As viewers prepare to embark on the final season of Stranger Things sometime in 2025, Teen Vogue cover star Sadie Sink has been doing a bit of reflecting on the show that brought her firmly into the public eye.
“I think it began in denial, like, oh another season here we go!” Sink tells Teen Vogue about her mindset while filming Stranger Things season 5. "And then towards the end… there was this numbness, like, 'Oh God, what's gonna happen? What am I gonna do?' That final day, it was one of the most emotional days in my life. I'm really grateful that it was. To be on a show for that long, then get to the final day, and to get to break down in that way. And be like, I don't want it to end. That was so special.
“But saying goodbye to, like, childhood literally... It was a lot. It was heavy.”
Intense emotion makes sense, given that Sink has been working on Stranger Things intermittently since she was cast at age 14 as the sarcastic, tough Max Mayfield in season 2.
Seasons two and three were an adjustment period – "I think I still felt like the new girl," she says — but Stranger Things 4 saw Max take center stage in a powerful storyline about grief and moving through inner turmoil.
“It was a really climactic point for that character. What was interesting to me is we kind of observed her grief on a really human level and that kind of monster she was facing internally,” she says. “What I found so beautiful about that fourth episode is when that threat becomes external, how she's able to find that strength she didn't know she had and overpower that force.”
That fans resonated so deeply with the arc took her by a bit of surprise, and it made her feel like she belonged at last.
“Once people responded the way that they did, I was like, ‘Oh, people really care about this character.’ That’s when I officially felt like [part of everything],” she says. “Coming into a show that big, an established group of like 11 kids, and even though I came in on season two, I think I still always felt, like, imposter syndrome. But that really solidified for me mentally, my place in the show.”
Sink is already booked and busy looking down at the end of the Netflix series. The Critics Choice Award nominee is currently starring in John Proctor Is the Villain on Broadway, and she was just cast in 2026's Spider-Man: Brand New Day alongside Tom Holland in an unnamed role that fans are already heavily speculating about. Her latest movie, a rock opera called O'Dessa, premiered at SXSW and sees Sink take on the role of a guitar-playing, folk-singing post-apocalyptic heroine.
Still, it's tough to plan what's next after such an epic series — and consistent job — comes to an end.
“I'm a little nervous about it," she admits. “You don’t have this set show that you're going back with this set gig lined up. You have to chase the projects you want. I hope I’m in a position where it's like I’m allowing opportunities to unfold for me. I'd also love to maybe produce something. When I was younger people wanted me to produce things and I was always kinda like, I'm 16 years old, I'm not going to be a f*cking producer, like you’re just slapping my name on it. And now it's like, oh, maybe I want to dip my toes into it.”
