Sadie Sink almost lost her breakthrough role as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things due to her “old” age.
The actor recalled her experience auditioning for the role in an interview with Fashion Magazine, where she said casting directors were initially hesitant because she was aged 14 at the time.
“I just begged and pleaded with them to give me more material so I could show them something fresh,” Sink said. She insisted she was “right” for the part of Max, and was later given the role following a chemistry read with co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin.
Max joined the Netflix series in season two, alongside her abusive older brother Billy (Dacre Mongomery). She went on to have a significant role in the fourth season, as the character responsible for the revival of Kate Bush‘s ‘Running Up That Hill’.
Alongside Stranger Things, Sink is also known for roles in the Fear Street trilogy and Taylor Swift’s short film for the track ‘All Too Well’ opposite Dylan O’Brien.
Speaking about Swift, Sink said: “I’m so grateful that she was able to give me such good advice in terms of navigating the industry as a young woman and about life in general.”
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She added: “As a director, she’s just as amazing as you’d think she would be. She is a powerhouse and can do anything she puts her mind to.”
Stranger Things has been renewed for a fifth and final season, which will be entirely set in Hawkins.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, show creator Matt Duffer said: “We wanna go back to a lot of the things we did in season one. A lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had in season one – there’s something nice about coming full circle.”