Stranger Things is gearing up for production on its long-awaited fifth and final season. Over the past few days, ahead of production beginning in January 2024, numerous casting calls have been issued, giving us some tiny insight into what we can expect.
Casting TaylorMade is behind the new casting calls who have been working on the Stranger Things franchise since the first season. They’re primarily focused on “Background Actors, Performers, and Extras” for the show.
All casting calls are for minor roles, with leading roles being cast behind the scenes and unavailable to the public—more on those below.
The casting company begins its casting calls with the following:
“Casting TaylorMade (Casting™) is soooo excited to announce we are beginning to cast for STRANGER THINGS SEASON 5!!!!!!! (everyone on the Casting™ team is just as excited as you are!!!)”
Three casting calls have been made thus far.
- Numerous adults – fitting and filming in January 2024 – Medical and paramedic experience wanted for several roles but not mandatory for others. There’s also another role listed on this particular call for “featured male for special effects makeup,” further adding, “This role will require some special effects makeup such as blood and/or injuries.”
- Various adult roles with a preference for those with military/tactical training experience.
- High school students and featured male role (aged between 18 and 30) with some required to ride period bicycles and skateboards.
All the fitting for these roles will occur between January 5th and January 12th, with filming from January 16th through January 31st depending on the role.
What can we garner from these casting calls? Well, as we’ve already established by the end of season 4. War is coming to Hawkins and these roles reflect just that. Medical experience suggests casualties and all the military implications are setting up a climactic final season.
When will filming start for Stranger Things Season 5?
Production is expected to get underway for Stranger Things in the first business week of 2024, which is January 8th. The Cosmic Circus was the first to report on its start date.
We initially understood that the production of Stranger Things season 5 would take around a year. Of course, with the strikes that threw all that up in the air. The newest intel suggests that season 5 will be filming until late September 2024. Giving it ample of time for post-production it’s highly unlikely we’ll see the final season on our screens before Summer 2025.
The first major casting announcement came back in the Summer with the news coming out of TUDUM 2023 that Linda Hamilton had joined the cast. We also subsequently reported on some minor roles that were being cast:
“[DEREK] Character is portrayed as 8-10yo, male, any ethnicity, overweight. An outsider with no friends, he is rude to adults — and a bully to those his age.
[APRIL] Character is portrayed as 8-10yo, female, white. Active and inquisitive, she is a happy, friendly kid.”
For more on Stranger Things season 5 – keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.