Stranger Things' Shawn Levy talks Winona Ryder, monsters and plans for Season 2

The Executive Producer of Netflix's mystery confirms show is 'not an anthology series'
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Ben Travis15 July 2016

There’s no getting around it: it’s been a fairly terrible year so far for summer blockbusters.

Many of this year’s huge tentpole releases are proving big, blustery disappointments – but Netflix has an ace up its sleeve for those yearning for the simpler, more character-driven days of classic Spielberg sci-fi thrillers or the likes of JJ Abrams’ nostalgic adventure Super 8.

Summer might have just been rescued by mystery show Stranger Things. The eight-episode series, debuting in full today, is in thrall to the allure of Eighties pop culture – a science-fiction mystery set in small-town America, where kids ride BMX bikes through sleepy cul-de-sacs and things go bump in the night.

The show focuses on the vanishing of young boy Will Byers – which is just one of many bizarre events unfolding across the town, from electrical disturbances to hints of an experiment gone wrong. In the wake of Will’s sudden departure, his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) and his group of friends attempt to find out what happened to him.

From the heavily stylised neon font of the title sequence (think Nicolas Winding Refn does John Carpenter) to the fast-paced insult-laden dialogue between the kids in its cast, it’s an authentic love letter to a bygone era of filmmaking, and a more innocent generation of youth.

The series was created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, and executive produced by Shawn Levy (Night At The Museum, Real Steel) – we spoke to Levy about the series, how viewers should watch it, how the monsters were made, and whether there will be more strange things to come after Season 1.

How should people watch Stranger Things – do you want people to binge it, or take their time?

I’ll be amazed if people have the fortitude to take their time with Stranger Things. If they can watch an episode every several days, we’ve probably failed.

'The Duffers have a really sincere love of monster movies, John Carpenter, and Stephen King'

&#13; <p>Shawn Levy</p>&#13;

We knew we were making this for Netflix, they were our first choice, they bought it on the first day of pitching. While it’s not necessary to binge it, we made, in our minds, an eight-hour movie. Take some breaks for nutrition and bathroom breaks – but we very much made these episodes so that they could be watched, if not full-on binged, in a concentrated period of time.

In the episode you directed, you get the honour of bringing the monsters to the screen for the first time – how did you go about deciding what to show?

We wanted to keep it fairly fleeting and obscured with the strobing light effect. We tried to maintain that brevity and that mystery until the very last episode – at which point I promise the audience satisfaction.

We ended up using a combination of practical monsters and CGI. I learned very helpfully on Real Steel that blending practical effects with CG creates for a better experience for the audience, and keeps the visual effects artists honest, if they have the real thing in certain frames to compete with and compare to. We took that paradigm, and some shots are man-in-suit, and some shots are fully digitally-rendered-monster.

What were the influences for the look of the monsters in the series?

We always knew we wanted a humanoid monster with a completely inhuman face, or lack thereof. The Duffer Brothers and I are very similar in our love of Spielbergian ethos, but they have a really deep and sincere love of horror and monster movies, and John Carpenter and Stephen King, way beyond my own casual fandom. I can simply say, we talked about everything from The Thing to Alien, but their points of reference are far more specific and far-flung than my own.

"Winona Ryder’s got these eyes. They’re like giant pools of emotion"

&#13; <p>Shawn Levy</p>&#13;

Interestingly, it connects to something else which is that, for me, being in my forties, the show is a bit of a nostalgia trip, but the Duffers were born in the early Eighties, and whenever I would say ‘what’s your fascination with the Eighties?’, they’d say, it’s not – it’s with the movies of the Eighties that we grew up on. They’re genuine cinephile nerds, they’re film geeks, and the movies that influenced them are everywhere throughout the series and it’s why you’re seeing those references all over the place.

The kids in the show are so entertaining – what sort of energy did they bring to the set?

Really, really, authentic energy. The Duffers and I, especially the Duffers, were vehemently stubborn throughout casting. We passed over many, many extremely talented kid actors in the search for talented kid actors who felt authentic, who felt unsullied by too much training, too much experience, and simply looked and felt like the kind of kids we don’t see on TV.

When we ended up with these kids, because they feel real and authentic, as a result the atmosphere on set was a very real, kid, fun energy. Sometimes hard to wrangle, but always natural and free-flowing, which makes for a better series.

Netflix

What was it like when you got them all into a room for the first time?

It was like wrangling puppies. We knew as soon as they were together in a room that there was something special there. They are real boys who really enjoy each other and who show that alternately through affection and kindness and insults and barbs.

It’s so great to see Winona Ryder back on the screen – what made you choose her for the role of Joyce Byers?

It might be generationally appropriate to have Winona, but truly we cast her because we knew this was a harrowing role. We knew this role would require an actress going to dark places, and Winona has access to those depths.

She is a lovely, emotional, feeling person, and she dove into this part, even though she barely understood what streaming platforms were.

She’s such an absolute pro that once she got her head around the writing, getting her to the performance did not take a lot of work. She delivers, that’s what pros do. They prepare, and then they show up and deliver, and she is of that ilk.

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
Netflix

Were there any parts she’s played in the past that made you think of her for Joyce?

You know, Winona’s got these eyes. They’re like giant pools of emotion.

Joyce Byers is the emotional centre of the series. Her pain and her anguish is like an anchor for the show. Winona, whether it’s Reality Bites or Edward Scissorhands, her eyes are so uniquely expressive.

We wanted to lean in to that, it’s why we really created a character that goes to dark, deep, emotional places, because we knew Winona could do it.

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What’s the future of Stranger Things – is it a one-off, or are there more strange things to come?

There are many more strange things to come. It is very much a television series, it’s not a limited run, it’s not an anthology, it’s not Fargo – which did it so brilliantly.

In fact, on this day that we speak, I’m going from this interview to the writers’ house where we’ve convened a small group of our favourite writers from Season 1 to start imagining where Season 2 will take us.

And believe me, Episode 8 satisfies everything you’d want in giving answers, but leaves certain huge questions open to rumination and curiosity.

We don’t even know officially that we’ve got a Season 2, but we are very hopeful, and we built the show so that we can pivot right into a second adventure.

Would Season 2 continue the central mystery of Season 1, or would it put the characters in a new situation?

The latter. The main mysteries, i.e. what happened to Will Byers, is solved by the end of Season 1. Please don’t make me say more!

Stranger Things is available now on Netflix

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