Stranger Things season 4 character ages: How old are the characters compared to real life?

Stranger Things season 4 is in full swing! After nearly a three-year-long hiatus, the popular sci-fi series returned to Netflix on May 27, and many would have noticed that the cast looks majorly different nowadays compared to their baby-faced characters in seasons 1 through 3. But that’s to be expected, right?

According to the official synopsis for Stranger Things season 4, it’s only been “six months since the Battle of Starcourt” from season 3. So how old would that make their characters?

The main cast members of the show were as young as 11 when they first started shooting scenes for the Netflix show, and we’ve watched them grow up alongside the series. But you’ll still probably be shocked to learn how old they’re supposed to be on the show.

Here’s how old the cast members of Stranger Things are compared to the ages of the characters they play in season four of the show.

Stranger Things character ages

In an interview ahead of the release of the newest season, Millie Bobby Brown was shocked to learn how old her character, Eleven, is on the show. When asked by the interviewer what fans of the show can expect from their characters in this season, Noah Schnapp launched into an explanation before being interrupted by Millie who questioned whether Will is older than her or not.

This led to Millie Bobby Brown confessing that she doesn’t know “how old Eleven is.” And while she originally believed that the roles they play would be a rough reflection of how old they are in real life, she was surprised to learn that her character is actually 14, compared to her real-life 18 years! Watch the interview below!

So how old are the rest of the cast compared to their characters?

• Finn Wolfhard is 19 years old in real life but portrays 15-year-old Mike Wheeler on the show. He was cast on Stranger Things at the age of 13.
• Noah Schnapp who plays 15-year-old Will Byers is just 17 years old in real life, making him the youngest member of the main Stranger Things squad.
• Caleb McLaughlin is 20 years old in real life! Given that all the gang is roughly aged the same, Lucas Sinclair is also 15 while on the show, which is a pretty big age gap in real life if you think about it.
• Gaten Matarazzo who plays 15-year-old Dustin Henderson is 19 years old in real life! While he appears to be most like his character in real life, the age gap is still pretty prominent.
• Sadie Sink is 20, but according to The Tab, her character Max is slightly older than her friends. Now in season four, Max is supposed to be 16 years old.
• Joe Keery probably gave us the biggest shock when it came to his age. While Steve Harrington is a fresh graduate from Hawkins High, making him roughly 18 or 19 years old on the show, in real life Joe is actually 30 years old!
• Maya Hawke who portrays Robin Buckley is 23 years old in real life, and while there hasn’t been a specific mention of her age on the show, we guesstimate that she’s just a year younger than Steve as she’s still in high school, making her most likely 17 going on 18.
• Natalia Dyer, who portrays Nancy Wheeler, is supposed to be 18 years old, but in real life the actress is almost a decade older than her on-screen character. Natalia is 27 years old.
• Charlie Heaton’s character Jonathan Byers is 18 years old on the show and awaiting news from collages, but in real life, he is 10 years older than his character as he’s 28 years old!