Why The New Stranger Things Cast Members Look So Familiar

The cast of "Stranger Things" was already relatively large well before Season 4 premiered on Netflix, but that didn't stop the writers from introducing even more characters to the sci-fi-fantasy series. Like previous seasons, Season 4 centers around longtime leads like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Hopper (David Harbour). But the new characters that arrive on the scene in "Stranger Things 4" play into the story in interesting and surprising ways.

Considering that Season 4 expands the narrative scope of the show so extensively, it makes sense that it includes a lot of new faces. The story is split across a number of locations, ranging from an isolated Russian prison camp to sunny California deserts to secret underground labs to, of course, the familiar middle-class suburban town of Hawkins, Indiana. The main cast is spread pretty thin across all those locations, so it helps that the show supplements each group with new additions.

If some of those newcomers look familiar to you, there's a good reason why. "Stranger Things" has become one of the biggest shows on television since the premiere of its first season back in 2016, which has attracted a number of accomplished actors in later seasons. Many of the new cast members in Season 4 have already made names for themselves with prior projects, and there's a decent chance that you've seen them somewhere before. Here's why a lot of the new actors in "Stranger Things" Season 4 look so familiar.

Arguably the most meaningful addition to the "Stranger Things" roster of characters in Season 4 is Eddie Munson — the denim-wearing, hard-rocking king of Hawkins High School's Hellfire Club. Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, Eddie ends up blamed for the murder of Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien), forcing him to run for his life. His predilections for heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons make him an easy scapegoat for the town's anxiety, a scenario not unheard of in reality's version of the Satanic Panic that occurred in the '80s and '90s. Making matters worse for Eddie, he soon finds himself thrown into a world of danger, demons, and alternate dimensions.

Joseph Quinn brings Eddie Munson to life in "Stranger Things 4" and does a fantastic job in the role, channeling a mania that brings a distinctly new kind of energy to the Hawkins gang. A British actor, Quinn has played major roles the BBC series "Dickensian" and "Les Misérables" as well as "Howards End" on Starz.  He's also appeared in HBO's "Catherine the Great" and played a minor role in a Season 7 episode of "Game of Thrones."

The yin to Eddie Munson's yang, Jason Carver is the golden boy of Hawkins, Indiana. The captain of the basketball team and an orator of many lightly biblical speeches, Jason's life takes a dark turn when his longtime girlfriend Chrissy Cunningham is brutally murdered. Believing Eddie to be the perpetrator, Jason and his crew of teenage athletes begin investigating and deploying their own disturbing brand of vigilante justice. Jason's heart might start off in the right place, but he gets sucked into a dangerous breed of fearmongering.

Actor Mason Dye already had an impressive resume of TV roles before landing the part of Jason in "Stranger Things." You may know him as Tom Galligan in "Bosch," Damon from "Finding Carter," or Garrett from Season 4 of the 2011 "Teen Wolf" reboot. Dye has also been featured prominently in a couple of web series, such as "Secret Diary of an American Cheerleader" and "Roommates."

What's Jonathan Byers to do after moving far away from his childhood home and girlfriend to finish up high school in sunny California? Make a new stoner friend and start getting high, of course. Jonathan's new predilection for cannabis is the source of some great comedic moments in "Stranger Things 4," as is his new best friend Argyle. From his extra-long hair and his love of recreational drugs to his job as a pizza delivery driver, Argyle is the complete California stereotype hand-rolled into one chilled-out package.

If you've seen 2019's "Booksmart," then you're already familiar with Eduardo Franco's unique brand of comedy. In the Olivia Wilde-directed teen comedy, Franco plays Theo — a character who bears a strikingly similarity to Argyle. Franco is also featured in movies like "The Binge" and "Superintelligence" from 2020, as well as 2021's "We Broke Up." Franco previously got major screen time on Netflix as Spencer Diaz in "American Vandal," in addition to other TV appearances on "Adam Ruins Everything," "Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything," and "Gabby's Dollhouse," among others.

After entering the secret site of the Nina Project, Eleven takes a journey into her memories — specifically, some of her most traumatic days as a test subject of Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine). Within those memories, she reencounters Peter — an assistant to the good doctor who seems, at first, to have her best interests at heart. But Peter contains multitudes — IMDb describes him as "Friendly Orderly" and "Peter" isn't even his original name. It isn't long before his involvement in the greater story of the show comes rolling out in a series of wild twists and turns.

Jamie Campbell Bower does a phenomenal job blending the creepy and the calm in his performance as Peter, aka One, aka Henry Creel, and aka Vecna. Bower is perhaps best known for his career on the big screen, which includes the role of Caius in the "Twilight" films and the role of Anthony in Tim Burton's 2007 adaptation of "Sweeney Todd." He's also appeared in films like "RocknRolla," "London Boulevard," and "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," in which he played a young version of the title villain. On TV, Bower has appeared in shows like "Camelot," "Will," and 2009's "The Prisoner." 

The protagonists of "Stranger Things" face many different enemies in Season 4, from the supernatural to the mundane. One of the bigger foes of the season is Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan, a military man who believes that Eleven is a threat to U.S. national security and therefore must be apprehended and possibly killed. Sullivan deploys some pretty reprehensible tactics to accomplish his mission, proving himself to be more than capable as one of the show's main bad guys.

It's possible that you'd recognize actor Sherman Augustus from his brief career in the NFL, but it's more likely that you know from one of his many, many film and TV roles. A second-degree black belt in taekwondo, Augustus starred in some major onscreen fights as Nathaniel Moon in AMC's "Into the Badlands." His other projects include "What's Love Got to Do with It," "Rumpelstiltskin," "The Mexican," and "Zig Zag." In addition to "Stranger Things" and "Into the Badlands," Augustus's TV resume includes a long tenure as Detective Hank Weber on "The Young and the Restless," the role of Frank MacDonald in "American Odyssey," and the role of Jeffrey Sykes on "Profit." He's also made smaller appearances in shows like "Dexter," "NCIS," "Westworld," and "Bones."

Much of the mystery of "Stranger Things 4" revolves around Victor Creel, the man convicted of brutally murdering his family decades earlier. In the episode titled "Chapter Four: Dear Billy," Nancy and Robin (Maya Hawke) interview Victor about his experience in the hopes of putting together a strategy against Vecna's attacks, and they don't leave disappointed. Victor tells them the full story of what really happened to him at his family's seemingly haunted home, setting the rest of the story in motion.

Given that "Stranger Things" Season 4 pulls heavily from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, it makes sense that the creators wanted to get a proper cameo from Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. In addition to playing one of cinema's most infamous slashers for decades, Englund has also had prominent roles in a number of genre films and in TV series like "Fear Clinic," "Downtown," and the original "V" miniseries from 1983. He's also an accomplished voice actor, with credits that include Anti-Pops on "Regular Show," Vulture on "The Spectacular Spider-Man," and Aetherak in "Dota: Dragon's Blood."

After all she went through at the end of "Stranger Things" Season 3, Max Mayfield has more than a little bit of trauma to work through. It's not every day that you see your stepbrother torn to pieces by an otherworldly monster. Max ends up in sessions with Ms. Kelly, the counselor at Hawkins High. Though she doesn't exactly play a central role in the story, Ms. Kelly appears in a number of scenes and unwittingly gives Max and the crew the key to part of Vecna's mystery.

Ms. Kelly is played by Regina Ting Chen, a prolific actor in the TV space. Her past credits include the role of Alice in "Dreamsville," Chandler Tong in "Black Lightning," Catherine Nakai in "Queen of the South," and Dr. Julia Cho in "Woke." Chen has also appeared in smaller roles on shows like "The Resident," "The Outsider," and "Watchmen," and in movies like "The Contractor" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

To put it mildly, Jim Hopper has a bad time in "Stranger Things" Season 4. He's captured by Soviet soldiers, brutally tortured, and stuck on an icy chain gang with no clear means of escape. Fortunately, he ends up making an ally in Dmitri — a guard who agrees to help Hopper get away in the hopes of a major payday. Things don't exactly go as planned, and Hopper and Dmitri are forced to get to know each other and work together in a number of dangerous situations. Their dynamic is fun to watch throughout, and Dmitri provides a nice counter to Hopper's grim persona.

If you're a fan of "Game of Thrones" then you'll probably recognize actor Tom Wlaschiha as the mystical assassin Jaqen H'ghar on HBO's blockbuster fantasy series. Well, at least he plays the most memorable version of Jaqen, a shape-shifter who repeatedly changes faces over the course of the story. You may also remember him as Sebastian Berger from the crime drama series "Crossing Lines," or as Max Schenkel in "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan." A German actor, Wlaschiha has also appeared in a number of movies and TV series from his native country.

In order to get to Russia and help break Hopper free, Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) employ the skills of a smuggler named Yuri. Jovial and silly at first, Yuri quickly reveals himself to be a tricky man with a lot of hidden intentions up his sleeve. Equally wacky and deceptive in nature, Yuri is a bit of a loose cannon, and he brings a frenetic energy to "Stranger Things" Season 4's Soviet plotline.

Serbian actor Nikola Đuričko brings Yuri to life in "Stranger Things," and his acting resume is quite a long one. Much of his work prior to appearing in the Netflix series is on various Serbian TV shows such as "Otvorena vrata," "Mrtav 'ladan," and "Vratice se rode." American audiences may know him as Darko in Angelina Jolie's "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Tamir Zakayev on the TNT show "Legends," and Lorik Gramos on the BBC miniseries "Informer." Đuričko has also appeared in projects like "World War Z" and "For All Mankind."

The first episode of "Stranger Things 4" focuses largely on Chrissy Cunningham, a new character and member of the Hawkins High Cheerleading Squad. Chrissy is the first target of Vecna, who subjects her to a series of horrifying nightmare visions that drive her to buy drugs from Eddie Munson. Unfortunately, she doesn't even get an attempt at respite before Vecna returns in full ghastly force, setting up the major events of the season.

Chrissy is played by Grace Van Dien, who Netflix viewers might recognize as Brooke Osmond from the teen drama series "Greenhouse Academy." She also had a major role as Katie Campbell on NBC's "The Village." Additionally, she's had sizable roles in movies like "Riding Faith" and "The Binge," the latter of which also features fellow "Stranger Things 4" newcomer Eduardo Franco. Van Dien has appeared on a number of other TV series, including "The Rookie," "Immoral Compass," and "White Famous."

When Jason Carver begins his vigilante quest to hunt down Eddie Munson, he brings a whole crew of his friends and Hawkins High teammates with him. Most of these characters don't get much in the way of lines or screentime; the one exception being Patrick, who ends up a little more important to the show than the rest of the pack. Sadly, Patrick gets targeted by Vecna later in the season, leading to a brutal lake confrontation. Patrick might not get a lot in the way of character development, but he does play an important role in one of the most memorable scenes of "Stranger Things 4."

Though he's still quite young, actor Myles Truitt already has a number of major credits to his name in addition to his role as Patrick in "Stranger Things." You may recognize him as B-Mickie from the Starz series "BMF," as Ant on Ava DuVernay's "Queen Sugar," or as Issa Williams on "Black Lightning." Truitt has also appeared in shows like "Superstition" and movies like "Dragged Across Concrete."

One of Vecna's many teenage targets in "Stranger Things 4" is Fred, Nancy's second-in-command at the Hawkins High School newspaper. Fred investigates the murder of Chrissy Cunningham with Nancy, hoping to uncover something that the town's adult media outlets might have missed. Unfortunately for him, he gets distracted by a series of visions sent straight from the Upside Down that conjure up memories of a traumatic car accident from his past. With no prior experience with the supernatural, Fred is understandably unable to fend off Vecna's psychic assault.

The actor behind Fred is Logan Riley Bruner, who you might know as Lance from "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Bruner's other credits include a part in Natalie Portman's "Vox Lux" and the Netflix film "Alex Strangelove." He's also contributed brief turns on "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Orange Is the New Black," and stars as Jones Riley Jones in the web series "Tucci & Jones" alongside Aaron Dalla Villa.

After coming out to Steve near the end of "Stranger Things" Season 3, Robin starts building up the courage to romantically engage with other women, which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Keep in mind, the 1980s was an intensely homophobic period in American history, even compared to the still very homophobic 2020s of today.

Primarily, Robin decides she wants to act on her crush on Vickie, one of her fellow musicians in the school marching band. Robin is nervous about making her feelings known to Vickie because she's scared that the other girl either won't return her interest, or worse yet, could out her to the rest of the school. From what we see early on in "Stranger Things 4," it looks like Robin's on the right track with Vickie.

Vickie's played by Amybeth McNulty, best known for the leading eponymous role of Anne Shirley-Cuthbert in the Netflix period drama "Anne with an E," based on the classic children's novel "Anne of Green Gables." Her other credits include playing Jenny Rane on "Clean Break," Sputnik in "The Sparticle Mystery," and Áine in the film "Black Medicine."