Warning: Major spoilers for Season 4
In the second season of Stranger Things, the character of Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) made a seemingly trivial but ultimately crucial stand for himself: He didn’t want to be “the Black guy.” Specifically, he was telling one of his closest friends in Hawkins that, in their ill-fated Halloween costume homage to Ghostbusters, that it shouldn’t be assumed that he would cosplay as Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore. Blackness became the quiet thing said out loud. It was an acknowledgment of a catch-22 that Black people who exist in mostly white spaces know too well: While Lucas’ color has no bearing on his ability to slay dragons or save a damsel in distress, rock a slingshot or devise winning strategies, he can never be fully divorced from his identity, because that’s what it’s like to be Black.
“When Lucas said that,” McLaughlin says, “It was [a recognition] that, OK, he knows who he is. He’s not lost. He’s Black. You can’t shy away from that. In terms of, like, deep-rooted culture, we don’t really tap into that, but when you see Lucas, you see an African American child. You see that he’s a leader.” Earnestly, with his whole chest, McLaughlin adds, “He is a strong Black lead.”
McLaughlin, on set at a photoshoot in preparation for the launch of Stranger Things Season 4, streaming now, could easily be making this refreshing self-declaration about his own remarkable coming of age both on Stranger Things and in the wider world as a young actor.
At age 20, the New York native has been working for more than half of his life. He was on Broadway at age 11, playing Young Simba in the $8 billion-and-counting machine The Lion King, and nabbed several small parts on big shows (Blue Bloods, Law & Order: SVU) before landing the role of Lucas on Stranger Things. In a genre that’s been difficult for Black talent to stay consistently visible in the foreground, that McLaughlin and his on-screen sister, Priah Ferguson, have been prominent and well-rounded characters has had an impact on the series and sci-fi entertainment.
The Ghostbusters incident was a pivotal moment for the character — one that became fodder for countless think pieces about representation in the sci-fi space. And while, yes, it’s very cool that Lucas gave validation to the countless other Blerds like him in the real world, it’s an even bigger deal that the character and his family were evolved to demonstrate how race is not a factor in most situations, until it is. In a genre that’s historically either omitted Black people from many types of science fiction entirely — from outer space adventures to monster hunting — or disingenuously portrayed their experiences as identical to their white counterparts, that Caleb is an equal and the character is allowed cultural distinctions is nothing short of revolutionary.
Like the other characters on Stranger Things, Lucas continues to grow this season in multiple senses of the word. “Lucas is different this season, and that’s exciting,” says McLaughlin. “He’s usually a pretty stable, level-headed kind of guy. He’s the guy who’s like, ‘We’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out. It’s friends. It’s family. We’re going to do this.’ This season, he’s more vulnerable.” (He’s also rocking a totally ’80s high-top fade a la Kid ’n Play to signify his transition into a more popular jock.)
Though they’re figureheads of a vibrant Blerd community that’s been mostly ignored outside of the Black press until recently, McLaughlin and Ferguson are also part of a new wave of young Black actors with the superpowers to transform Hollywood just by showing up as they are.
“I’m just being myself,” he says. “It’s a good feeling.” Now perched atop a stool and wearing clothes by a Black designer (Grayscale) and Gucci sneakers, he wears short dreadlocks shaped into a kind of bowl style — another way he embodies a paradigm shift. Many Black people of a certain age can recall warnings from their parents to avoid “ethnic hairstyles,” because white people could use that against them when hiring. (Indeed, hair-based discrimination isn’t a relic of eras gone by; 13 states have passed the CROWN Act to end discrimination against natural hair.) Of course, McLaughlin doesn’t wear his hair like this on-screen; dreadlocks wouldn’t make sense for the time and place. Nonetheless, the confidence, self-assuredness and Black pride that McLaughlin and Ferguson radiate as they move through the world make them part of a small, increasingly powerful generation of young Black Hollywood stars who don’t have to wear an invisible cloak bearing all the weight of generations past. “I don’t have to work hard to keep up this persona. We have to teach people how to love us for who we are, instead of worrying about what other people think about us,” he says.
Priah Ferguson — her first name means “dear, beloved” in Sanskrit — is equally clear-minded about what her presence means (or doesn’t mean) to her. A native of Atlanta, where Stranger Things is shot, Ferguson still lives and attends high school there. Public high school, no less, a conscious decision the 15-year-old and her family made even after she wooed millions in her first season as Lucas’ spunky, tell-it-like-it-is little sister. “People like Erica because she says what the audience is thinking,” says Ferguson, a vision of fabulousness in a caramel-colored leather bandage dress.
Stranger Things viewers first meet Erica through a few small scenes in Season 2, but she really turns the world — pardon the pun –– upside down in Season 3 with an unforgettable scene that’s a master class on knowing your worth at any age. When Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) try bribing Erica with ice cream to join a dangerous mission, she criticizes their “half-baked plan” for being child endangerment, before delivering the iconic line, “You can’t spell America without Erica.” Everyone, Ferguson says, knows an Erica, and though everyone might not want to necessarily hear her opinions, no one can deny their airtight logic or strategic value. “Erica comes in as a leader. She has her facts together,” Ferguson says.
But that confidence and expertise comes with their own tricky considerations. Erica’s breakout moments, the ones that made her a fan fave and helped her become a series regular in Season 4, also presented a paradox. At the time in 2019, fans, observers and pundits called her “sassy” — a label Ferguson herself embraced then. And it’s true that Erica suffers no fools. But sassy hits differently for Black girls. While white girls have claimed sassy as a post-ironic tool of empowerment — after all, Sassy magazine was a bible to a generation of young people in the early ’90s — for Black girls, the term can conjure up images of the finger-wagging, neck-rolling “ghetto girl” who seems combative for no reason other than her own amusement. (“She’s got a little attitude,” one reporter quipped, a label that can be a fatal blow to a Black woman’s professional ambitions.) Now, two years after 2020 prompted even Black people to reflect and do some soul-searching about the ways we navigate society, the sassy descriptor begs reexamination.
“I prefer quick-witted or problem-solving,” says Ferguson. “Most of the time [the person being called] sassy is just trying to get to the answer or come up with a resolution. There’s no one way to be Black; you might have a girl like my sister who is shy, or me, where it takes me a little longer to warm up. I can be blunt sometimes, like, ‘We need to get to the point.’ But Black women should not be classified as sassy right off the bat.”
Labels aside, Ferguson is excited for her expanded screen time in Season 4, which showcases Erica’s physical strength as well as her mental acumen. Ferguson does a great deal of stunts this go-round, requiring her to do more running and more blocking than ever. Yet the most challenging thing she’s learned in her years playing Erica is how to navigate Hollywood. “I would definitely say the business part of it all and the politics [were] the hardest,” says Ferguson, who started playing Erica when she was 10. “I’m growing, I’m still learning and I’m getting advice.”
That’s a sentiment McLaughlin echoes. Perhaps there’s some significance to how Atlanta, where McLaughlin also lives full-time, shapes his and Ferguson’s laid-back, pro-Black outlooks; they’re still coming of age in a town that’s been a bastion of Black creativity, spirituality and wealth for generations. Both stars, arriving with their mommas on set, have a sense of groundedness about them.
“This industry is very competitive,” says McLaughlin, who grew up in Carmel, New York, about 50 miles north of Manhattan. He recalls attending a small party a few years ago where none of the actors or creatives spoke to one another — that is, until he went onstage and introduced himself to the whole room, initiating a vibe shift that loosened everyone up. If McLaughlin’s superpower is creating change just by being himself, he’s made it his mission to let others know they have that same ability.
“We’re all in this together,” says McLaughlin, who also makes music and uses his social media following (11 million and counting on Instagram) to encourage self-love and self-acceptance with campaigns he created, #EmbraceYourFace and #BeYourBiggestFan. “We should all come together, show each other love.”
Ferguson has ambitions to improve her community, too. She wants to produce and to see more women (specifically women of color) behind the scenes. “Our stories need to be heard,” she says. “I feel as if I’ve kind of opened more doors for younger Black girls, and they do look up to me. I see their support, the energy they give on my [Instagram] page, even coming to me for advice.”
Matt and Ross Duffer remarked, “One of the great joys of the show is that we have gotten to see Caleb and Priah grow and evolve — not just as actors, but as people. Caleb, for his part, is one of the sweetest, most generous people we know, and it’s been inspiring to see that fame has not altered him in any way. As he has grown older, he has committed himself to his craft in a way that is absolutely inspiring. We can’t wait for people to see him in Volume 2, where he delivers one of the most moving, gut-wrenching performances in the history of the show. We’re so proud of him, and we know that this is all just the first part of what is going to be an amazing journey for him as an actor.
“As for Priah, we still remember the giant smiles on our faces when we first watched her audition for Season 2. We knew then and there that she was very special. Despite limited screen time that year, she easily stole every scene she was in, and we watched, not the least bit surprised, as she rapidly became a fan favorite. As we’ve thrown more Priah’s way in subsequent seasons — including many of the show’s longest monologues — she continues to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park. We can’t wait to see where she goes from here.”
By the time they slip out of their roles in Stranger Things’ fifth and final season, Ferguson and McLaughlin will no doubt have defeated many more dark forces on-screen and earned permanent places in the Black Hero Hall of Fame in the process. Whatever their futures hold, the duo are confident they’ve opened many more doors.
“I’m not trying to be someone I’m not,” says McLaughlin. “I just want to be a part of something that is different, is tasteful and has depth that will move the needle in this industry.” After all, both McLaughlin and Lucas are proof that you can walk into a space and transform it with the power of your mind and your conviction to speak up. Stranger things have happened.
