Barry Pierce: I’ve watched the first few episodes of the new season of Stranger Things, and it really hit me – this is a show I’ve been following for almost a decade now. That’s wild to think about. And that’s just from my perspective as a viewer. You’ve actually been living inside this world for all those years. How are you dealing with this decade-long project coming to an end?
Joe Keery: Yeah, there’s no rulebook for how to deal with such a thing. It’s almost more of a school-like experience than a job at this point. In terms of my involvement on the project, it’s pretty much done. Last December, when we were wrapping out, I was going through sort of what I imagine you are going through, where you’re watching this thing and experiencing it for the last time. It’s wild to be part of something that lasts that long. I mean, as an actor, you’re lucky to get any job, let alone a job that lasts for [nine years]. The whole time we were filming, I was just trying to soak it up and feel the community that we’ve built for as long as we have. I don’t really feel it now, but when it becomes the time where we’d usually start filming the next season and that doesn’t happen, that’s when I’ll start to feel like, oh, okay, it’s really, actually over.

BP: There were some pretty big gaps between the seasons. The last one came out almost three and a half years ago. You must have found yourself in situations where you’re playing Steve for however many months it takes to film a season, then going back to your normal life for a couple of years, and then returning to reembody the character. What is that kind of schedule like for you as an actor? Did you ever have to go back and watch episodes of the show to remind yourself where things left off?
JK: There’s definitely a little bit of that. I’m not rewatching a ton of the show, to be honest with you. But each time you go back to it, I found that it becomes more difficult because you’re a little bit further away from where you were when you first started the job. This time definitely felt like the biggest stretch of time between seasons. So that was a little tougher at the beginning, but I think just being in the group is what makes it. That’s the dynamic and the tone of the show; it’s the group of people. So once you spend time together and get back into it, it becomes second nature.

BP: I know it’s pretty much impossible to talk about the actual events of this season of Stranger Things, but what can you tell us about Steve this time around? What kind of role does he play?
JK: Oh, man, it’s kind of difficult to say anything, like you said. I think for me, it was learning about how the person who he has been up to this point deals with the maturing of the younger people around him. Having this big brother role was important for him and important for the show, and I think it’s cool to see how that dynamic changes while the other characters are growing up. That was something that I really liked, and something in real life that was really fun for me, too. My relationships with the younger cast changed as they got older, just because they became adults.

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