The latest and penultimate season of Stranger Things is now out for people to view, and while some of the characters fans know and love are not doing as much in these episodes, Caleb McLaughlin’s Lucas Sinclair is, and McLaughlin is shedding some light on Lucas’ decisions.
“Lucas wanted to try something different, walk a new path. I don’t think he was avoiding his friends. Some people said he just wanted to be with the jocks, and it was like, ‘no, maybe things could be easier for all of them, maybe people wouldn’t make fun of them, and then he can bring his friends with him to them.’ But then he realized, ‘maybe it’s not as easy as I think.’ It’s not that he didn’t love being around them, he didn’t like being a nerd. I re-watched season one recently and was like, ‘wow. The bullies really made fun of them, and not even for being nerds, but for being themselves, for how they physically looked.’ I mean, there’s only so much you can take, and I felt that Lucas’ only way to kind of cope with it was to try something different.”
The 20-year-old makes the comments about his character shifting away from his friends in Hawkins and trying out life as a basketball player in an article published by The Hollywood Reporter today. The piece discusses his bond with Priah Ferguson, and in it, McLaughlin also says Lucas’s emotions were something he was prepared for as the show has grown over time.
“I’m always prepared to do more or less; I’m going to just go for it. I had crazy moments this season where Lucas dealt with a lot more emotion, but in season one, I had more lines than I had in any other season. In season one, it was a smaller cast and mostly just the kids. So, I had a lot more lines at that time, but this season, I felt like the intensity grew. It really wasn’t about the lines, it was about the feeling of the show now and how to deal with it. So, I was prepared.”
McLaughlin concludes his remarks to the publication by saying it will be sad when Stranger Things ends, but his career is not hurting for other work. His film projects have included Concrete Cowboy, and next year he will appear in the film Shooting Stars.
