Stranger Things’ executive producer Shawn Levy has revealed there was one aspect of the show Winona Ryder needed to wrap her head around before signing up for the project.
The Oscar nominee has played Joyce Byers in all four seasons of the Netflix sci-fi drama, which has incorporated other-worldly monsters, telekinetic powers and parallel universes into its storylines during its time on the streaming platform.
However, it wasn’t the complex story arcs that Winona didn’t understand when she was first approached about taking part – it was the very idea of Netflix itself.
“She opened by asking, ‘What is Netflix? What is streaming? Is it like TV but different?’” Levy explained during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “That was the starting point.”
He added: “Winona took a little onboarding to explain this emerging form of storytelling called Netflix and streaming.”
Stranger Things’ most recent series debuted last year, and quickly became the second most-watched original in Netflix’s history, behind only the hit drama Squid Game.
A fifth and final run has been confirmed, although its production has been halted due to the ongoing actors’ strike and now-resolved writers’ strikes in Hollywood.
The show’s creators The Duffer Brothers previously said early on in the writers’ strike: “Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike.
“We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then ― over and out.”
