We’ve seen the kids of Netflix’s Stranger Things grow up before our eyes, but for many of us, we don’t really know how old they are throughout the show. Focusing on the characters vs. the actual age of their actors, the series has taken our favorite preteens and teenagers in Hawkins, Indiana to Steve being the adult of the group and so on and so forth. So now that Stranger Things 4 is here, how old is the cast of Stranger Things?
We have you covered. We’re going to go through each of our main characters and their ages throughout the show, compared to where the cast is now in season 4, so let’s get into it!
How old are the Stranger Things cast and characters in season 1?
When we first meet Eleven in season one, she is 12 years old (we think). Given the mystery surrounding her throughout the series, she’s one of the characters we know the least about, but she’s roughly the same age as Mike. At the time of filming, Millie Bobby Brown was 11 years old.
Much like Eleven, Mike is also 12 years old and is at that age where he just loves to fight with his sister and spend his time with his friends playing Dungeons & Dragons all day long instead of doing anything else, but can you blame him? He’s 12. He’s also born in April, so he’s younger than Will, but not by that much. For Finn Wolfhard, his birthday is in December, so he was 12 years old while filming in September of 2015, but was close to turning 13.
Well, Will is also 12 (do you see a trend here?) but we actually have a bit more of an idea in when his birthday is. Will has a March birthday (something that fans of the show realized Mike missed in season 4), and so, while we know that almost all of our favorite Hawkins preteens were born in 1971, at least we know when Will’s birthday is. As the youngest, Noah Schnapp was 10, about to turn 11, when filming began on season 1.
Lucas is, you guessed it, 12. While both Dustin and Lucas are the logical ones of the group (who also love to fight with each other and Mike more often than not), it seems as if they’re all the same age. If anything, Will having a March birthday might make him the oldest of the group, but Lucas is definitely more willing to voice his issues with what Mike wants to do. Caleb McLaughlin was 13 years old, and about to turn 14, when filming began, and that makes him the oldest of the D&D group.
Now, Dustin also seems to have an in-universe birthday in May, but he’s still part of the 1971 crew, so he’s 12 when we meet him in season 1, but depending when Lucas’ birthday is, he might be the third-oldest of the team. Gaten Matarazzo was 13 years old when they started filming.
But outside of the pre-teens, we had our high schoolers in season 1.
When it comes to the teenagers, there’s a bit more of a change in their ages. Nancy Wheeler is 16 when we meet her in season 1, and she’s still trying to figure out her own life and what she wants out of it throughout the season and into the rest of the show. The adult kids are all a bit older than their fictional counterparts. Natalia Dyer was 20 at the time of filming.
With Jonathan, he’s also 16 years old, and he’s a loner in Hawkins. Where Nancy has friends like Barb (RIP), Jonathan is on his own and works to help take care of his brother and mother, which is very different from Nancy’s boyfriend Steve. Charlie Heaton was 21 years old at the time of filming.
The only almost “adult” of the crew, Steve is 17 when we meet him, and he is a junior at the height of his popularity and falling in love with Nancy Wheeler. Joe Keery was 23 years old when the show was filming.
How old are the Stranger Things cast and characters in season 2?
When we meet up with Eleven in season 2, while she’s living with Hopper, she’s 13 years old. (I see another pattern emerging …) Set a year later (October of 1984 instead of 1983), season 2 has everyone a year older and a year wiser, and Eleven is set in her own self-discovery. At the time of filming season 2, Brown was 12 years old.
With an April birthday, Mike is also 13 years old, and boy oh boy are his moody ways in this season telling of his age because there are moments when Mike reacts to things that are just so much like a 13-year-old boy that it’s a lot to unpack. Wolfhard was 13 years old and about to turn 14 at the time of filming.
Struggling with … well, everything, Will is also 13 years old, as if living through the Upside Down wasn’t enough for him to try to take on. Schnapp would have just turned 13 years old while filming season 2.
Lucas is also 13 years old, and in season 2, we get to see a bit more of him pushing back on Mike being the de facto “leader” of the group. He’s not really putting up with their nonsense, and he’s standing up for himself in an exciting way, and it’s fun to see. Caleb McLaughlin would have been 15 years old at the time of filming in November of 2016.
Well, much like his friends, Dustin is also 13 in season 2, and he’s still trying to find himself and where he belongs in the midst of all his friends, and in doing so adopts Dart because everyone else is sort of doing their own things. Matarazzo would have just turned 14 in September, two months before their November 2016 start date.
New to the crew is Max. Granted, she’s the same age of the rest of her friends and is 13 years old when we meet her, but still, she’s a new addition to the crew despite how everyone feels about her joining in. While a newer cast member, Sadie Sink would have been 14 years old when filming began.
Erica is part of the new generation of characters, and as Lucas’ little sister, she joins the show at 9 years old and isn’t here for her brother’s nonsense with his nerdy friends. She’s an amazing addition to the show and brings in a new age group. Priah Ferguson plays Erica in the series and would have been 10 years old at the start of filming.
As the season is a year later, Nancy is 17 years old when we see her in season 2 and questioning her relationship with Steve and everything in her life. Born in January of 1995, Dyer would have been 21 at the time of filming.
Jonathan, much like Nancy, is 17 years old and is stuck between his feelings for Nancy and also taking care of his family still. Meanwhile, Heaton was 22 at the time of filming.
And then there is Steve. At 18 years old, he’s a senior and watching as everything he loves and wants is fading away when Nancy breaks up with him, and he’s lost until he ends up becoming the “dad” of the group, protecting everyone (and becoming best friends with Dustin). And then there is Joe Keery himself, who was 24 while filming season 2.
How old are the Stranger Things cast and characters in season 3?
Season 3 takes us into the summer of 1985, and so Eleven is either still 13 years old or she’s 14, depending on when her birthday hits in the series. It’s a change from the October setting of both season 1 and 2, so ages could be a bit different, depending. With a gap between seasons, season 2 began filming in the spring of 2018 and Brown was 14 at the time.
Mike is 14 (thanks, April birthday) and is deep in his relationship throughout the season. And while he’s not the only one with a girlfriend, he is the most likely to abandon his friends to go be with his significant other instead of hanging with them. During filming, Wolfhard would have been 15 years old and turning 16 later that year.
Also 14 years old is Will, who seemingly hates all of his friends getting girlfriends. He just wants to play Dungeons & Dragons, and yet he’s alone since Mike, Lucas, and Dustin (even if no one believes him) all have girlfriends to run off with, as does his brother, Jonathan. With a fall birthday, Schnapp was only 13 throughout the filming of season 3.
Lucas ended up with Max at the end of season 2, and assuming his birthday is in the spring like the rest of his friends, he’d 14 but he could still also be 13 in this season. It just depends on his birthday and where it is in the year. McLaughlin would have been 16, turning 17 later in the fall.
Now, our newly returned Dustin is 14 (his birthday is in May) and he just got home from camp where he met his girlfriend, Suzie. During filming, Matarazzo would have been 15, turning 16 in the fall.
Erica is 10 in this season. We know that because she screams it at Murray in a brilliantly Erica way, and so there’s no guessing how old she is. With an October birthday, Ferguson would have been 11 turning 12.
Again, depending on her birthday, Nancy is either 17 or 18. Given that she’s not yet a senior in high school, I’d go with Nancy’s birthday being in the fall, so she was a year later than Steve’s grade. Natalia Dyer was 23 years old while filming.
Jonathan is actually 18 years old in this season (according to my research), which makes sense given his stoner status in season 4, but also, who knows, since he doesn’t have a birthday listed anywhere online? He’s in school with Nancy and doing an internship with her this season, so he could still be 17, as well. Charlie Heaton was 24 years old at the time.
In season 3, we got to meet the incredible Robin, who became Steve’s best friend and someone he relies on to talk to, and she’s roughly 16 going on 17 when we meet her. It’s theorized that her birthday is in September of 1968, so given that it is July of 1985, she’d be 16. Maya Hawke would have joined the cast at 19 years old (turning 20 later that summer).
Now, papa bear Steve is either 18 or 19 years old at this point, depending on when his birthday is, and is questioning all his life mistakes, and honestly, that’s a mood. Joe Keery would have turned 26 years old while filming season 3.
How old are the Stranger Things cast and characters in season 4?
Now, we’re caught up to season 4, when Eleven is living with the Byers in California and is potentially 15 years old. Set in the spring of 1986, this is probably the season with the most changes to ages. We don’t know when Eleven was born, so it poses a bit of a problem for her age, but she could be 14 or 15 years old, while actress Millie Bobby Brown recently turned 18 years old.
Mike, at this point, is still 14 because we know from part 1 that it is March of 1986, and his birthday is in April, so he’s about to turn 15 but is not yet there. Pair that with Finn Wolfhard, who is 19 years old, and there’s quite a bit of a growth spurt for Mike from season 3 to season 4.
Noah Schnapp is the baby of the cast and is still only 17 years old, but Will is possibly the oldest of his friends and turned 15 years old during part one.
Now, Caleb McLaughlin, much like Finn Wolfhard, got incredibly tall between seasons, so while Lucas is also either 14 or 15 years old, depending on when his birthday is, McLaughlin is 20 years old and will turn 21 in October, making him the oldest of the kids.
Our May child, Dustin, is only 14 years old this season, because again, it is set in March of 1986, but Gaten Matarazzo is 19, and he’ll turn 20 years old in September of this year—something that broke Joe Keery (and, if I’m being honest, me as well).
The amazingly talented Sadie Sink is 20 years old (and was recently featured in Taylor Swift’s video for her 10-minute version of “All Too Well”). Max, however, is still either 14 or 15, depending on when her birthday is in the year.
Given that we don’t know when her birthday is, Erica is either 10 or 11 at this point (given that she was 10 in the summer of 1985). While Erica’s age is a bit unknown, star Priah Ferguson is 15 years old.
Now the teenagers are a bit … different. Natalia Dyer, who plays Nancy, is 27 years old. Nancy, in season 4, is probably 18 years old, since she’s a senior in high school, but it’s not really clear when her birthday is in the year.
We don’t know when Jonathan’s birthday is, and he could be 18 or he could be 19 years old, but we do know that star Charlie Heaton is 28 years old, making most of the “teenagers” in their late 20s.
I said “most” because Maya Hawke is only 23 years old compared to the rest of the teens on the show, but Robin is supposed to be probably 17 or 18 years old, seeing as she’s also a senior in high school.
The newest addition to season 4 is Eddie. What’s great about him is that they make a joke about how he keeps failing out of school, so he’s roughly 20 to 21 years old. Played by the wonderful Joseph Quinn, he’s actually 29 years old, so he’s right in the same age group as the rest of the “teenage” character stars.
And now, there’s my boy Steve. Steve Harrington is probably around 19 years old, given he’s been out of high school for almost a year at this point, and the man I love a lot, Joe Keery, is 30 years old. We love to be baby-faced 30-year-olds! (Coming from one baby-faced 30-year-old to another.)
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So by the end of the series, we might have the core Dungeons & Dragons group being able to finally drive, or maybe they’ll do more of a time jump to season 5. Who knows? But right now, these are the ages of the characters (and actors) from Stranger Things.
(image: Netflix)
