Caleb McLaughlin is jet-lagged but looking fresh, draped in Dior. I meet the 24-year-old at the Corinthia Hotel in London. Outside, fans swarm the streets opposite the hotel’s historic façade. People of all ages are waiting for a glimpse of the kids they’ve grown up watching on their screens for the last decade.
Stranger Things is the coming-of-age story heard round the world. Since its debut in 2016, the series has grown into a cultural juggernaut – with the fourth season alone racking up over 1.8 billion hours watched and drawing in more than 140 million viewers.
When the four main boys were cast, they were still in middle school. Now they’re young men. McLaughlin got the call at age 13, after a two-year Broadway run of The Lion King. He went from Simba to Netflix stardom the summer before high school.
For the last decade, we’ve watched him grow up on our screen as Lucas Sinclair: a sharp, sceptical kid who loved D&D, but otherwise kept up his guard. Everything shifts with the arrival of Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink – a friend of Caleb’s long before they started the show.
Their slow-burn love story becomes one of the show’s emotional anchors. By the end of season four, Lucas is bloodied, broken, and willing to die for her. He’s become a different person. But who has Caleb McLaughlin become over the past nine years? Who is he in the real world?
This may be Stranger Things’ final chapter, but McLaughlin is only turning a page. With millions of fans and brands desperate to work with him, the horizon is boundless. We talk about navigating adolescence and fame, his spirituality, and the role he’s manifesting next.
Blazer, trousers, waistcoat and shirt: Dolce & Gabbana | Shoes: Grenson | Custom-made bow tie: Felix E Forma
Square mile: Before the Stranger Things audition came about, you were on Broadway. How did you start there?
Caleb McLaughlin: I was in love with performing arts as a kid. I was always dancing when I was younger. My parents took me to see The Lion King, and I told them I wanted to dance on stage. They always followed my lead, and paid attention to what I showed passion for.
I was introduced to Aubrey Lynch, who’s still one of my mentors. He’s one of the original choreographers and dancers of The Lion King. He ran a private workshop for young talent. I joined it and then he picked a couple of us to audition for the show. I auditioned a year later and got the role. I was ten years old. I played young Simba. I sang ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’.
SM: Did you always feel you were a special or different kid?
CM: I never felt I was special. I just did what I loved to do. I wasn’t competitive with anyone but myself.
SM: Did you get taken out of school?
CM: I wanted to be homeschooled since I was in third grade. I was like, ‘How can I get out of this?’ I didn’t like the teachers, but shoutout to Mr Tucci and Ms Fitz. They were great to me. I hated school. Kids need their garden watered, and teachers pick and choose who to water. I was pretty good in school, but I never felt like I was working to my full potential.
Kids need that support and encouragement, but not everyone gets it. I didn’t get that in school, but I got my garden watered at home with my parents.
SM: Who homeschooled you?
CM: My mom. She’s brilliant.
Suit: Edward Sexton | Knitwear: Piacenza | Custom-made rose brooch: Felix E Forma
Coat, suit, shoes and T-shirt: Dior Men | Knitwear: Solid Homme | Belt: Connolly
SM: What were your favourite stories or pieces of art when you were a kid?
CM: Kung Fu Panda, for sure. I loved the Ip Man films – three movies about Wing Chun. I love the fight sequences, the history. I like martial arts because it’s a way of life. An actual martial artist will never fight you.
SM: Do you do any martial arts?
CM: I’ve done Shodokan. I’ve taken Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and boxing. I’m still learning. But I do a lot of meditation. I thought I was a monk when I was younger. I thought I was going to be a monk. I was always into martial arts. I used to meditate on the roof of my house or on my jungle gym just to feel like a monk.
SM: You have a quote on your Instagram: “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Can you tell me about that?
CM: Yes. I operate through the spirit instead of the flesh. When we get caught up in the human experience and the ego, we lose ourselves. I have a personal relationship with God. In the Bible, it talks about living through the spirit; not getting caught up in worldly desires. If you rely on external things, you’ll never be satisfied. I rely on my spirit so that I can love and forgive others.
SM: What are your spiritual practices?
CM: I pray every day and every night. I pray for my family, my friends, and the world. I don’t think about myself when I pray because prayer is needed for all. I grew up in the church. My father is a pastor.
SM: What is your family’s denomination?
CM: Baptist. But I’d say I’m more spiritual. I listen to gospel music a lot. My favourite gospel song right now is ‘Love Said Not So’ by BeBe and CeCe Winans. It’s a beautiful song.
SM: Has your relationship with faith always remained strong while growing up, or has it wavered?
CM: It’s stayed quite strong, but of course, that happens. As a kid, it was way stronger than it is now. I’m getting back to that place now. Everything is optimistic as a kid. The grass is greener than it’s ever been. Nothing can go wrong. And then you get older and you see people deal with loss.
My grandmother passed away when I was in The Lion King. Life starts happening. Then there’s the news and politics. It gets more complicated, and that is when your faith is tested. That is why I remain in the spirit. If I operated from the flesh, I’d always be disappointed.
SM: What you are describing is why I believe Stranger Things has resonated with the world the way it has. In the Upside Down, the kids wake up to another part of the world as they get older. When did you feel that you started waking up to that in the real world?
CM: It’s just started. I realised I knew more about Lucas than I did about myself. People ask me about Lucas all the time. I had to put Caleb to the side. I knew everything about Lucas. Lucas is part of the AV club, he has these friends, his girlfriend that he loves. But then I was like, ‘What do I love? Who am I?’
The show has a subtextual, allegorical layer that many people can relate to. The Upside Down represents the battles that we deal with in our minds. In season four, that becomes clear in how Vecna attacks the mind. In season one, it’s anonymous; no one knows where it comes from.
Joyce is the example of people when she says, ‘I’m not crazy’, but everyone else says she is. That’s how we feel as people. Sometimes we’re in our head or something’s wrong and no one listens to us. The show brings that out. There are a lot of storylines, including mine, that people can really relate to. The friendship and the family. It brings people together.
Jacket: Cloth Surgeon | Shirt and trousers: Connolly
SM: So you feel you are becoming an adult now. What have been the most challenging moments in your life behind the scenes of the show growing up?
CM: Navigating adolescence. I put way too much pressure on myself, expecting myself to be this man that I just wasn’t. But I’m doing a grown man’s job. Now interviews are great, and I feel more comfortable, and I can express myself.
As a kid, I didn’t know my left from my right. I wasn’t word-savvy. I didn’t know how to do that as a kid. I used to beat myself up about an interview I’d done, thinking I sounded so dumb, or thinking ‘Why did I look like that?’ In these moments of adolescence as a teenager, you judge yourself the most. It’s the time you’re supposed to mess up and do dumb things.
But there’s no room for that. It was really challenging, but it made me a stronger person. I’m glad I felt the pressure that I did. Now I know how to isolate it.
SM: When the show blew up, did your parents ever sit you down and warn you about what that might mean?
CM: I remember feeling like this show would change my life. But you don’t know until you’re in it. I didn’t have a real conversation about it with them until last year. This is why it’s so nice to have the cast because they understand. They went through the exact same thing.
People often ask me if I feel like I missed out on my childhood experience. People try to make you feel bad about your situation or world, but I’m cool with what happened. I never went to high school; I was going to Japan to promote the show.
It’s an unspoken feeling. Not having many friends, having a harder time trusting people, and not being able to go to certain places. My parents will say, ‘Go out more’ – but they didn’t grow up the way I did. I don’t have that luxury.
Coat, shirt and trousers: Fendi | Hat: Lock & Co Hatters | Gloves: Connolly
Suit: Edward Sexton | Knitwear: Piacenza | Custom-made rose brooch: Felix E Forma
SM: Do you feel more comfortable with it all now?
CM: Yes. This press run has been very therapeutic for me. We’ve all been very honest about our feelings for the last ten years. It’s been very reflective. It isn’t the celebrity experience; it’s the Stranger Things experience. The cast understands that more than anyone.
SM: How are you feeling about the show concluding after nine years?
CM: Overjoyed and grateful. I’m looking back on all the good days and bad days.
SM: What memories will stay with you longest from this whole journey?
CM: My first day on set. I remember my first fitting, even. I remember going into school and meeting Millie [Bobby Brown] for the first time. We’d film and then have class. It wasn’t just filming, it was my high school experience.
SM: Stranger Things Academy.
CM: Exactly. I remember riding our bikes on set, and taking school pictures. For us, it was the first day of high school. I remember the day Sadie [Sink] came onto set on season two.
SM: You and Sadie knew each other before the show, didn’t you?
CM: Yes – she was on the Broadway circuit. We were already friends from when we were little. It’s actually wild. It’s so deep. We used to play hide-and-seek together on the eighth floor of the Times Square Marriott – my sister, her sister, and us two. Sadie was nine or ten. I was eleven.
Leather jacket and trousers: Miu Miu | Shirt: Connolly | Hat on table: Lock & Co Hatters
SM: Your character has this great love in the show with Sadie’s character. Have you fallen in love yet in your personal life?
CM: I haven’t yet. Every time I feel like I have, I haven’t. But I know that I can. I want to fall in love. I’m a lover boy. I think I’ve guarded myself from falling in love for all the obvious reasons: heartbreak and trusting people. I’m very Lucas in that way. Lucas will catch Max every time. He will die for his love. That’s me.
I’m chivalrous. I’m a soldier. I will do anything for my lady. I need to make sure I’m doing that for the right person. I want to be the man that I want to be.
SM: Who is the man you want to be?
CM: The person my parents raised me to be, and the person that I know I am. Vulnerable. There’s a stigma around nice guys, you know – ‘Nice guys finish last’ – but I want someone to appreciate the quality of my kindness. I am a genuinely kind person. A lot of people aren’t.
SM: Music is a massive part of this show. ‘Running Up That Hill’ by Kate Bush keeps Max connected to her life and reality. What is that song for you?
CM: ‘HEIS’ by Rema.
SM: I see you training on your Instagram. What are you training for?
CM: Life. I’ve always been into acrobatics and athleticism. I love body movement. I train for myself but also for the future.
SM: Do you have a project in mind?
CM: I’d love to be a superhero. Miles Morales or Static Shock who’s a DC comic. I love Peter Parker. I grew up watching Spider-Man from when I was very little. It was the first super hero I ever fell in love with. My next movie that’s coming out is called GOAT. Sony is animating it. Stephen Curry is producing it.
SM: Should we end with a moment to manifest?
CM: Let’s!
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Watch all seasons of Stranger Things on Netflix.
