20. The Creators
Matt and Ross Duffer are the creators of the show and they revealed in an interview that the only reason why they decided to do Stranger Things is because they wanted to see what would happen if a Stephen King book was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg. The Duffer bros also made a cool movie called “Hidden”.
19. The Original Script
As previously noted, Stranger Things was initially called Montauk. The reason behind this is that the Duffer bros wanted the action of the show to take place in Montauk, New York and because they were influenced by Steven Spielberg who filmed the famous “Jaws” in the same area.
18. A Bad Start
While Stranger Things might be one of the world’s most successful shows, there weren’t that many people who saw its potential at first. In fact, the Duffer bros said that they were turned down by fifteen networks before Netflix decided to give them a chance.
17. Dungeons & Dragons
Everyone who loves Dungeons & Dragons will find lots of references to the famous tabletop game in Stranger Things. However, did you know that the font used for the Stranger Things logo is the same one used by Dungeons & Dragons?
16. Finding The Right Cast
The child actors are doing a fantastic job in Stranger Things but finding the right cast was not an easy task. The creators of the show revealed in an interview that they auditioned 906 boys and 307 girls for the children’s roles.
15. The Inspiration
We previously mentioned that the Duffer bros were inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons logo when it comes to the font. However, that’s not all. The creators of the show said that the famous Stranger Things logo is inspired by motion graphics designer Richard Greenberg who designed the titles for Alien, The Goonies and Superman.
14. Outstanding Audition
Sine the Duffer bros had to go through hundreds of audition tapes, they would turn down actors after listening for ten to twenty seconds. The only audition tape that made them stick until the end was that of Gaten Matarazzo who did such an amazing job that the Duffer bros knew they had to put him in the show.
13. Stephen King References
Since Stephen King was a massive influence for the Duffer bros, it should come as no surprise that they included lots of references to him. Take this policeman who is reading Cujo by Stephen King for example.
12. Stand By Me
The Duffer bros didn’t want to reveal the full script and when the actors auditioned for roles, they would have to read scenes from “Stand by Me”. Considering how complex the script for Stranger Things is, we think it’s better that it didn’t get leaked!
11. The Goonies
The Duffer bros advised all the actors for Stranger Things to go home and watch The Goonies before shooting. The reason behind this is to give the actors a better feel for the setting of the show. Not just that, but the writers of the show also had to watch ET, A Night on Elm Street and The Thing.
10. An International Cast
While the child actors are all Americans in the show, this is not the case in real life. Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin are from the US, Finn Wolfhard is from Canada and Millie Bobby Brown is from the UK.
9. The “Aged Feeling”
If you notice that the quality of the show has an “aged feeling” then that is because the Duffer bros decided to use a digital camera instead of the latest technology. The film grain that used in the film stock was from the 1980s!
8. Outcasts
The reason why the Duffer bros did such an amazing job when writing the script for the child actors who are outcasts is that they themselves were outcasts in their high school years. This made it much easier for the Duffer bros to write scenes for Mike and his friends.
7. MK Ultra
A special program called “MK Ultra” is highlighted in Episode 3 of Stranger Things. The interesting thing about this is that the program actually existed and the CIA was trying to use it to control minds. Luckily, the program was shut down in 1973.
6. Stephen King “Discovered” Millie Bobby Brown
A really interesting fact about Mille Bobby Brown is that Stephen King was the one who put her into the spotlight when he tweeted about how much he loves a show that she stars in. The show is called “Intruders”.
5. Convincing Winona Ryder To Play The Role of Joyce
What many Stranger Things fans don’t know is that Winona Ryder was not on board to play the role of Joyce right from the start. The Duffer bros said that they needed a four-and-a-half-hour meeting to convince her.
4. Hitting Puberty
Since they are child actors, the Duffer bros had to deal with puberty issues. For example, Matarazzo’s voice deepened by four octaves during the first season and it got so bad that he couldn’t participate in additional dialogue recording after production was over.
3. The Uniforms
A really interesting fact about the Hawkings Police Department is that the police officers are wearing the same uniforms as those worn by the cast of Jaws and Jaws 2. This is a nod to Steven Spielberg.
2. The Bad Guy
The character that Steve Harrington plays was initially going to be a big douche that no one liked. However, the actor did such an amazing job that everyone fell in love with his charm and charisma.
1. Short DIalogue
How many words do you thing Eleven spoke in the first season of Stranger Things? Millie Bobby Brown says that she only spoke 42 lines in the entire season.