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Classic, gory, fun, sad, bigger – those are just some of the words used by the young cast to sum up “Stranger Things 3” on Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show”.

The last time we left Hawkins, it was set in late 1984 and things have somewhat become normal once again. Well, as normal as it gets considering there are killer creatures from the Upside Down that can access our world.

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When “Stranger Things 3” premieres on Netflix, the storyline will fast-forward to July 1985. There are new villains and a whole new threat . Having said that, the biggest obstacle that the group of wannabe Goonies are facing aren’t just Demogorgons but something more unnerving – puberty.

As producer Shawn Levy points out, “Our tagline is that ‘One summer can change everything’, but the reality is that growing up doesn’t happen at a constant or consistent speed. People develop in very different ways and at different rates“. To echo SFX, while some might be content playing “Dungeons & Dragons”, others are starting to feel that the kiddy stuff are well behind them.

As part of their Asia promo tour, Hype got the chance to sit down with Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb Mclaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Sadie Sink (Maxine “Max” Mayfield) to talk about the exciting Netflix series.

Prior to our roundtable interview, the cast of “Stranger Things 3” made an appearance at the Stranger Things Summer Festival event held at Akiba Square.

During the Q&A session, the young actors got to interact with popular Japanese celebrities Ms Yuko Oshima (former group member of girl band AKB48) and comedy duo Speed Wagon (Jun Itoda and Kazuhiro Ozawa). They were also gifted with custom traditional Japanese outfits called HAPPI.

Fans who attended the event got to experience zones and game stalls that were inspired by elements of Summer in 1985 Hawkins, Indiana, and more. We were geeking out real hard but our highlight was, of course, our exclusive interview with the quartet.

How is “Stranger Things 3” different from season 1 and 2?

Caleb: It’s different from the last 2 seasons, which had like a fall-wintery vibe. This one is bright and fun. We see the kids hanging at the Starcourt Mall… It’s essentially the same formula but you can’t tell as a viewer because the storyline is different and there are new characters.

What were your first reactions when reading the script?

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Sadie: Usually before reading the script, we hear rumours about what’s going to happen. Especially if there’s something big like a death.

Do you just get your own parts? Or are everyone’s parts included in the script as well?

Sadie: Yeah, we get the full script. It helps us get into the characters.

Gaten: Some people choose not to read everybody’s parts. They just go into their scenes.

Sadie: It make sense too because how is your character supposed to know what is going on with other characters.

Caleb: Sometimes I do that. It helps because I’ll have a natural reaction to the situation, especially when everyone is back together.

What would you say is the biggest change about your characters compared to the last season?

Caleb: I feel like Lucas faces battles differently; in a more composed way.

Sadie: I think Max is now more established in Hawkins. She’s not the new girl anymore. She’s earned her place in the group. She’s not letting Billy push her around anymore. She’s also super confident and that’s why I was drawn to her.

I like that we’re getting to see some girl power through Max and Eleven’s friendship too.

Sadie: Yes, we get to see this strong female friendship when Max kind of takes Eleven under her wing and shows her what it means to be your own individual self and teaches her to have her own style. It’s cool to see Max become her role model in a way.

Of course me and Millie have a genuine relationship off screen as well so I think that chemistry really shows.

Gaten: I think it’s great that the girls aren’t necessarily just the girlfriends.

Sadie: Yeah, they have their own storyline. Max’s purpose wasn’t to be Lucas’ girlfriend. She has her own thing going on and she’s very independent.

What is the craziest rumour or fan theory you’ve heard about your characters?

Sadie: In the beginning, there were a lot of rumours floating around about Max before you’ve seen her on season 2. People were like, ‘who’s this red head chick’ joining the show. Many assumed that she was going to have superpowers like Eleven.

Caleb: Or that you were going to take Mike away.

Gaten: We’ve been there from the beginning. So there’s not much for them to speculate, caused they know the characters already. Coming in later in the show, I can imagine (it being harder for Sadie). Every new addition, fans are going to be skeptical about it.

Sadie: One of the weirdest thing I’ve heard someone say was like ‘Oh, the character is supposed to be tough. But she has red hair, she can’t be tough’. People say the weirdest things.

Eleven is the only one with powers. If you could possess one in real life or as your character, what would it be?

Sadie: I want to be able to teleport. Max will probably like invisibility so she can steal stuff.

Caleb: For Lucas, maybe like Hawkeye in Avengers or something. It’ll be cool to see him be a sharp shooter. Or like Green Arrow too.

Noah: I guess for me, I’ve always wanted to have invisibility cause then you’d get to do anything you wanted. It’d be so fun! Like maybe just walk up into the plane and skip all the queues.

Gaten: For me, I’d like to be a shape-shifter and change into different animals. For Dustin, I think he’d be really cool in manipulating technology. Say there’s a bad guy attacking with missiles, he could just reprogram them with his mind. If a car is coming towards him, he could just turn off the engine.

Noah, your character has gone through some pretty dark encounters. How do you detach once the director yells cut? What about the rest of you guys?

Noah: I separate the two things as much as I can. So usually, after an intense scene, when the director yells cut, I’m never really sad.

Sadie: You can just snap out of it?

Noah: It’s just two different worlds, you know.

Gaten: I think it’s good that you’re able to shed it so quickly cause there are so many performers that hold on to it. Especially when a character that deals so much as Will does.

Sadie: It depends on the scene too. If it’s really emotional, it’s harder.

Gaten: I feel like after those big emotional scenes, everyone is usually very quiet afterwards.

Do you have a favourite storyline for “Stranger Things 3”?

Caleb: I’d say that my favourite parts in this season are the last few episodes.

Before we end this session, can you leave us with a little tease ?

Noah: The ending is very sad.

Gaten: It’s an emotional season and there’s heartbreak.

Sadie: It’s very different from the season two ending. Tears will be shed.

Gaten: More than previous seasons, I feel.

Caleb: The first two seasons were very dark and eerie, while season three is more comical and light-hearted. It is still dark, but it’s different from what I was used to… There’s a really good cliffhanger too.

“Stranger Things 3” premieres on Netflix on 4th July 2019.

Images by Netflix.