In Season 5 of Stranger Things, fans see a de-aged Noah Schnapp’s face digitally mapped onto a younger actor, Luke Kokotek, to recreate Season 1’s Will Byers trapped in Castle Byers.The visual effects studio behind this is Lola VFX, which handled both face and hair replacement to bring younger Will to life. This isn’t the first time Stranger Things has done this kind of de-aging. Millie Bobby Brown’s character, Eleven, also went through the same process (in Season 4) to recreate her younger self.Stranger Things: How Schnapp stepped into an unexpected “director” roleNoah Schnapp admitted he wasn’t just watching but actually helped guide Luke Kokotek, the young actor playing a de-aged Will.He added:"I stepped into those director shoes that we don’t really get the chance to do on the show"He described how he had to reflect on his own Stranger Things Season 1 acting: how he moved, how he breathed, how he turned, then teach that to a kid. Schnapp also added that it felt “fun” but also challenging. The digital effect isn’t perfect, but it turned out pretty smoothly. He laughed that it was cute working with a “little kid” who just tried to follow his body language.Millie’s take: Reflecting, reaching, and laughingMillie Bobby Brown said she was “excited” to see how the de-aging turns out for Schnapp in Stranger Things. She also admitted she had to think back hard about how she played Eleven ten years ago:"How did I, why did I?"She realized things had changed a lot since then. There was no big social media, and she had like 25 followers, she says. That humility, she pointed out, was helpful when guiding her younger counterpart.Guiding the younger Eleven: Millie’s on-set mentorshipFor the de-aged Eleven scenes, Millie worked closely with Martie Blair, the actress who played young Eleven.She told Martie:"It’s okay … we are going to look silly because we aren’t actually moving anything with our minds, but let’s just harness that … together."Brown revealed that during takes, she sat just out of camera range, screamed with Martie, and extended her hand to make Martie feel truly connected. That kind of encouragement, Brown believes, lets Martie tap into the same raw power Eleven felt, even though she’s just acting.Why this behind-the-scenes work mattersStranger Things (Image Source: Netflix)By coaching their younger doubles, Schnapp and Brown didn’t just replicate performances, but they helped recreate the spirit of their younger selves in Stranger Things. Their involvement makes those flashback scenes feel more emotionally real, not just CGI gimmickry.It shows how much the actors care about their characters and how deeply they think about Stranger Things’ story. This kind of actor-driven mentoring isn’t super common in VFX-heavy TV, so their hands-on work is pretty impressive.Seeing Schnapp and Brown in these “director” roles helps explain why those de-aged scenes don’t feel flat or fake. Their emotional memory around how they moved and acted in Season 1 becomes part of the performance on screen now.It’s a neat reminder: Stranger Things isn’t just about big effects or nostalgia. The actors themselves carry forward the past. And they do it with real care.