A few genuine 1980s stars have joined Stranger Things series two
Paul Reiser and Sean Astin are slated for season two of the Netflix show
Stranger Things – Netflix’s highly-acclaimed sci-fi scare-athon set in Hawkins town in the 1980s – just announced three new cast members: Paul Reiser, Linnea Berthelsen and Sean ‘yup, I was Sam in Lord of The Rings’ Astin.
Reiser and Astin are particularly interesting castings, as both were big stars in the 1980s. Yes, before boiling a potato broth for Frodo, Astin played Mikey in hit 1985 film The Goonies, and Reiser played scheming junior executive Burke in 1986’s Aliens.
So, who are they playing in Stranger Things? According to Variety, Astin will star as Bob Newby, “a kind-hearted former nerd” who went to high school with Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour), and is now the manager of the Hawkins RadioShack.
Reiser is due to play Dr Owens, a Department of Energy employee (You know, the Department of Energy that investigates the Upside Down), tasked with containing rumours of the Demogorgon murders from series one.
And Berthelsen, a Danish newbie, will portray Roman, “an emotionally damaged young woman who suffered a big loss as a kid”. Roman isn’t a resident of Hawkins, but it’s promised she’s “connected” to the mysterious events in the Department of Energy lab. Spooky.
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Anyway, here’s hoping the Stranger Things kids make a tiny fourth-wall breaking reference to real-life 1980s stars.
Stranger Things is set to return to Netflix in 2017 with nine episodes, instead of season one's eight.
