Caleb McLaughlin opens up about racism in the Stranger Things fandom

There have been lots of high-profile cases in the past several years of actors of color getting disproportionate amounts of hate for daring to have darker skin in a popular movie or TV show. The backlash to John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran being in the Star Wars sequel saga was so bad that producers warned actor Moses Ingram before she debuted in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. Steve Toussaint has said he was “racially abused” over playing Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon, and the discourse around The Rings of Power got so toxic that Amazon put out its own statement.

This kind of thing has basically become standard for high-profile movies and TV shows these days, so it’s no surprise to hear that Caleb McLaughlin struggled with it after debuting as Lucas Sinclair on Stranger Things, which is heading into its fifth and final season.

“It definitely took a toll of me as younger Caleb,” McLaughlin said while at Heroes Comic Con in Belgium this past weekend. “At my very first Comic-Con, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me, ‘Oh, I didn’t want to be on line because you were mean to Eleven.’ Even now, some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black. Sometimes overseas, you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes, it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger, it definitely affected me a lot.”

Caleb McLaughlin will play Lucas for one more season of Stranger Things

McLaughlin also remembered wondering why many fans considered Lucas their least favorite character or why he had less followers on social media than his fellow co-stars. “My parents had to be like, ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show … Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved,” he said. “But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people who give hate to me.”

When Stranger Things premiered in 2016, McLaughlin was 14 years old. He’s 20 now. Outside of the show, he starred alongside Idris Elba in the 2020 Netflix film Concrete Cowboy. We’ll see him as Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things season 5, which likely won’t be out for a while.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t SyFy Wire