Winona Ryder and Brett Gelman in ‘Stranger Things.’ Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
The perfect scene partner! Reflecting on season 4 of filming Stranger Things, Brett Gelman revealed that having Murray team up with Joyce — without Hopper — offered a unique professional highlight for him.
“It was surreal not having David [Harbour] there. It was also a great opportunity to spend time one-on-one with one of my acting heroes. [Winona Ryder],” Gelman, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the show’s return. “One of the people who taught me how to act by watching them as I was growing up.”
The comedian noted that Ryder, 50, was an influential part of his own career, adding, “We are really close in age, but she was a famous movie star very early on. I grew to admire her and was inspired by her. Getting to act with her and become friends with her and getting to know her more than I already had in season 3 was a complete dream come true for me.”
Murray’s season 4 arc focuses on him reuniting with Joyce after she receives a message that Hopper may still be alive. The first volume of the series, which began streaming on Friday May 27, saw the twosome travel to Alaska, before heading to a Russian labor camp, where their friend was taken after the explosion in Starcourt Mall.
Natalia Dyer, Brett Gelman, Charlie Heaton in ‘Stranger Things.’ Netflix
Gelman said that his experience playing his eccentric character over the years taught him important lessons. “Nothing is easy when you are doing anything. Acting is difficult or easy for me. It is like a mess and preparation yet at the same time it is focused,” he shared with Use. “I know that it is like we are playing contradiction games here, but that really is the truth about it to me. It was just really fun to get back.”
The Illinois native was praised Stranger ThingsThank you for allowing him humor to the sci fi series. “Part of doing this show is very much living a childhood fantasy of playing a character in a world that I sort of grew up watching. It is amazing to be able to do this myself. To get to be funny in this kind of cantankerous and anxiety-ridden way,” Gelman said. “Murray is very complex and complicated.”
Gelman also elaborated on his character’s tumultuous history with the people of Hawkins, Indiana. “I think that he learns a lot about simplicity from the people of Hawkins too. They are like bumpkins. They are so dumb,” he joked, before adding, “Down deep I think he knows that they are really intelligent people and that intelligence at the end of the day doesn’t matter. What matters is decency, courage, and a sense of humor. I think that is something he believes as well.”
Season 4 Stranger ThingsNetflix is streaming it now
