Warning: Stranger Things 2 spoilers ahead!
At the very end of the new season of Stranger Things, new girl Max (Sadie Sink) shares a kiss with Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) at the school’s Snow Ball dance.
However, it turns out that Sadie was not enthused about the unscripted kiss.
In an interview recently, it was revealed that as a joke, one of the show’s creators, Ross Duffer, had asked Sadie if she was ready for the kiss with Caleb. The 15-year-old actress said she was stressed out all day about the impending kiss as it had not been in the script.
33-year-old Ross said to Sadie in the interview, “You reacted so strongly to this, I was just joking … you were just so freaked out that I was like, well I gotta make her do it now.”
The Stranger Things creator called the kiss Sadie’s ‘fault’ because if it were not for her intense reaction, he wouldn't have insisted on the kiss happening. The kiss happened in front of extras, their parents, and the young cast members’ parents as well.
16-year-old Caleb also shared that it was his first kiss.
Fans took to Twitter, incensed at the director’s desire to pressure Sadie into doing something that clearly made her uncomfortable.
“I’m all for Stranger Things but the Duffer Brothers pushing a child actor to do an unscripted kiss has left me a little shook,” one fan tweeted.
Actress and producer Dani Kind sympathised with the young actress, saying, “This happens on sets all the time. Being presented with a ‘script change’. Call it what you will, it’s not OK. Enough.”
Stranger Things fans have also been concerned over some people sexualising the child actors, who are all either 16 years old or younger.
Recently, 27-year-old Texan model Ali Michael posted a picture of 14-year-old Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike) on her Instagram story, saying, “Not to be weird, but hit me up in four years @finnwolfhardofficial.”
Mara Wilson, former child actress who starred in classics like Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire, called out a retired NBC Universal executive who tweeted, “Millie Bobby Brown just grew up in front of our eyes. (She’s 13!).” His tweet included a picture of the young actress, who plays Eleven, on the red carpet.
“Knock it the f*ck off,” Mara replied.
“They are kids. They are kids. They are kids,” one fan tweeted about the child actors.
Are you a Stranger Things fan? What do you think of how the public treats child stars?
