{"id":409848,"date":"2025-11-28T04:22:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T04:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/409848\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T04:22:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T04:22:18","slug":"stranger-things-5-actor-on-demogorgon-attack-meeting-max","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/409848\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Stranger Things 5’ Actor on Demogorgon Attack, Meeting Max"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT:\u00a0<\/strong>This story contains spoilers from Season 5, Volume I of \u201cStranger Things<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNell Fisher<\/a>, who turned 14 earlier this month, takes center stage as Holly Wheeler in the new (and final) season of \u201cStranger Things.\u201d Through its first four seasons, the role of Holly \u2014\u00a0the younger sister of Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), who\u2019ve been central to the show\u2019s story since Season 1 \u2014\u00a0was played by twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, who were 3 years old when \u201cStranger Things\u201d premiered in July 2016. Fisher, meanwhile, was living in New Zealand with her family, going to school and beginning to act, scoring a key role in the 2023 horror reboot \u201cEvil Dead Rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom there, she auditioned to play Holly Wheeler in early 2023, and after getting the role, Fisher moved to Atlanta later that year to begin filming the final season of \u201cStranger Things.\u201d And when the curtain rises on the Season 5 premiere, with its 18-month time jump, Holly plays a key role in the show\u2019s endgame. As Volume 1 unfolds, Vecna reveals that Holly and the kids in her grade are somehow part of his evil plan to do \u2026 whatever it is he\u2019s planning to do! As such, Vecna, appearing to Holly as the friendly, handsome and clean-cut Henry Creel \u2014\u00a0whom she calls Mr. Whatsit, inspired by her favorite book, \u201cA Wrinkle in Time\u201d \u2014 tries to warn Holly about monsters in Hawkins, Indiana, their town that\u2019s under military quarantine. But since he\u2019s the monster, Henry\/Vecna sends a Demogorgon to kidnap Holly to take her to the Upside Down, successfully snatching her from her mom, Karen (Cara Buono), who puts up a valiant, doomed fight against the nearly indestructible monster.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce she\u2019s taken, Holly thinks she\u2019s hanging out with Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower) in the Creel house inside Vecna\u2019s carefully constructed fantasy world, but in fact, her physical body is somewhere else entirely \u2014\u00a0a place where Vecna is controlling her. But it turns out she\u2019s not alone: Max (Sadie Sink), who\u2019s been in a coma since the events of the Season 4 finale (when she even died for a few minutes, becoming Vecna\u2019s fourth victim), is there as well, and reveals herself to Holly at the end of Episode 3. After Holly\u2019s initial shock wears off at the sight of Max, they join forces.<\/p>\n

\n\tFisher now lives in London again (where she was born), and with her parents, Toby and Laura, within earshot, she spoke with Variety over Zoom during a vacation on the Isle of Wight while on a recent school holiday.<\/p>\n

\t\tI noticed from your Instagram that you seem to have lived in both New Zealand and in the U.K. \u2014 for my first question, where are you from?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m not quite sure how to answer this question! My mum is a Brit; my dad is a Kiwi. But my mum used to be a diplomat, and she was an ambassador to New Zealand. I lived in New Zealand for four years, which is where I started my acting. But it was quite a nice coincidence, because that\u2019s where my dad\u2019s from, and that\u2019s where all his family are.<\/p>\n

\t\tNice! How did you start acting?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, it turns out that the way you break into the industry is by going to New Zealand in the middle of a pandemic! New Zealand was COVID-free, so all the Hollywood studios sent work over to New Zealand. So in 2020, I got a role in \u201cEvil Dead Rise.\u201d I had done this micro-budget film before, but never anything like where I was like, \u201cOh yeah, I might want to, like,\u00a0really\u00a0continue doing this.\u201d It all kind of just snowballed from there.<\/p>\n

\n\tI always have loved performing \u2014 like, any form of singing, dancing, acting. Yeah, it\u2019s always been sort of a passion of mine. And my dad was an actor as well. He acted when he was around my age. He\u2019s great; he helps me with all my auditions and stuff.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen we interviewed Matt and Ross Duffer for our cover story<\/a>, Matt said he\u2019d noticed you in the trailer for \u201cEvil Dead Rise\u201d before casting director Carmen Cuba brought you in to audition. What do you remember from getting the audition?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSo first I got a self-tape for it. And I was really excited \u2014 but I hadn\u2019t actually watched \u201cStranger Things\u201d beforehand. I had been lobbying to\u00a0forever.\u00a0But my mum claimed that it would be too scary for me [long pause] \u2014 for\u00a0her.\u00a0I was so excited that I got this audition, and I also saw it as my chance to watch \u201cStranger Things\u201d! But, yeah, I started it and just, like, binged it. I mean, it\u2019s such an incredible TV series.<\/p>\n

\t\tDo you remember when that was?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThat was \u2014 I want to say March 2023. <\/p>\n

\n\t[Toby, Nell\u2019s dad, says something.]<\/p>\n

\n\tFebruary 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd you were 10 or \u2014? Maybe your dad remembers!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI had just turned 11, but we didn\u2019t actually start filming until January 2024. And so the Duffers thought that they were getting a small, cute, little blonde girl. And I think by the time we had started filming, I had shot up like four inches or something.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow did you learn that you got the role?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was in New Zealand, and I was filming \u201cBookworm,\u201d which was a movie I did opposite Elijah Wood, and my dad comes up to me, and he says, \u201cThe Duffers want to call you.\u201d And I\u2019m like,\u00a0OK, keep it together, keep it together. I jump on a Zoom call, and they just say that they wanted to offer me the job, and they were really looking forward to working with me. And they actually mentioned they had seen me in \u201cEvil Dead,\u201d which I thought was really cool. When I say I was speechless, I was\u00a0speechless. I think I sat there with my mouth open for like a minute, and when I did speak, I was like, [long pause] \u201cThank you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat had been your audition scene?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe scene with Mike in the school corridor, which is actually one of my favorite scenes. I loved filming it with Finn. And my other scene was the scene where I\u2019m talking to the Tiffany cassette tape? Originally in the script, it was a Barbie. I found that scene quite tricky, because I\u2019m rambling and talking out loud.<\/p>\n

\n\tLater in the audition process, I went to New York to do a chemistry read with Sadie, who I have most of my scenes with. I was, like, ridiculously nervous going in. I was, like, shaking. Then I met Sadie, and she put me instantly at ease, and we did the scene after I have just bumped into her in, I don\u2019t even know how to put it \u2014<\/p>\n

\t\tVecna\u2019s mind space, or something?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tVecna\u2019s mind space situation! It was so lovely meeting her. She\u2019s such an incredible human being. And afterwards, she took me and my dad out for a really lovely lunch.<\/p>\n

\t\tMatt and Ross said that because the Price twins \u2014 who\u2019d played Holly Wheeler until you did \u2014\u00a0were young that there was no real sense of who Holly was, she was kind of a blank slate. How did you work with them to create the character of Holly?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the start of the series, she\u2019s very much the baby of the Wheeler family. But she\u2019s also not quite ignorant, like her parents are: She has been on the periphery of the Upside Down. In Season 1, she saw the Demogorgon reaching through the wall, and in Season 3, she noticed the trees moving. This season, she really comes face to face with the Upside Down, and with the danger. She\u2019s finding out who she is.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou posted such a\u00a0nice tribute to Holly<\/a>\u00a0in June \u2014\u00a0have you met the Price twins?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I did actually. We went to a trampoline park together.\u00a0It was so lovely meeting them. I\u2019m really glad to be able to take the role over from them.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n

\t\tMatt and Ross said that before they met you, Holly was more shy. But that you\u2019re so extroverted, and I\u2019m quoting Ross now, they started \u201cinfusing Nell\u2019s personality into Holly.\u201d Did you know that was happening?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI didn\u2019t, actually! This is the first time I\u2019m hearing about that. But that makes sense. I did see a couple script changes, where I did see Holly getting a bit more like out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tHolly\u2019s older siblings, Nancy and Mike, have been fearless throughout the whole series. What parts of Nancy and Mike did you want to use to create your character?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s this really lovely scene in Episode 1 where Mike is talking to Holly, and she\u2019s crying, she\u2019s upset. She has this imaginary friend, and she\u2019s very scared. And Mike talks about how he likes to imagine himself as someone else \u2014 as Mike the Brave \u2014 whenever he gets scared or nervous. Holly really looks up to her big siblings, and she is sort of distant from them \u2014 but I think they are people she really admires.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen did you realize that it was going to be such a huge role?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, in the audition process, I had a Zoom call with Matt and Ross, and they did say that Holly was going to be a big character. But I don\u2019t think I realized quite how big until I read the script. I was like, \u201cThis is\u00a0awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t[Her dad says something that sounds like, \u201cThey [inaudible] tell us she needed to spend a year in the U.S.\u201d Nell laughs.]<\/p>\n

\t\tThey did tell you or didn\u2019t tell you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThey didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo that was a surprise. What was it like joining the set of a show that\u2019s in its fifth and final season? Were you scared?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was definitely really daunting going in, because you\u2019ve got these people who have worked together and known each other and been friends for almost 10 years now. Going in, I was really nervous, especially because Holly is a big character this season. I wasn\u2019t sure how the others might receive me. But everyone was so welcoming, from the very first day. On my second day of filming, I was doing the breakfast scene with the Wheelers and the Byers, and every single one of them came up and said how lovely it was to meet me, and that they were really excited to see what I was doing this season. That just really put me at ease.<\/p>\n

\t\tWho did you end up bonding with the most among the cast?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think everyone, really. I mean, I spent lots of time with Sadie, and I really enjoyed that. I learned a lot from her, and she\u2019s so lovely. I also spent a lot of time with Cara, who plays my mum, in the bathtub in the Demogorgon attack sequence. We really did develop a close mother-daughter relationship.<\/p>\n

\t\tLet\u2019s talk about that scene! What was that like to film?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was my favorite part of the year! I say that, and I was also covered in goo, and dripping wet for most of it. But it was\u00a0so\u00a0much fun. I loved working with Cara. I love doing stunts \u2014 being up in a harness. I think it\u2019s quite crazy. When I watched it, I was like, \u201cThat\u2019s about two minutes \u2014 but we spent, like, two weeks on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCara and I, when we were in the bathtub, we would have this hand signal where we would, like, squeeze each other\u2019s hand three times if we needed to come\u00a0up for air.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tI was going to ask how you filmed that part. Because there\u2019s no way of doing it, I think, without actually being underwater, right?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, it was this bathtub. It was cheated, so it was slightly bigger \u2014 one side was glass. We just went underwater, and we spent three days turning to prunes in the bathtub. We had an unspoken \u2014 but I think still there! \u2014 competition about who could stay under for the longest. And I think it got pretty intense, which probably helped with the acting!<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat was the competition?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe rules weren\u2019t ever made very clear, but we would squeeze each other\u2019s hands if we needed to come up for air and breathe. And as we progressed, the periods of time we stayed under just kept getting longer and longer, and it was clear that you didn\u2019t want to be the person who came up first.<\/p>\n

\t\tSounds dangerous! Working with Jamie Campbell Bower in his Henry form, is it strange to think of how evil Vecna is?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI mean, yes, he\u2019s such a brilliant guy. I went to Atlanta for a week in 2023, in December, when we were doing table reads and costume fittings, and meeting the rest of the cast. I was in the middle of a costume fitting, and there was a knock on the door, and my dad went and got it, and he came back in, and he said, \u201cJamie Campbell Bower wants to meet you, but he\u2019s happy to wait till the end of a fitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJamie was done with his day; he was all ready to go home. But he ended up waiting half an hour, 40 minutes, just so he could meet me and introduce himself.<\/p>\n

\t\tHad you heard of Tiffany or the song \u201cI Think We\u2019re Alone Now\u201d? That was the soundtrack of\u00a0my\u00a0childhood, but I\u2019m an ancient being!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, so I had heard it a couple times! My dad is quite into forcing his \u201980s culture onto us. Which is a good thing most of the time! There\u2019s a scene where I dance around the house, belting it at the top of my lungs. I had to freestyle the dance. I was,\u00a0like,\u00a0so\u00a0nervous for it. But it was so much fun.<\/p>\n

\t\tMax ends up connecting with Holly in Vecna\u2019s fantasy world \u2014\u00a0whatever it\u2019s called, which Holly compares to Camazotz in \u201cA Wrinkle in Time.\u201d Mike has Dungeons and Dragons; Holly seems to have \u201cA Wrinkle in Time.\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause she\u2019s very new to this world, and it\u2019s impossible to wrap your head around, she likens it to her favorite book, which is \u201cA Wrinkle in Time.\u201d And so Henry is \u201cIT\u201d or \u201cI.T\u201d \u2014 there was quite a big discussion while we were filming whether it would be, whether I should say \u201cI.T\u201d or \u201cIT.\u201d And his mind is Camazotz, and Sadie is Meg\u2019s dad.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019d read it before, but I reread it in preparation for the role. I really love it. It\u2019s a great book<\/p>\n

\t\tAre you in regular school?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I\u2019m in normal school, which I really like. I am a bit of a geek. I do really love my school. It was quite hard last year, keeping up with all the schoolwork. 2024 was incredible, but it was also like, tiring \u2014 a year away from my family. This year, I\u2019ve just been going back to school, being a normal kid for a bit. But I\u2019m really excited to see what kind of next year brings.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019re going to get a million roles based on this. But do you know what you\u2019re doing next, if anything?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve got nothing set in stone. But it only really means something to me now, because this is the first time I actually feel like I\u2019m an actor. And I feel like I belong in this world, and I\u2019m no longer just like a sort of lucky kid who stumbled across a film set. And I feel like I\u2019m here to stay now. I\u2019m still really looking forward to just continuing\u00a0to tell more stories.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid you like living in Atlanta, or were you happy to come home? Or both?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI mean, both! I loved living in Atlanta. We rented out a little house in Cabbage Town, which is where most of the other cast were. I developed this strange life and routine. My grandparents are coffee\u00a0fanatics, and we\u2019d walk 15 minutes to go to the best coffee place, and then we\u2019d come back and go off to set. I developed this really lovely little life that \u2014 yeah, I kind of miss it!<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 The Duffer Brothers<\/a> <\/strong>Answer Volume 1 Burning Questions
\u2022 Noah Schnapp<\/a> <\/strong>on Will\u2019s Game-Changing Discovery
\u2022 Linda Hamilton<\/a> <\/strong>on Being Millie Bobby Brown\u2019s \u2018Biggest Fan\u2019
\u2022 Shawn Levy<\/a> <\/strong>on \u2018Sticking the Landing\u2019 for Season 5
\u2022 David Harbour<\/a> <\/strong>on How \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Has Changed Him
\u2022 The Cast of \u2018Stranger Things\u2019<\/a><\/strong> on the Show\u2019s Final Days<\/p>\n