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Stranger Things 5: Why Linda Hamilton Considered Retiring Before Role

Stranger Things 5 star Linda Hamilton on filming the final season and why she considered retiring before being cast in the Netflix series.

With production underway on Ross Duffer & Matt Duffer's Stranger Things 5, we're getting a chance to hear from one of the newest additions to the cast – Linda Hamilton, star of the "Terminator" franchise, SYFY's Resident Alien, and much more. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Hamilton offered some insights into how production on the fifth & final season to going – revealing that the Volume (made famous by Lucasfilm's "Star Wars" streaming series such as The Mandalorian). "I'm like, 'What the hell? Where am I?' It's like, okay, we'll do a scene and then [you hear], 'ball and chart,' and it's some special effects magic that they come in and do at the end of every shot, Hamilton explained.

In addition, Hamilton shared how she feels "over my head trying to read the schedule for 'Stranger Things'" – adding that she has "never actually looked at a schedule before and said, 'I have no idea what this means. What is 501 point B part two?' They've sent me schedules and I still don't understand them. I need a whole person to explain the new world to me." But as much as the day-to-day production life may have changed, her role in Stranger Things 5 is one  "I'd come out of retirement to do." And retirement was something Hamilton was considering before her agent got the call – accepting the offer before Hamilton knew about it.

"I literally felt like I was an actress getting my first meaningful part [with 'Stranger Things']. It's funny how it recycles. It's not that I felt forgotten, but I was actually talking about retirement, not because there isn't enough to do, but just I'm tired of being tough," Hamilton shared. "My hip was hurting for a couple of years, and I was like, "I'm just so tired of being tough, and I just want to be able to make plans and make sure I can be there," because actors never, ever can be there when they say they're going to be there. So I had complained to my agent. I was getting ready to do season three of Resident Alien. I was like, 'Dude, I don't even know if I'm going to get there. I hurt [Laughs]. And he's like, 'Oh, you don't mean that.' When I said retirement, cut to two weeks or so later, 'Stranger Things' called him and said, 'Is Linda Hamilton available from June to June?' And he went, 'Yes.' He didn't even ask me.

Stranger Things 5 "Like Season One on Steroids"

During an interview with The Guardian, Ross & Matt discuss the pressures of ending the series in a way that works creatively and satisfies the audience's expectations and how this final run with these characters will feel "like season one on steroids."

"The nine hours that precede the ending can be amazing. But if you stumble at that one-yard line, people will never forgive you for that. And they'll forget the previous nine hours of awesomeness! So it's amazing what they will forgive if you score a touchdown at the end," Matt Duffer explained when discussing their feelings on how series finales are viewed. "Endings of shows are like opening a restaurant in terms of the success-failure rate – there's an 80% failure rate, I'd say. But I think one very particular way to fail is to attempt to appease everybody."

Matt continued, "We have a huge variety of fans that span a huge age range, and I'm sure they have all their own ideas of how they want the show to end. But we're not consulting social media on this. Then you just hope and pray that it resonates. But it was funny: once we got there, it just felt right, and we're going to go for it!"

As the duo had stated previously, the universe will live on after Stranger Things 5 – but the characters that viewers have grown to love & connect with will see their stories end with the fifth season. With that much on the line, the Duffer Brothers aren't going out quietly. "This season – it's like season one on steroids. It's the biggest it's ever been in terms of scale, but it has been really fun, because everyone's back together in Hawkins: the boys and Eleven interacting more in line with how it was in season one. And, yes, there may be spin-offs, but the story of Eleven and Dustin and Lucas and Hopper, their stories are done here. That's it," Matt shared – before adding, "Outside of the play. So if you want to see more of some of them, go see the play."

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