Stranger Things Star Sadie Sink Talks ‘Darker’ Season 4: ‘The Energy Has Shifted’

Sadie Sink is getting candid about her role as Max Mayfield in the “darker” new season of Stranger Things, now airing its fourth season on Netflix.

“The biggest difference this season is just the distance between everyone and how we’ve all been split up,” she told Glamour UK for its June cover story. “The energy has shifted a little this time and things are a lot darker, but I also loved that we got to explore more human emotions in this season. We’re tackling trauma and everything ties in so brilliantly with the show.”

Season 4 of Stranger Things resumes six months after the events of the Season 3 finale, which saw the destruction of much of Hawkins, Indiana, as well as the apparent deaths of some fan-favorite characters, including Sadie Sink’s on-screen brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) and Hopper (David Harbour). However, we found out prior to Season 4 that Hopper turned out to have survived the Battle of Starcourt and is actually being held by the Soviets.

Also Read: Who Is the Enemy in Top Gun: Maverick?

Sink joined the cast of Stranger Things in Season 2 in 2017. Her character, Max, moves to Hawkins from California with her stepbrother, Billy, her mother, and her new stepdad. Fond of skateboarding and arcade games, Max soon becomes best friends with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). She used to date Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), but by Season 4, they have broken up.

Calling the new season the most “bizarre” one so far, Sink talked about her character Max’s journey since she lost her brother Billy last season.

“She’s still processing Billy’s death, but in typical Max fashion, she kind of shuts herself off from everything, including her friends. She’s a lot more closed off and separated from the other kids this season. In fact, things start off rough for her and they just keep on getting worse,” she said. “I wanted to do something that felt truthful to Max and who she is and the writing on this season was just so on point with that, which helped a lot.”

Stranger Things Season 4: Volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 will begin streaming on July 1.

Main Image: (L to R) Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield and Joe Keery as Steve Harrington in STRANGER THINGS. Courtesy of Netflix.