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Posted in: Netflix, Stranger Things, TV | Tagged: Happy Sad Confused, Joyce Byers, netflix, shawn levy, stranger things, winona ryder
Stranger Things: Shawn Levy Had to Pitch Winona Ryder on Netflix, Too
Stranger Things Director/EP Shawn Levy on Winona Ryder wanting to know what Netflix/streaming was all about during his series pitch.
Article Summary
- Stranger Things EP/Director Shawn Levy recalls series star Winona Ryder originally asking about what Netflix/streaming does when he first pitched her on the series.
- Levy labels the show's final season as "epic in cinematic scope" yet still strongly rooted in the characters & themes that made the series so special.
- Winona Ryder was crucial in recreating the '80s vibe along with cast members Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, and Sean Astin.
- Don't forget that today is Stranger Things Day - so stay tuned for more cool stuff dropping throughout the day.
It's hard to picture it in 2023, but there was a time in streaming's earlier days when it hadn't reached certain corners of Hollywood, like in the case of Stranger Things star Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers, the mother of Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Will (Noah Schnapp). Executive producer Shawn Levy reflected on the time he pitched the supernatural series to the two-time Oscar nominee on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, talking about the Netflix series and what we could tease about the fifth and final season once the SAG-AFTRA strike gets resolved.
"[Winona] opened by asking, 'What is Netflix? What is streaming? Is it like TV but different?'" Levy recalled. "That was the starting point… Yeah, Winona took a little onboarding to explain this emerging form of storytelling called Netflix and streaming." He called the final season "epic in its cinematic scope, but it's very much 'Stranger Things.' I have to credit the Duffer Brothers. You read the outlines sometimes, and it's massive, but then you read the scripts, and you remember again and again that their instinct for anchoring the epic in the intimate and for anchoring the darkness of genre in the warmth of these characters, it's so innate to them. Season 5 gets bigger in scale but doesn't forget who or what it is."
Ryder wasn't alone when it came to bringing a credible '80s presence on the screen as the Duffers brought in casting Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, and Sean Astin. Season four was a dramatic shift for Ryder's Joyce recruiting Brett Gelman's Murray Bauman to help rescue David Harbour's Sheriff Jim Hopper, who was originally thought lost at the end of season three in a secret Russian facility. It was revealed he was kidnapped and helped at a Russian prison where the warden regularly tested the inmates against the forces of the Upside-Down. He was eventually freed with help from the two and fellow prisoner Dmitri Antonov (Tom Wlaschiha). For more, including an update on Deadpool 3, you can check out the interview below.
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