"Presented with a true fear": Gaten Matarazzo opens up about portraying Dustin's changed persona ahead of Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2

Gaten Matarazzo opens up about portraying Dustin Henderson and his evidently changed persona in Stranger Things' final season. While speaking with Elite Daily ahead of the release of Part 2, he emphasized that grief has transformed Henderson in the final season. Matarazzo revealed that the pressure, as the show progresses, was not just about scale or visibility but also emotional, as it compelled all the actors to take their characters to darker places.

For Dustin, that darkness comes from Eddie Munson's death, which marks the first time he loses someone he truly idolized and loved. This caused his character to realize how this could happen with other people in his life, too.

“It’s harder to leave on good terms than it is on bad terms. Dustin lost somebody he loves so much in Eddie, and he’s being presented with a true fear of it happening to the other people in his life, especially Steve.”

Read on to know what else the actor revealed about his character in Stranger Things and the emotional turmoil Dustin was going through.

Here is what Gaten Matarazzo revealed about playing Dustin and what changes his character in Stranger Things 5

Eddie wasn't just a friend of Dustin's but also embodied that being different could be brave. When Dustin loses him, it shatters his sense of safety. While speaking with Elite Daily, Gaten Matarazzo revealed,

“The biggest challenge was trying to make sure he didn’t feel like a different character. Season 5’s Dustin feels like the antithesis of Dustin, especially with how he interacts with his friends.”

This suggests how grief transformed Matarazzo's character in Stranger Things Season 5. His humor and optimism that define him are gone. Dustin becomes quieter and more distant. He has not changed but is pulling away to survive pain. According to the actor, this becomes the emotional engine of Dustin's arc. He is hit by the inevitable truth of this world: that this could happen to anybody.

Dustin and Steve seemed tense after the incident in Stranger Things, and the actor agrees that the distance is painful to play. He had to act aloof and detached while also intentionally hurting Steve in the season to push him away before he is taken from him.

“Not only is it difficult to be detached and not have as much fun, but I had a really hard time being as mean to Steve as I was,” he says. “That was a real bummer. I know it makes sense, but Dustin really does try to actively hurt him throughout this season.”

Further in the interview, Matarazzo also acknowledged that he and Joe Keery, who plays Steve, are close and long-standing friends.

“We’ve been able to reshape our relationship to being true friends, and we get to see each other in our own time quite frequently.”

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When they started filming Stranger Things in Season 1, Matarazzo was a kid, and Keery felt like a protective, funny older brother on set. Now, they have built a stronger bond, as the actor points out.

Therefore, in Stranger Things 5, Eddie's death is indeed shaping Gaten's character, Dustin, making him feel insecure about the people he has in his life, especially Steve. As a result, he is intentionally acting detached from him, and this on-screen tension is even harder to play, given that the actors share a strong off-screen bond.

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