Stranger Things Star Thinks Shooting Delays Could Be “Blessing” for Writers, Addresses Episode Count

Of the many movie and TV productions that were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the most disappointing is the fourth season of Stranger Things, though star Natalia Dyer noted that it could end up being helpful to the writers, as they were given more time to craft the overall trajectory of the new season as opposed to working on the later episodes after shooting on the earlier episodes began. The actress also may have confirmed that the upcoming season will have nine episodes as opposed to last season’s eight, though she merely addressed this theory based on a photo of a stack of scripts as opposed to coming from a place of expert authority.

“Normally, we get the first few scripts, and then they have to keep writing due to the schedule of it,” Dyer shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “And it takes a while to craft a script. So, normally, there’s a kind of ‘writing as we’re going,’ but it seems they’ve had enough time. I think it’s maybe been a blessing for the writers, in some way, because they had the time to just sit down, think, and create. So, yeah, it appears to be that they’ve got it all down.”

When addressing the possibility that the Stranger Things writers posted a stack of nine scripts on social media earlier this year, Dyer replied, “It appears to be.”

Both the first and third seasons of the series consisted of eight episodes, while the second season contained nine episodes. Interestingly, Season Two featured one episode that almost entirely explored the adventures of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) after she left the rest of the group behind, while the seasons with eight episodes have almost entirely focused on the entire ensemble of characters in various groupings.

Dyer also noted that the series had been filming for a few weeks and that she was disappointed to have had to stop production after just getting into the groove of shooting.

“I think we were just maybe a few weeks into filming. I was still kind of getting used to it and finding the flow of it and getting my body used to waking up at whatever hour,” the actress confessed of having to halt production. “Yeah, it was wild. At first, it was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to go on a two-week hiatus,’ and then, it was like, ‘Okay, we’re really going to go on a hiatus.’ So, yeah, it’s kind of wild to think about because it’s something that you look forward to so much, and there’s so much preparation and excitement around it. And then, we start and stop. And now, it’s been quite a while. But I’m very, very excited for when we do go back. I’m excited by the scripts. I’m excited for everything that this season is going to be. But yeah, it’s an interesting time to be in this industry, for sure.”

It’s unclear when production will resume on the series, likely meaning we won’t get the fourth season until sometime on 2021.

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