With young actor Nell Fisher at the helm, Holly Wheeler—the youngest member of the Wheeler family, who previously mostly observed Hawkins’ supernatural chaos from the sidelines—is finally getting her chance to shine. In the fifth and final season of the Duffer brothers’ “Stranger Things,” Vecna returns, Eleven faces a military threat, and Holly even earns her own episode title, “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” a callback to the show’s iconic first episode, “The Vanishing of Will Byers.”
Here, Fisher opens up about her process of developing Holly, her genuine connection with the rest of the “Stranger Things” cast, and what it’s really like navigating the Upside Down’s notorious goo.
Holly is stepping into a much bigger role this season. How did you approach taking on a character who audiences have watched grow up as a different actor but haven’t really heard from yet?
I think that was a challenge stepping into the role, but I actually met with [twins] Anniston and Tinsley Price, who played Holly before. I spent a couple hours with them—we actually met up at a trampoline park. We talked about who they thought Holly was and who I thought Holly was.
They talked about how Holly has always had a sense that something is wrong in the Upside Down in Hawkins, because she always has. In Season 1, she saw the Demogorgon reaching through the wall. But this season, things finally get explained to her, which is quite a cool story to tell.
When did you learn that the second episode of the season was titled “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” and what was it like keeping that a secret?
I first heard the episode name at a table read we did in December 2023. I was pretty surprised, because it’s such a throwback to the gloriousness that is Season 1. I feel really honored to be able to take that on.
How do you deal with Holly’s intense emotions and portraying them onscreen?
It’s quite tricky because at the start, she is very much friends with Mr. Whatsit. [She] believes him and trusts him, whereas as an actor I know that this isn’t the case. I do take my process quite seriously. I look at the script and where I’ve been, and my lines and how my character is feeling, and so I never find it too hard to portray those difficult emotions.
But if I had to do a scene where I had to cry or sob, and everything else I usually did wasn’t getting me there, I would listen to the song “Bright Horses” by Nick Cave, which is just the most beautiful and heartbreaking song. That would just give me a flood of tears.
What was it like stepping into an already established ensemble? Did any of the cast give you advice about working on the show?
I was definitely very nervous stepping in, because these people have been working together and have formed those connections for a decade. So going in was quite daunting. But my first day on set was the scene where the Byers and the Wheelers were all having breakfast together. I had huge numbers of the cast come up to me and say hi and introduce themselves. That really put me at ease, and made me really excited to be able to work with such an amazing, extraordinary group of actors.
Can you speak on what it’s like working with Sadie Sink?
I loved working with Sadie so much. She’s such an incredible actor and person in general. I really look up to her as a mentor. I think she’s built such an incredible career. I actually met her for the first time at a screen test and in-person audition, and we just got along like a house on fire from day one.
How about Jamie Campbell Bower? What’s the working dynamic like there?
I loved working with him. I think he’s such a talented actor. It was really interesting to watch him, because he really takes his process and his art really seriously. I felt like I did learn a lot just by watching him work, how he spent his time in between shots and scenes. He taught me that often it’s actually fine to just be in that scene and in that moment and in that dark emotion, and not have to necessarily be on and chatty and friendly and vibrant all the time—which I think and hope really helped my performance.
One piece of advice that Jamie gave me was really just to watch, because I was surrounded by such extraordinary talent. Just being able to watch them and to absorb and to soak up everything that they did and how they behaved onscreen, off-screen, in between shots. It’s just always learning.
Do you have any advice for younger performers on building genuine friendship and connections on set?
It can be intimidating going onto a set with much older actors and much more established actors, and there can be a temptation to behave in a certain way and put on a front to hide your insecurities. But my advice is that if you are on that set, you belong there. And the best way to connect with your fellow actors is to be yourself and be open. You do end up forming these really close connections that you don’t really get outside of a film set. There’s a pre-existing kind of glue, and then you just have to step into there and it all sucks you in.
Much like the Upside Down.
Yeah, so much goo. So much goo. Literally, it was sort of the bane of my existence. My purple jumpsuit got covered in goo during the Demogorgon attack, but it molded when my knees were bent because I was crawling on the floor. From then on, I had a kneecap-shaped bump in my dungarees where it was [like] tapping on rock. The goo was that hard.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
