By the time Gaten Matarazzo finally sat down to talk about the end of Stranger Things, the goodbye had already been going on for years. That’s the strange math of modern TV: wrap shooting, wait forever, split seasons into chunks, repeat the farewell tour until the sentiment curdles into muscle memory. “We’ve been talking about the end of the show since before we released season four,” he said, laughing a little at the absurdity. “That’s over three years ago. Every question has been like, ‘How does it feel to be saying goodbye?’ And I’m like, ‘Guys, we’ve got time.’”
Time, though, has a way of sneaking up on you. Five seasons in, the cast has grown up in public, locked together in a shared mythology that’s part Spielberg glow, part synth-drenched nightmare. Matarazzo doesn’t sound eager to put any of it behind him. “I don’t think I ever really wanted to,” he admitted. “I’d love for it to remain something that stays in my present mind and heart. To have something like that happen through your formative years is pretty special. It’ll always be a defining chapter of what I do going forward.”
That sentiment exists alongside a quieter anxiety: what happens when the safety net disappears. “That security of knowing there’s another season coming was so relaxing,” he said. “Now it really is like, alright, thrown to the wolves.” He doesn’t dramatize it, but he doesn’t sugarcoat it either. “You finish a job and you’re technically out of work. That’s just the job.” The show provided a cushion — “a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief” — but freelance life is still freelance life. “I don’t do well with downtime,” he admitted. “I love what I do. I just want to keep doing it.”
Doing it, for now, means leaning into the side quests. One of the more unexpected is voice work, including a prominent role in the new animated adaptation of Animal Farm, directed by Andy Serkis. Matarazzo plays a new character designed to give the story a point of view the novel famously avoids. “That was scary at first,” he said. “I love the original piece so much.” The pitch, though, hooked him: a character raised inside privilege, convinced everything is fine until it very much isn’t. “He’s kind of pitched as this ‘everything’s great’ figure,” Matarazzo said. “Then he gets older and looks around and goes, ‘Oh shit.’”
He’s careful not to oversell it as a lesson, but the intent is clear. “It doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of what that novel represents,” he said. “It’s geared to be observed and absorbed by younger audiences.” The deciding factor was simpler. “There really isn’t a world where I say no,” he said. “Once I knew Andy was directing it himself, that was it. Even if it was something I didn’t like, I’d still want to work with him.” Serkis, he noted, was deeply involved, reading scenes with him, acting everything out. “Even on Zoom, he brought something so special. That’s an opportunity you don’t say no to.”
Voice acting, however, is a label he resists. “I hesitate to call myself a voice actor,” he said. “People spend their entire lives creating a repertoire of voices. I’ve basically just been lucky enough to play exaggerated versions of myself.” He’s aware of the broader conversation about stunt casting. “I get the frustration,” he said. “I think rightfully so.” But he makes a distinction. “I don’t think Animal Farm represents that. There was intention behind every person in that room.”
If Animal Farm was about ideas, Lego Star Wars was about pure fandom. “When that came through, I thought it was a joke,” he said. “My dream since I was six was to be part of anything Star Wars-related.” Instead, he was handed a lead role. “Such a pinch-me moment.” The joy comes from the meta of it all: playing a Star Wars fan inside the Star Wars universe. “We were throwing in references only deep Reddit people know,” he said, still sounding surprised they got away with it.
Music, meanwhile, remains something he approaches with caution. Unlike some of his Stranger Things co-stars, he’s not rushing to release singles. “I don’t write. I don’t play,” he said plainly. “I just sing things other people have written, usually in musicals.” The hesitation is ethical as much as artistic. “So many brilliant artists have a hard time gaining a platform,” he said. “I don’t want to jump into a space I don’t feel is earned.” For now, the goal is piano lessons. “That’s a New Year’s resolution.”
The place he feels most at home is theater, which is ironic given how unforgiving it is. “It’s supposed to chuck you out of your comfort zone,” he said. “It’s basically skydiving every day.” Still, he loves the structure. “I love knowing when I can go to bed, when I wake up. Once my body’s in a schedule, I take care of myself better.” The trade-off is a nonexistent social life. “Weekends are packed. Two-show days. But I’m fine with that. I really love the process.”
As Stranger Things fades into history, Matarazzo sounds less like someone chasing the next big thing and more like someone intent on staying curious without rushing the outcome. “I don’t take any of it for granted,” he said of the series that defined his adolescence. The goodbye may keep looping, but the throughline is steadier: work you care about, done on your own clock, with just enough anxiety to keep it honest.
Watch the full interview above and then check out the final trailer below.
