Stranger Things Star Gaten Matarazzo Despised Filming Season 4’s Scenes Following Eddie Munson Death

Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson in the show, recently revealed how difficult it was to film Eddie’s death, as he was unable to deliver the right performance at the time. The actor has been a fan favorite throughout the first four seasons of the Netflix series, playing a typical nerdy boy whose curiosity led him to become Hawkins’ savior many times.

In Stranger Things season 4, Dustin builds an unbreakable bond with Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), the leader of Hawkins High School’s D&D club, who, unfortunately, becomes a victim of alleged murders over the season. Eddie eventually sacrifices himself to save his friends from the creatures of the alternate dimension during the season finale, which was a depressing moment for many viewers of the series.

Stranger Things

Release Date

July 15, 2016

Cast

Finn Wolfhard , Joe Keery , Jamie Campbell Bower , Brett Gelman , Caleb McLaughlin , Maya Hawke , David Harbour , Matthew Modine , Priah Ferguson , Gaten Matarazzo , Winona Ryder , Charlie Heaton , Sadie Sink , Millie Bobby Brown , Joseph Quinn , Dacre Montgomery , Natalia Dyer , Noah Schnapp

Seasons

4

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During a FanExpo Dallas event, co-stars Gaten Matarazzo, Joseph Quinn, and Caleb MacLaughlin reflected on some pivotal sequences from season 4, with Matarazzo particularly emphasizing how he struggled to match Quinn’s performance and deliver an emotional reaction to Eddie’s death. He stated (reported by ScreenRant):

I think that’s kind of the main goal of that character initially was to have that arc and have that – it’s such a cool outlet for the plot to take off for that Scooby-Doo gang, the Hawkins gang, to have a really cool tunnel through everything that was going on. I think it was such a unique way to go about them figuring out about Vecna and Henry in general… So cool. Joe’s an incredible actor.

We filmed that twice because I absolutely despised the first time we filmed that. He was so good and I just wasn’t centering. It was outside at 5:00 AM, we’d already done a whole day of filming, and we were just drained and I just didn’t, just wasn’t there.

I didn’t feel right. And then we did the scene with his uncle in the gym at the school and then that went through and that felt a lot better. And then Matt and Ross [Duffer] were like, great, we want to find that and put that in the scene with Joe. And Joe was kind enough to go back to that space and do it on a sound stage. And I think that’s very much needed, not just for Eddie and the end of him, but also everything that’s going to come up for Dustin going forward. That’s obviously something that isn’t let go easily. Yeah.

Dustin Will Play a Crucial Role in Stranger Things Season 5

Even though Dustin and Steve had formed a remarkable camaraderie over the seasons, Eddie’s quick friendship with Dustin quickly evolved into a favorite among viewers. As a result, Eddie’s death is bound to have a greater impact on him than on anybody else, especially given not many people cared about the former’s well-being. This might result in one of the two outcomes: Vecna targeting the vulnerable Dustin or the latter ensuring that Eddie’s sacrifice does not go to waste.

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At this point, every member of Hawkins’ crew has been through their fair share of trauma, and Vecna is prone to target them in order to defeat Eleven. However, Dustin’s vulnerability makes him an easy target for the antagonist. On the other hand, Dustin is likely to pull off a miracle that would render Vecna vulnerable, so as to seek vengeance for Eddie’s death. Either way, the fifth season of Stranger Things is going to be one wild ride.