Natalia Dyer is straddling two worlds right now.

In one, she’s a 19-year-old student at NYU — she’s studying at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she explains her focus as “looking at semiotics, language, and art and how they interact with each other.” But in the other, she’s one of the stars of Stranger Things, the Netflix show that blends the great high school films of the ‘80s with the horror movies from the same decade — oh, and includes a terrifying monster from an alternate reality known as the Upside Down.

Her character, older sister Nancy Wheeler, has a lot to deal with. High school is never easy; imagine what it would be like if your best friend and your brother’s best friend both went missing. And imagine navigating college while also planning to film the second season of a hit show.

Which reality is the Upside Down? That’s for you to decide. And so far, Natalia and Nancy are both handling it all just fine. Teen Vogue caught up with the actress to talk about how her character turns a classic ‘80s trope on its head, what she’s learned from costar Winona Ryder, and what she hopes to explore when we return to Hawkins, Indiana.

Teen Vogue: What initially drew you to the character Nancy?

Natalia Dyer: I see some similarities to her in high school and me in high school — just the way that she straddles groups. I was always a floater. I had a lot of different social groups, always trying to figure out where [I] really fit in. … As her character developed, she ended up just everything I could hope for — really, just, cool — and I think she's turning into a really strong, self-sufficient girl. … That's credit to the Duffers for being great writers, and [I] hope to get more of that in season two.

TV: It feels like the show is definitely driven by female characters. How does it feel to be a part of that?

ND: Right? Between Winona and Millie, it's cool to see strong leading ladies. They're very cool parts to play, and you don't find them everywhere. You usually find a girl-next-door kind of thing.

I think what I really like [about Nancy] is she doesn't just stay the love interest. Of course, there's this whole love triangle thing that people are very interested in, but she has goals and drive and she's on a mission.

TV: The older sister character is such a mainstay trope in ‘80s movies — Jeannie in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Lisa in Dirty Dancing, for example. But Nancy sort of flips the script. Have you watched a lot of '80s movies prior to taking on the role?

ND: I had never seen the classics with Molly Ringwald, like Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles, or '80s horror, like Poltergeist, Close Encounters, and Nightmare on Elm Street. I went back and watched all of those. It's a different kind of movie, for sure. That was fun, going back in time.

I think the show does a lot of that: picking certain archetypes from the '80s and delving deeper into the realness of those characters, and making them more human and more complex, and really exploring the relationships and not necessarily just the plot line.

TV: What is it like to be working with the Duffers? Do you get to help develop Nancy?