Millie Bobby Brown shares farewell letter to ‘Stranger Things’
Stranger Things has officially wrapped. As the filming of its fifth and final season, the cast is saying emotional goodbyes to the characters they’ve played since 2016. Millie Bobby Brown, in particular, shared a moving letter to her character and fellow cast.
It’s important to remember that while Stranger Things has been a part of audiences’ lives since 2016 as one of Netflix’s most successful shows in their history, the cast has been working on it much longer. Initial casting was announced back in 2015, and the extended gaps between seasons are necessary to account for just how long the show takes to make. For season five especially, filming began in December 2023 and just wrapped, meaning that the cast and crew have been focused on creating the show for a year, likely creating an intense on-set experience that makes them bond deeply.
For the younger cast members especially, these roles have defined and dominated their early careers. Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, was only 12 when the show began. Now at 20 years old, Stranger Things has seen her through her childhood, teens and early adulthood.
So it’s really no wonder that saying goodbye to her character and the crew was an emotional experience for the actor. While the official Stranger Things account announced that the last season had wrapped with a series of photos along with a simple caption of, “THAT’S A WRAP ON STRANGER THINGS. See you in 2025”, Brown shared her own posting, including a video of a moving letter she wrote to say goodbye.
Seen tearfully reading a speech from her phone on set, Brown began, “Isn’t graduation supposed to bring relief, like you’re glad to leave behind the teachers and classmates? Not me. I am nowhere near ready to leave you guys.”
In the video snippet, she continued, “I love each and every one of you, and I’ll forever carry the memories and bonds we’ve created together as a family. I love you. Thank you.”
The video was part of a collection of behind the scenes photos Brown shared from the years she has spent working on the series. She captioned it, “With love, El,” as a reference to the character which launched her career.
Previously, Brown has admitted to feeling ready to say goodbye to the show. “When you’re ready, you’re like, ‘All right, let’s do this. Let’s tackle this last senior year. Let’s get out of here,’” she told Glamour, adding, “Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and it’s preventing me from creating stories that I’m passionate about. So I’m ready to say, ‘Thank you, and goodbye.’” However, it seems as if the actual act of saying goodbye and the realisation that the show is over proved much more emotional than she expected.
The details of the final season of Stranger Things remain largely unknown. The titles of the episodes have been revealed and it’s been shared that the season will be set in 1987, which is a year and a half on from the end of season four. But beyond that, the creators are keeping their cards close to their chest with even the release date as yet unknown.