Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard has recently talked about feeling the pressure of wrapping up one of the most popular shows of the last decade. Ahead of the release of its fifth and final season next month, the Netflix show is hoping to avoid the fan backlash that iconic shows like Game of Thrones and Lost received for their final episodes.
"I think everyone was pretty worried, honestly," Wolfhard told Time magazine. "The way that Game of Thrones got torn to shreds in that final season, we're all walking into this going, 'We hope to not have that kind of thing happen.' But then we read the scripts. We knew that it was something special."
Back in 2019, fans were certainly not happy about how Game of Thrones ended, and that negative reaction has tarnished the legacy of the show, despite being considered one of the best TV series of all time. The Stranger Things team is now feeling the pressure too, with the Duffer brothers studying legendary TV finales like Six Feet Under and The Sopranos.
As Wolfhard notes, working in a high-pressure environment is hardly a new situation for them. During the filming of season 4, the actor revealed he "started hyperventilating" due to the high fan expectations, on top of the strict COVID restrictions.
"It was kind of like a fishbowl because a lot of the extras are fans. It culminated in sort of a panic attack," he explained, admitting that handling the fandom has been at times "subconsciously terrifying".
"It's just a symptom of what filmmaking can be, which is chaotic. As a child actor, you're trying to make things easy for people. You don’t know how to speak up for yourself. You don’t know how to ask for a break… It was incredible and subconsciously terrifying to be 13 and all of a sudden everyone knows who you are," he said.
Volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 lands on November 26, with Volume 2 arriving on December 25 and Volume 3 releasing on December 31. For more, check out our picks of the best Netflix shows for some viewing inspiration.
