both a song on his next album, so he'll make up for it eventually.
MAYA: Yeah, he did! We've got to have that in writing. And he [Charlie] got another shout-out too.
JOE: And he got the shout-out [in 'Delete Ya']... god.
CHARLIE: <slaps Joe on the back>
MAYA: No, honestly, it makes me so happy because it actually does feel like it's about all of us - because we all got to spend so much time together in Charlie's garden, and it's such a special place to me. So when I listen to it, I feel like it's about me, even though it distinctly isn't.
CHARLIE: Yeah, it's not your name, though.
JOE: Easy, buddy... easy.
MAYA: <testily> Yeah, I know...
CDM: Natalia, both of Nancy's siblings have Dungeons & Dragons mini figurines and character names this season, but once again, you've been excluded.
NATALIA: You're right!
CDM: What name would you give Nancy, alongside Mike the Brave and Holly the Heroic?
NATALIA: Nancy the... oohhh. What are some good 'N'--
MAYA: Nasty? Naughty?
NATALIA: Nasty?! <laughs>
JOE: Natural?
NATALIA: I know it's supposed to start with N because my name starts with an N.
MAYA: Mike the Brave doesn't have the same first letter.
CHARLIE: True.
NATALIA: Okay, well... Nancy the--
CHARLIE: Determined?
NATALIA: Nancy the--
MAYA: Notorious.
NATALIA: Notorious. That's fun. I don't know... I've actually never thought about that, not once have I had to think of this.
CDM: I think Notorious works.
NATALIA: Yeah, I think that's good. That says it all, really.
CDM: Will seeks love advice from Robin this season in a really emotional scene - Maya, is there any romantic wisdom you would personally want to share with Will?
MAYA: Just to be clear, you're asking me, Maya, if I have romantic wisdom I would share with the fictional character, Will? Okay, by golly... well, what a complicated question, so much easier if it was one or the other, like if it was real to real or fictional to fictional, but the real to fictional... I guess I would say, just to be patient. The biggest romantic advice I wish I could have given myself is about patience - giving people time to get to know them, giving relationships time to sort themselves out, and not being in any kind of rush. Romantically, even from a teenager, I was always really in a rush to get stuff done - and you don't have to be in such a rush. Adults will tell you that, you won't believe them, but it's actually a strong point for a variety of reasons that aren't as conservative as sometimes they get cracked up to be, I guess. Patience!
CDM: Joe, you got to wield a chainsaw this season as Steve. Did it inspire any personal yearning to do more interior designing?
JOE: That is a fantastic question.
MAYA: <finger snaps>
JOE: Not only did it inspire that sort of passion, but it really made me want to get into some demolition. I think it was really fun to rip that thing up and cut a big hole in the floor. And I didn't do a lot of it, a lot of that's just movie magic, but give me a sledgehammer, give me a chainsaw... maybe I can help you [Charlie] work on your next yard project.
CHARLIE: Thanks, man.
CDM: Of special significance to Jonathan this season is a John Coltrane cassette tape - so starting with you, Charlie, if you were each to put a cassette tape into a time capsule to remember this chapter of your life together, what album would you choose?
CHARLIE: <sharply exhales> Maybe The Tallest Man On Earth.
NATALIA: <nods> That's a good one.
JOE: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Greatest Hits. I'm reading this book about it, I keep talking about it, blah, blah, blah, but that's what I would choose.
CHARLIE: <says to Joe> You wouldn't pick Wings?
JOE: I'm picking Tom Petty. That's what I'm choosing.
CHARLIE & JOE: <clasp hands>
MAYA: I'm having a moment of mental slowness. It's an album that we're putting into a time capsule to remember this period of time together?
CHARLIE: Like the WHOLE period of time.
MAYA: Okay, got it. I'm being totally corny, and I'm picking 'Abbey Road' [by The Beatles].
JOE: That's great.
NATALIA: I think I'd say The Strokes - 'Is This It'.
JOE: Oh, hey! Nice!
MAYA: <finger snaps>
'Stranger Things' Season 5 will release on Netflix across three premiere dates with Volume 1 on November 27 (four episodes), Volume 2 on Boxing Day (three episodes) and The Finale on New Year’s Day (NZT).
Watch the trailer below...
Joe Keery