Stranger Things: The actors who were originally wanted for Hopper and Joyce
The show's creators were aiming high for the main adult roles
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Your support makes all the difference.The creators of Stranger Things originally had different actors in mind for the adult roles of Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers.
Before the hit Netflix series was known as Stranger Things (it was pitched as Montauk), the Duffer brothers drew up a TV bible mapping out everything executives could expect from the first season.
While there are lots of interesting things of mention inside – including the fact it was devised as a one-season show and the notes on Will's sexuality – the biggest takeaway is who they thought could play the roles that eventually went to David Harbour and Winona Ryder.
"The limited nature of the project will allow us to target film actors for the adult leads," the overview reads. "For example, Ewan McGregor, Sam Rockwell for Hopper [and] Naomi Watts or Marisa Tomei for Joyce."
This indicates that Harbour and Ryder were targeted because Netflix clearly saw franchise potential in the series, which recently returned for its third season.
The irony of this is that, since Stranger Things's success, all four of those stars have appeared in TV shows. McGregor was in Fargo's third season with Rockwell recently starring in Fosse/Verdon.
Meanwhile, Tomei appeared in an episode of The Handmaid's Tale's second season and Watts is hoping that the Game of Thrones prequel will get a full-season order from HBO.
You can find a compilation of everything we know about season four – from the returning cast to all the fan theories you need to know about – here.
These include a suggestion that "the American" mentioned in the mid-season credits scene might not be who everyone's hoping – but a presumed dead original character.
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