Gaten Matarazzo has ‘deep fear’ over Stranger Things end as it’s provided ‘great job security’

Gaten Matarazzo says the conclusion of Stranger Things after five seasons has made for a variety of emotions, including excitement and fear.

The 20-year-old actor appeared Monday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was asked if the ending of the show had a ‘bittersweet’ tone to it.

‘There’s kind of an excitement there because you always want to wrap it up and you want to see how these characters are going to finally develop one last time, and how they’re going to finish their journeys,’ said the actor, who has played the role of Dustin Henderson on the sci-fi series since 2016.

The New London, Connecticut native said ‘there’s like a deep fear’ about getting back into the unpredictable marketplace of acting work after seven years on the series.

‘Not only has it been amazing, but it’s been pretty great job security for a while,’ he said. ‘Back to freelance.’

Matarazzo emphasized the impact the popular show has made in its run.

‘It’s interesting to constantly just be reminded how much people have resonated with it,’ he said.

Matarazzo, a regular on the series that also stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp and Charlie Heaton, said of the series: ‘I mean, it’s something that’s so important to all of us and has just been essential to the growth that I’ve had over all of my teenage years into my 20s.

‘It’s the defining aspect of the past 10 years of my life, practically the past decade.’

Matarazzo credited the show’s creators Matt and Ross Duffer for giving the performers flexibility in fleshing out their characters.

‘It’s really interesting ’cause they trust us all very much to make our own decisions and go about the scenes the way we’ve always instinctually wanted to,’ he said.

Matarazzo said he would ‘love to see a good launchpad for growth’ for the characters, as he said he hoped to see them ‘move on from the trauma they’ve endured over the past few years.’

Matarazzo in recent years has also worked on projects such as the Paramount+ film Honor Society and provided vocals for animated films such as The Angry Birds Movie and My Father’s Dragon.

The Duffer brothers, in announcing the conclusion of the series last year, said they had ‘planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things’ from the beginning and had ‘predicted the story would last four to five seasons.’

The actor appeared Monday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was asked if the ending of the show had a ‘bittersweet’ tone to it 

The New London, Connecticut native said ‘there’s like a deep fear’ about getting back into the unpredictable marketplace of acting work after seven years on the series 

He said, ‘Not only has it been amazing, but it’s been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance’

Matarazzo credited the show’s creators Matt and Ross Duffer for giving the performers flexibility in fleshing out their characters 

He said, ‘It’s really interesting cause they trust us all very much to make our own decisions and go about the scenes the way we’ve always instinctually wanted to’ 

The actor has played the role of Dustin Henderson on the sci-fi series since 2016