Behind-the-scenes photos from the early days of Stranger Things

Stranger Things is in a long off-season at the moment, made longer because the coronavirus pandemic has shut down production on the upcoming fourth season. Don’t worry: it’s coming, with the cast members antsy to get back into the thick of things. And in the meantime, the official Twitter account for the Stranger Things writers is giving us a treat: a look back at the very early days of the show, including camera test shots for some of the main characters.

Below, the Stranger Things directors see how stars Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Noah Schapp (Will Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) look on camera:

The picture of Ryder is especially interesting…

Image: Stranger Things/Netflix

…cause I don’t think we’ve ever seen Joyce with that kind of close-cropped hair before. She’s usually sporting some ’80s frizz:

Stranger Things season 3 Joyce Byers. Image courtesy of Netflix.

In another shot, Joyce drives Will through “the woods”:

And behind the scenes of season 2, Steve (Joe Keery) tries to wrangle his gaggle of child charges, probably before they face down an unholy horror from another dimension. As if babysitting wasn’t already hard enough:

Also, congratulations to Stranger Things for winning a Peabody Award, which honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media.

Other TV winners this year include Chernobyl, Fleabag, Succession, The Simpsons and Watchmen.

Okay, I hope that distracted you for a minute. Now we can go back to waiting for Stranger Things season 4.

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