‘Stranger Things’ Uses Digital Magic To Make Its Stars Look Younger Again

The new season of “Stranger Things” has arrived, and this time the production team faced a challenge they could not avoid: the young cast is no longer young.

After almost ten years on screen, the actors have grown up, but the story still needs moments from their early years. Because of this, Salon reports that Netflix used digital de-aging to make certain characters look like kids again.

One of the biggest examples appears in a new preview scene that focuses on Will Byers. Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, is now in his twenties, but the show needed him to look much younger for a flashback.

To make this work, Deadline explains that a child actor, Luke Kotokek, performed the scenes on set. Later, a visual effects team replaced Kotokek’s face with a recreated younger version of Schnapp.

The show has done something similar before. Millie Bobby Brown had her face digitally adjusted in a previous season for a younger version of Eleven, with another actor stepping in for the physical performance.

Whether more cast members will undergo the same treatment this season is still unclear, but it remains possible. The technology itself isn’t new, yet it stands out here because viewers have grown up alongside these characters. As Salon put it, “Time may move strangely in the Upside Down, but the actors’ hormones do not care.”

Schnapp told Deadline he tried to help Kotokek understand how young Will moved and reacted so the final effect would look closer to his performance.

At long last… we can begin. The trailer for the epic final season of STRANGER THINGS is here pic.twitter.com/w4WuzuCqRs

— sƃuᴉɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs (@Stranger_Things) October 30, 2025

He said, “I asked [Millie] for help, honestly. I was like, ‘How did you work with the kid when you had to do it?’” He explained that he had to think back on how he behaved years ago. He also admitted the final look may not be perfect, saying, “It’s a little digital-looking… but it turned out pretty well.”

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