‘Stranger Things’ Star Winona Ryder On Keeping It Creepy And Nostalgic

Now that Stranger Things has premiered on its home platform of Netflix, audiences can finally binge watch the much anticipated first season and learn for themselves whether or not the hype surrounding Stranger Things is deserved.

Hoping to bring it home, actress and series star Winona Ryder provides insight into the series from the point of view of her own character, distraught mother Joyce Byers, in an NME interview.

Ryder isn’t the only one hoping to draw out viewers with last minute interviews. Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy also opens up about the series, including where the show will take fans in season 2.

Stranger Things Star Winona Ryder Sets The Stage For An Unsettling Look Back At The 80s

Taking us back to the 1983 version of Hawkins, Indiana, Stranger Things opens up with a group of young boys and their normal (for the 80s) social anxieties, but the writing team up of Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer quickly delivers us from normal to paranormal. Things take a disturbing turn in Stranger Things, when one of those boys, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), is snatched up on his way home from an intense Dungeons & Dragons match. While Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and her oldest son (played by Charlie Heaton) launch a search for the missing boy, another child, known only as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), or L for short, enters the picture with agents of a clandestine branch of the U.S. Department of Energy hot on her trail.

Winona Ryder paints a bleak, if not complete, picture of her character as a single mother who, at the beginning of the first Stranger Things episode, is noticeably absent from home, but, just as viewers might begin to suspect that Joyce Byers is neglectful, we soon learn the opposite is true. Joyce expects the help of her eldest son in looking after the younger Will and in keeping the household running, but a miscommunication results in Will coming home to an empty house.

Ryder admits she comes to Stranger Things without ever having had children of her own, but Winona quickly adds that she’s not without any experience.

“But I have done a lot of work with The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children,” says Stranger Things‘ Ryder. “There’s been stuff in my life that’s happened. I had to tap into a lot of really frightening stuff. It was incredibly emotional for me.”

Stranger Things is set in a small town and, while we all think of big cities as being more prone to attracting danger, the series quickly delivers on its promise to make a case for the perils a smaller community can pose. For example, it isn’t long before everyone knows of the disappearance of Will Byers, but, as Winona points out, that can be as much of a hindrance as a help. While Chief Hopper (David Harbour) amasses volunteers to help in the search for Will, there are others who suspect Ryder’s character isn’t entirely in touch with reality.

“Joyce’s heart is shattered and she’s in a totally different place so she can’t really be logical. Everyone thinks she’s out of her mind but she’s actually kind of onto something,” says Ms. Ryder.

Winona adds that Stranger Things delivers on many different levels from the science fiction aspect to more traditional forms of drama. It’s all about the humanity of the characters in these situations, suggests the Stranger Things actress.

“It has a nostalgia. It has these great kids who are really fun to watch and are really unique and very funny, so it’s got humour,” says Winona. “It’s got government conspiracy and then it’s got some supernatural stuff and it’s also got a human thread throughout; friendship and family and community.”

Stranger Things Producer Shawn Levy Reveals What’s To Come In Season 2

Looking forward to season 2 of Stranger Things, producer Shawn Levy tells Coming Soon that the bigger overall mystery will continue, even though many questions will be answered by the season 1 finale. Levy also reveals that new mysteries will begin to unfold in season 2 of Stranger Things, suggesting that the suspense may only deepen as the tale unfolds further.

“So Season 2 continues in Hawkins with this group of characters. We introduce a few awesome new ones,” reveals the Stranger Things producer.

Levy admits he’s getting ahead of himself, but he says everyone on the Stranger Things production team feels very hopeful that Netflix will pick up the series for another season.

“I should say, we have not gotten the official pickup. We are spending a lot of time thinking about our next season and we’re very hopeful that we just keep telling this story.”

Stranger Things is currently streaming season 1 on Netflix.

[Image by Netflix]