At this point, Wednesday’s first season may forever go down as the most watched English-language release on Netflix, with a combined viewing time that nearly doubles the number of minutes that Stranger Things’ final season was streamed (to date). But what if TV’s spookiest and kookiest horror-comedy added one of Hawkins’ elite to Season 3? Could Wednesday top its own numbers when the upcoming horror TV show returns?

It’s certainly possible, especially since this casting news sets up a huge Beetlejuice franchise reunion, as Winona Ryder is officially joining her previous on-screen daughter Jenna Ortega for the third season of Addams family hijinks. This obviously also marks a reunion between Ryder and show producer Tim Burton, as well as with showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, who penned the script for the second Beetlejuice film. (Ryder also worked with Burton on Edward Scissorhands.)

Though Gough and Millar didn’t offer up any hardcore details about who Ryder will be portraying in the new season, they did pay her quite the compliment when addressing the cast, per Variety. As they put it:

Nothing to argue against in that statement, as Ryder's entire run through the '80s and early '90s falls squarely into the Outcast category. I don't think the Wednesday creative team is aiming to turn that expectation upside -down, either, and I have the perfect idea for who she could play.

Winona Ryder Absolutely Needs To Play Agnes' Mom

Surely, Winona Ryder could be joining Wednesday Season 3 as a completely new character that we don't know anything about, but wouldn't it be cooler if she was playing someone with ties to a familiar? By and large, Evie Templeton's oft-invisible Agnes is my favorite character on the show, and her increasing storyline throughout Season 2 and her growing friendship with Wednesday has me hopeful we'll get even more of her in the third outing.

Which brings us to her parentals, whom we know little about. Her father's name is Seymour, and he split up with her mother at some point years ago. Agnes knows that she went off and married a normal dude and had at least one kid with the guy.

Tell me that Winona Ryder wouldn't be a fantastic choice for this set-up. You can't, because it's perfect. If and when it's revealed that the Heathers vet is playing someone else, I'll be sorely disappointed.

Netflix released a new video to go along with the casting news, revealing even more names in the mix, with a big clue for Winona Ryder's character. Check out the video below.

Ryder's placard notes that her name is Tabitha, and the card has a "B" at the top, though I can't figure out right offhand what it's meant to signify. (The Addams' have "A" on theirs, the Nevermore students and faculty have "N," while the "O" clearly stands for Outcast." So long as the B doesn't stand for "bullcrap on Nick's prediction," I'm still in this.

Others whose cards are noted with a B are:

• Cyrus - Noah Taylor
• Daisy - Kennedy Moyer
• Atticus - Oscar Morgan

They way I figure it, Ryder's Tabitha got together with Noah Taylor's Cyrus, who already had a child from a previous marriage, and they got together and had their own kid. (Not that I can easily buy into Noah Taylor playing a normal character on THIS show, but I guess it's possible.)

To be sure, had Eva Green not already been revealed as the actress playing Morticia's long-lost sister Ophelia, that would have been my go-to choice. But I actually prefer thinking about Ryder as Agnes' mummy dearest.

Thankfully, Wednesday Season 3 is now in production, so we may hopefully get more updates on casting identification in the nearish future. Unless they plan on keeping that role under wraps until the new epsiodes actually arrive.

While waiting for the third season to arrive at some point beyond all the 2026 Netflix releases, both previous seasons of Wednesday are available to stream via Netflix subscription.

It’s been over three years since Vecna opened the gates to the Upside Down on Stranger Things, and while the long gap has caused waning interest for some, that massive Season 5 trailer has ratcheted up excitement for others. It’s going to be bittersweet either way, because as much as I need to see what’s next after that wild Season 4 ending, I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters. It turns out the actors had the same issue, and after hearing about Noah Schnapp’s last day with Winona Ryder, I’m already crying.

Stranger Things first premiered on the Netflix schedule back in 2016, when Noah Schnapp was just 11 years old. That means he (and a lot of the cast) spent the entirety of their teen years playing these characters, so it’s no surprise that he bonded with his TV mom, Winona Ryder. Schnapp recalled wrapping Season 5 and how emotional that goodbye was, telling Variety:

I can kind of relate to this, because how am I fighting back tears over the ending of a show whose final season hasn’t even premiered yet? Noah Schnapp plays Will Byers on the binge-worthy Netflix series, who spent the majority of Season 1 in the Upside Down with his mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) trying to rescue him.

Clearly, playing mother and son for so long bonded the two actors, and I hope Noah Schnapp is right that they will stay in touch.

The Duffer brothers were apparently able to coordinate the Stranger Things Season 5 shooting schedule so that all of the leading actors’ final scene fell on the last day of filming. That led to some very real emotions on set as they were able to watch each other’s final moments.

Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, described the final day of shooting as “emotional and great,” and called those actors his “family for life.” Co-creator Ross Duffer echoed that sentiment, saying both the cast and the crew have become family.

Finn Wolfhard, aka Mike Wheeler, had a really poetic way of describing it, saying that after spending his entire childhood on the Stranger Things set, closing this chapter was like a “Toy Story 3 moment of leaving your toys behind.”

I think we’re going to feel a whole spectrum of emotions when Stranger Things Season 5 hits the 2025 TV schedule. The first volume consists of four episodes and will be released on Wednesday, November 26, with Volume 2 (three episodes) coming on Thursday, December 25, and the series finale dropping on Wednesday, December 31. Be sure your Netflix subscription is up to date, because I’m betting you won’t want to miss this.

Every streaming service has some hit shows, and Stranger Things is at the top of that list for those with a Netflix subscription. The Duffer Brothers' sci-fi epic is one of the best shows to binge on Netflix, and is a bonafide global sensation. Winona Ryder stars as Joyce Byers, and she recently revealed the sweet advice she gave her young co-stars early on.

What we know about Stranger Things 5 is limited, but anticipation couldn't be higher for the impending finale. All eyes are on the future, but Ryder is also looking back and reflecting on how the show began. During an interview with Elle, the actress revealed the words she offered young stars like Millie Bobby Brown, saying:

How sweet is that? The Stranger Things cast became famous overnight, and at a very young age. So Winona tried to instill the importance of the work itself, rather than how big the show became. Given how long she's been a star of TV and film, she definitely has a unique perspective on this subject.

Aside from making sure that her young co-stars appreciate the work of acting, she also tried to offer another important piece of advice: self-worth. In the same interview she spoke about raising the cast up, saying:

She's not wrong. The cast was key to selling Stranger Things, especially back in Season 1 when they were so young. They quickly became household names, especially Millie Bobby Brown. And the show simply wouldn't have captured the hearts of so many fans without their specific contributions as actors.

Stranger Things Season 5 has been delayed a number of times, resulting in over three years passing since Season 4's finale aired in July of 2022. But that hasn't stopped fans like me from patiently counting the days until we get new footage. Stranger Things 5 is splitting its episodes releases into three separate dates, rather than giving us the full season at once. And that should ensure that the fandom experiences the series finale at the same pace.

Stranger Things 5 will air its first four episodes November 26th as part of the 2025 TV premiere schedule. Then we'll get three more episodes December 25th before the series finale is released December 31st. I know what my holiday plans are going to be now.

A biography on Gwyneth Paltrow has just been released, revealing several juicy allegations about the actress. In the biography’s excerpts, journalist author Amy Odell claimed that the Goop founder allegedly had an “icy” attitude on the sets of her movies, such as A Perfect Murder and the Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love, where she won an Oscar. But one allegation I absolutely didn’t see coming was the brutal nickname she reportedly gave Winona Ryder when their friendship was ending.

Why Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder Initially Ran Around Together In Hollywood

Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder were actresses who dominated ‘90s movie roles. So, it’s no surprise that the two were good friends.

According to Gwyneth: A Biography (via DailyMail), Paltrow and Ryder first ran around together in Hollywood during the time she and Brad Pitt dated, starting from 1994. Paltrow’s breakup with Pitt in 1997 led her to move in with Ryder, in need of support from a friend.

The two friends would be in a friendship square, as the Emma actress was in a relationship with Ben Affleck that year, and the Heathers actress was dating Matt Damon. Since Damon and Affleck had a notable Hollywood bromance, this Hollywood foursome would be a perfect blend, right? However, Gwyneth Paltrow’s biography excerpts detailed what reportedly caused the friendship between the two actresses to fall apart.

Why Their Relationship Allegedly Soured, Leading To One Memorable Nickname

Amy Odell’s biography alleged that Winona Ryder and her then-boyfriend, Matt Damon argued. When she came back to her and Gwyneth Paltrow’s apartment, the Lucas actress reportedly claimed to have been robbed. The same thing allegedly happened a second time, where the actress made the same assertion.

Damon was sympathetic to his then-girlfriend’s claims. But the biography said Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly believed Winona Ryder had an ulterior motive in her repeated robbery accounts:

Things between Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder apparently didn’t get any better. In fact, Gwyneth: A Biography stated that the Proof actress allegedly gave the Stranger Things star a brutal nickname I never would have seen coming:

A reportedly brutal nickname like this seems to reflect the alleged state of the deteriorating friendship the two actresses reportedly had. After Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck broke up in 2000, she would go on to marry Coldplay’s Chris Martin in 2003 and have two kids. After their amicable divorce in 2016, Paltrow is now married to producer Brad Falchuk.

As for Winona Ryder, she and Matt Damon broke up in 2000. But ever since 2011, the Reality Bites actress has been dating fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn.

While it’s not surprising drama would be brewing in Hollywood when the cameras are off, I never would have expected Gwyneth Paltrow’s allegedly brutal nickname for her ex-friend Winona Ryder. The biography’s reported revelation shows the complicated dynamics that could occur between two actresses rising to fame in the ‘90s.

Gwyneth: A Biography is available on Amazon and the shelves of your local bookstore. Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2025 movie release, Marty Supreme, hits theaters on Christmas Day. Make sure to also watch Winona Ryder’s 2025 Netflix release of Stranger Things, coming for part one of its final season on November 26th.

Winona Ryder has been in a lot of beloved movies over the years, but every actor has a project or two that got away. As we get ready to see her wrap up her role in Stranger Things Season 5, the actress has shared that one of her early (and generation-defying) movies, Heathers, actually led her to miss out on working opposite Marlon Brando.

Winona Ryder Reveals The Movie She Lost Because Of Heathers

In a new interview with Elle, Winona Ryder recalled being told she was “never gonna work again” after making the 1988 movie, Heathers. At the time, she had already made Beetlejuice and was very much in demand, but apparently, she did lose a job on The Freshman with Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick that had been lined up due to the high school dark comedy, which she has said before was originally going to go to Jennifer Connelly. In her words:

I’ll be honest, I remember Heathers a lot more than The Freshman. Considering Ryder tried to get a sequel for Heathers made at some point, she doesn’t regret her decision to be in the cult classic with Christian Slater. But she was understandably bummed when a role was taken away from her due to some negative feedback about the movie. Marlon Brando is obviously one of the most prestigious actors one can work with, so it was a huge loss. However, Ryder decided not to cower over the decision on the side of The Freshman. She stood her ground, allowed the opportunity to pass, and didn't apologize for the movie she'd already made.

What Happened After Winona Ryder Lost Out On The Freshman

While we don’t know exactly who Ryder was going to play in the movie, it’s very likely that it was the role of Tina Sabatini, who ended up being played by Penelope Ann Miller. Sure, Winona Ryder could have played another great role, but here’s what she said next:

You win some, you lose some, but wow, did Winona Ryder win some. During that era, she was also in Edward Scissorhands and Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Francis Ford Coppola. Additionally, she got two Oscar nominations for The Age of Innocence and Little Women, a few years after the release of Heathers and The Freshman. She then went on to do even more great movies, such as Girl, Interrupted, at the end of the 1990s.

And, now she’s been starring with new young talent as of late, between Jenna Ortega playing her daughter in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, and of course, the cast of Stranger Things. Now, she's getting ready to return to the Netflix megahit, and we can't wait to see her on our screens once again.

Clearly, missing out on this part wasn't too bad in the long run, because she's been thriving for decades.

Even though it’s still hot enough outside to break a sweat just thinking about it, Netflix’s massive Stranger Things Season 5 trailer is now here to put everyone in a holiday state of mind. Being gifted with this new footage may make it feel like Christmas in July, but that’s not Santa and his reindeer out there. It’s Vecna and a bunch of extremely agile Demogorgons. I don’t know why I’m still trying to make that metaphor work.

Probably because I’m so damned excited after watching all this new footage for the final season after months and months of having to subsist on limited new clues about Eleven’s origins and other mysteries, while also gleaning any information possible from the final batch of episode titles. With all this excess excellence to get consumed by, it feels like a great time to excitedly jump from one topic to the next, and I’ll keep my ramblings in mostly sequential order.

The WSQK Radio Station

Clearly this will be a major catalyst location for the season, given how things start off here with Steve. STEVE! And for those unaware, the faux Hawkins broadcaster has been active on social media recently, specifically when it comes to the song "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" which was key to the Season 1 storyline.

The Bunker Of Younger Kids

The trailer makes it look like a whole bunch of characters are worriedly waiting for something major to go down that could potentially affect the majority of characters that we're aware of and then some. It's hard to tell exactly what's happening within that bunker of mostly children, though I don't imagine this represents a fun trip to Camp Central Park.

The Government Is Totally Taking Over Hawkins

It's pretty chilling seeing the kids biking down the road away from town as multiple helicopters and larger vehicles fly towards it. Once you see more than one helicopter in the air, that's it, Jack. Only monsters can follow that.

Eddie’s Defaced Tombstone

How they gonna do Eddie like that? I mean, I'm sure there will still be viewers who question if Eddie is dead or not after watching this trailer, but the insult-emblazoned grave marker does seem to be a good indicator. But that's what they'd WANT us to think.

Jonathan Gets The Trailer's Meaningful Voiceover Narration

Even though one might have expected Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven or Finn Wolfhard's Mike to be dishing out the dialogue in this first big look at the final chapter, it's instead Charlie Heaton's Jonathan talking to Natalia Dyer's Natalie. It's gotta have big implications, no doubt.

Demogorgons Can Climb Trees And Jump Around Like Superheroes

Just in case anyone was under the false impression that Demogorgons AREN'T among the most athletic threats in the universe, there's a shot in the trailer that seems to defy easy logic, with one character leaping from one treetop to another as one of the Upside Down's deadly creatures is reaching upwards while gripping the dead branches. Some real Last of Us vibes happening there. But if I hear one click...

Linda Motherfucking Hamilton

Terminator franchise legend Linda Hamilton previously shared that she'd considered retirement before Stranger Things came knocking, and I think we're all the better for her making the choice to stick with it. Granted, we still don't know very much about what she'll be doing, but THAT HAIR. It's enough to get me watching regardless of anything else.

That Massive Portal To The Upside Down

I love when horror or sci-fi sets up a moment where size and scale become slightly incomprehensible, and that's pretty much what happens here with the two characters standing in front of that gargantuan portal. Burn them all! Burn them all!

Major Jurassic Park Vibes

Considering Jurassic World Rebirth is currently making box office bank, it's pretty fitting that Stranger Things' trailer would feature a moment that seemingly pays homage to a hectic scene in Steven Spielberg's OG blockbuster. I'm talking of course about the bit where Lucas and others are trying to stay quiet as a Demo-dog (assumedly) lurks nearby.

The Radio Tower Of Doom

Linking everything back to the beginning of the trailer is the radio tower that looks as if it's been through better days. The structure looks every bit as ominous as the Mind-Flayer-in-the-sky images from seasons past, and I really hope nobody has to actually climb that thing. It's enough to make the entire lower half of my body pucker in discomfort.

So Much Emotional Sobbing

Obviously the final season of any globally renowned series is going to get emotional for the characters, which goes double for shows that have legitimate life-or-death stakes. Which means I'm not feeling very optimistic about...well, anyone. Natalie, Dustin, Steve and several others are seen to be overwhelmed by tearful feelings. I can certainly hope that those are "Thank God we all got out of this alive" reactions, but that wouldn't be the wisest move.

“Found You”

He's ba-a-a-a-a-ack! Stranger Things' true big bad, Vecna, makes a late-stage appearance, and not in full-frontal fashion. Instead, we only hear his voice and see his gnarly body from behind. Does that mean he'll be looking a little different in Season 5?

With one of the most bizarre TV schedule plans to ever exist, Stranger Things Season 5 will debut on Thanksgiving, will continue on Christmas, and will wrap with its series finale on New Year's Eve.

Even the greatest actors have ups and downs in their careers. For some, it's more dramatic than others. John Travolta was virtually forgotten about before Quentin Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction, for example. Then there was "The McConaissance," when Matthew McConaughey roared back to prominence. Those two are hardly alone in finding roles that brought them back. Here is our list of 32 roles that saved actors' careers. 

Pulp Fiction - John Travolta

This was a big one. In the late '70s, there wasn't a bigger star than John Travolta. On the strength of a hit TV show (Welcome Back, Kotter), and two huge hits at the box office with Saturday Night Fever and Grease, Travolta was on top of the world. Then, almost all of a sudden, poof, he was gone. In the 16 years between Grease in 1978 and 1994, he appeared in only 11 movies, and three of those were Look Who's Talking movies and most of them bombed. Then Tarantino came along and cast him as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction and once again, Travolta was on top of the business and he's never looked back. 

Dallas Buyers Club - Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey exploded onto the scene in the early '90s in Dazed And Confused, where he delivered some of the most iconic quotes. In the mid-90s he started playing more dramatic roles in movies like A Time To Kill, Contact, and Amistad. By the early 2000s, he established himself as a popular lead in rom-coms. Then, after a few of his movies struggled to make an impact in the late 2000s, his star faded a little. That all changed in 2013 when he starred in, and won a Best Actor Oscar, for Dallas Buyers Club and The McConaissance was born. 

Stranger Things - Winona Ryder

With movies like Beetlejuice, Heathers,  The Age of Innocence, and Little Women, Winona Ryder was a superstar in the late '80s and early '90s. But in the early '00s, after some bad press for her shoplifting conviction, Ryder's star had fallen quite a bit and she even took a short break from acting. Though she never fell off the map completely, it wasn't until she starred in Stranger Things starting in 2016, that Ryder returned to the top. 

Judy - Renée Zellweger

Between Jerry McGuire in 1996 and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2005, Renée Zellweger was one of the most popular and successful actors in Hollywood. With a slew of hits and awards,  Zellweger could do no wrong. Then, after a few less-than-successful movies, the industry showed how fickle it could be and she fell off the A-list. That all changed in 2019 with Judy, followed up with the TV series The Thing About Pam.

The Whale - Brendan Fraser

the 1990s were Brendan Fraser's decade. He had some massive hits, most notably The Mummy in 1999, but soon after, it's like everything dried up. He worked still, but barely and it left the world asking what had become of the heartthrob. He answered every one with his amazing performance in The Whale, winning the Best Actor Oscar and roaring back to the top. 

Birdman - Michael Keaton

In the 1980s, Michael Keaton delivered some of the funniest lines in some of the funniest movies. In the mid-90s and early 00s, his career slowed a bit. He was still working but wasn't the big star he'd been when he got the role in Tim Burton's Batman. That is, of course, until he starred as an actor much like himself in Birdman and brought the great actor back to the top of the A-list. 

House Of Cards - Robin Wright

When she burst onto the scene in The Princess Bride, the sky was the limit for Robin Wright. She reached new heights with her role as Jenny in Forrest Gump but found herself a tabloid regular with her marriage to Sean Penn. Ultimately, she found perhaps her greatest fame when she landed the role of Claire Underwood in Netflix's House Of Cards. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once - Ke Huy Quan

Has there ever been a feel-good story in Hollywood like Ke Huy Quan's return to fame after winning an Oscar for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once? After decades of virtually not working in the industry, having found fame as a kid, Quan was once again the toast of the town. 

Halloween (2018) - Jamie Lee Curtis

She's been called the original slasher film "final girl" for her role in the original Halloween, and Jamie Lee Curtis rode that fame to the top of Hollywood. You might not remember, but in 2006 she actually announced her retirement from acting. Though she didn't give it up completely, she was very selective about roles, mostly playing supporting characters. That changed with 2018 Halloween when she roared back into the business head first. 

Sin City - Mickey Rourke

People forget just how huge Mickey Rourke was in the 80s. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him, as they say. Then, he decided he'd put acting on the back burner and become a boxer. After a somewhat successful run, he returned to acting, and with Sin City and The Wrestler, Rouke was back on top in Hollywood

Scream - Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore became a huge star as a kid in the 1980s with movies like E.T. and Firestarter. In her teens, some personal problems derailed things a little, but when she starred in Scream, it brought her completely back and she's never looked back. 

Wild - Reese Witherspoon

When Reese Witherspoon won the Academy Award for her performance in 2005's Walk The Line, she was on top of the world. Just a few years later though, after a string of poorly performing romance movies Witherspoon dubbed her "love triangle period," her career hit a valley. Then came Wild which marked not only her resurgence as an actor but her transition to big-time producer as well. 

Iron Man - Robert Downey, Jr

There probably isn't a more famous comeback story than Robert Downey, Jr. After years of personal problems and addiction, his career looked like it was going to be completely wasted. Then Downey sobered up and landed the role of a lifetime as Tony Stark/Iron Man and the rest is history. 

Arrested Development - Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman has had quite a few ups and downs in his career. In the '80s, he was a teen star on the verge of big things, but then his career hit a serious lull. It really wasn't until the cult success of Arrested Development that Bateman once again commanded must-see TV. 

Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool

With big roles in 90s TV shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Two Guys And A Girl, Ryan Reynolds was poised for huge success. At first, that's what he found, but it started to fizzle out with a string of forgettable movies in the late '00s and early teens, including the disaster that was The Green Lantern. Then came another superhero movie in 2015 called Deadpool and now he will be doing that until he's 90. 

Yellowjackets - Christina Ricci

By no fault of her own, Christina Ricci's career hit a string of bad luck with projects that she shined in, but for one reason or another didn't capture the attention of audiences. That changed, obviously, with Yellowjackets starting in 2021. 

The Godfather - Marlon Brando

People forget that when Francis Ford Coppola cast Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, Brando was on the outs in Hollywood. It's well-known lore at this point that Coppola had to fight to get the legend in the movie, but we're all grateful he did. 

24 - Kiefer Sutherland

With roles in Stand By Me, The Lost Boys,  and the two Young Guns movies, the late '80s and early '90s were big for Kiefer Sutherland. The mid and late '90s saw a bit of a lull with some box office disappointments. In 2001, Sutherland took on the role of Jack Bauer in 24, which quickly became one of the most popular shows on TV and Sutherland rode it to a new level of fame. 

 Orange Is The New Black - Natasha Lyonne

Legal and personal problems almost completely derailed Natasha Lyonne's promising career in the '00s. Thankfully, she got the help she needed and cleaned up, she scored a role on the Netflix hit Orange Is The New Black and she's continued to crush in a number of roles since. 

This Is Us - Mandy Moore

Around the turn of the century, Mandy Moore was unstoppable, starring in hit movies and charting on the Top 40. It was in 2016, however, when she was cast as the matriarch in This Is Us that her fame shot to an entirely new level. 

The Town - Ben Affleck

After a big decade in the '90s, Ben Affleck's fame in the '00s was more about the tabloids than it was about his filmography. It took a few years, but eventually, he proved to everyone how great a filmmaker he was with The Town in 2010, and ever since, he's been crushing it. 

Monster-in-Law - Jane Fonda

There weren't many bigger stars in Hollywood than Jane Fonda in the '70s and '80s. Then, in 1991, she announced she was retiring from acting, coinciding with her marriage to Ted Turner. She returned, to everyone's delight, in 2005's Monster-In-Law alongside Jennifer Lopez and has scoring hits ever since. 

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Neil Patrick Harris

Like his character on Doogie Howser, MD, Neil Patrick Harris was a prodigy. However after the hit show ended, he struggled to move into more adult roles. Surprisingly, it was playing a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle that landed him back on audiences' radar screens, and then he landed his most famous gig on How I Met Your Mother

Bohemian Rhapsody - Mike Myers

Mike Myers was everywhere in the 1990s. From SNL to Wayne's World (one of the best movies based on an SNL character) to Shrek to Austin Powers, he was on top of the world. In 2010, after a string of box office misses, he retreated from the scene, only to emerge with a glorious role in 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody. 

John Wick - Keanu Reeves

After proving to be box office gold for a couple of decades, Keanu Reeves had a string of misses in the late '00s, but when he teamed up with director Chad Stahelski for John Wick in 2014, he helped launch a whole new franchise that continues to pump out hits. 

Unfaithful - Diane Lane

Diane Lane has always been selective about her roles, going back to her early days in Hollywood in the '80s. This has led to multiple career "revivals" but the most notable has to be her turn in the hit Unfaithful in 2002 which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars in 2003. 

Airplane! - Leslie Nielsen

For a generation of audiences, Leslie Nielson will forever be known for his roles in some of the best parody movies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. But before Nielson was delivering hilarious lines in those movies, he was known for his dramatic acting., though his career had slowed before he reinvented himself in the first Airplane!  

Striptease - Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the '70s, but a few poorly received movies in the '80s knocked him off that lofty perch. While many might point to his role in Boogie Nights in 1997 as reviving his career, it was really his hilarious performance in Striptease from a year earlier that put him back on the map.

No Country For Old Men - Josh Brolin

After finding success as a young star in the 1980s in movies like The Goonies, Josh Brolin hit a career drought that lasted more than a decade and left him wondering if he'd ever regain his earlier success. He did so and more after his amazing turn in No Country For Old Men in 2007 and has been one of Hollywood's best ever since. 

Trading Places - Don Ameche

With an amazing career that had started in the 1930s, Don Ameche's bookings dried up in the 1970s. Luckily for all of his, he landed a role as one of the Duke Brothers in Trading Places and he once again was a huge star, this time with a whole new, younger, generation of fans. 

Sea of Love - Al Pacino

It is easy to forget that even the greatest sometimes find themselves in slumps. Such was the case with Al Pacino in the mid 1980s. After all the incredible success of the '70s, he learned how fickle Hollywood can be and it wasn't until 1989's Sea Of Love that Pacino regained his rightful spot among the elite. 

Rocky Balboa - Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is responsible for some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history, but even the great ones stumble. Stallone had a pretty rough run of bad movies in the late '90s and early '00s, but when he returned to his roots in 2006's Rocky Balboa, he once again found his footing and not only starring in Rambo, reviving his other monster franchise, but he launched a new one with The Expendables.

As she makes the rounds for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s 2024 movie schedule debut, Winona Ryder is looking towards the future. She’s also got a healthy eye on the past too, as a recent interview actually brought up the fact that Ryder frequently refers to her perennial co-star/dear friend Keanu Reeves as her husband. There’s a whole history behind why she does that, and there’s no time like the present to dig into the truth behind how one of Winona Ryder’s best movies became a recurring sign of warmth between these crazy kids.

Wait, When Did Winona Ryder And Keanu Reeves Get Married?

Don’t adjust your set, folks, as Ms. Ryder isn’t saying that she and the iconic John Wick actor are in a marriage that’s been hidden from the public. On the contrary, these nuptials were on display for everyone to see in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. However, it wasn’t until a 2018 interview with EW where Winona Ryder actually brought this up with Keanu Reeves.

As the two were promoting their seemingly destined rom-com Destination Wedding, the actor who played Mina to Reeves’ Jonathan dropped the following bombshell:

Apparently Francis Ford Coppola's taste for the authentic shaped this perfect storm of oops, and he didn't quite realize it until it was all in the can. I mean, if you're accidentally going to get married, I can think of worse scenarios than becoming betrothed to someone that you have a "healthy crush" on.

And those aren't my words, but rather Winona Ryder's from an Entertainment Tonight interview for Destination Wedding. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they may have missed out on not seeing this movie when it was first released?

Just when you thought this story couldn’t get any cuter, Keanu Reeves’ reaction to this revelation is absolutely the sweet sort of surprise you’d expect. Digging further into this story about really committing to the bit, the pair went back and forth about whether or not they were hitched. Here’s the rest of that story:

"Keanu Reeves: We said yes?
Winona Ryder: Don’t you remember that? It was on Valentine’s Day.
Reeves: Oh my gosh, we’re married."

If that didn’t just warm your heart, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Considering their first collaboration bore the tagline, “Love Never Dies,” the enduring friendship between Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder is even more delightful in hindsight. And before we go any further, here’s the Bram Stoker’s Dracula scene in question that literally sent this pair down the aisle... as well as turned one of its characters into a vampire:

That is the most real fake wedding I’ve seen in quite some time, and I’m a veteran of watching some of the best rom-coms ever committed to the screen. Before we move forward, I have to warn you of two things, the first of which is that Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are romantically seeing other people.

It bears repeating, as I don’t want anyone getting their hopes up about these lovely actors getting together. But the second warning is more important, as this tale is about to get even more adorable without even trying.

How Keanu Reeves And Winona Ryder Still Bring Up Their On-Set Marriage

Admittedly, the catalyst for this rundown was Winona Ryder’s Happy Sad Confused podcast episode, which saw her stumping for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s theatrical release. It’s thanks to her discussion with host Josh Horowitz that this historical footnote is going to probably see some increased discussion, as Ms. Ryder shared this further tidbit about their enduring friendship:

It’s been roughly six years since the Destination Wedding interview made this mind-blowing connection, and yet Keanu Reeves is still mentioning it. So for as long as I’ve actually been married to my wife, Winona Ryder and her would-be beloved have continued to keep this connection in the conversation. And don't think this is just a one-sided deal either!

Check out this November 2021 interview that Keanu did with Esquire, in which he calls out the bridal gown in the room:

In the eyes of you, the reading audience, I have to ask, why aren’t we putting Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in even more rom-coms or shared projects as a whole? And furthermore, thanks to Ms. Ryder's praise of Jenna Ortega, could we get the Wednesday star to play their child? Because that feels like a complete set right there.

This entire scenario is giving off the sort of positive energy we all could use more of. The fact that I’m even using that sort of description is proof, because I don’t normally talk like that. Alas, there’s one more question to answer, which will bring us all back to reality.

Who Are Winona Ryder And Keanu Reeves Currently Dating?

I need to play the Reality Police one last time here, but it’s worth it because both Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are in their own committed relationships of love. For Reeves, his current partner is visual artist Alexandra Grant, whom he has been dating since 2018. Reeves & Grant’s 2023 red carpet appearance showed the lovely couple in a rare moment in front of the Hollywood press, and yeah, they’re pretty damned adorable.

The same could be said about Winona Ryder and partner Scott Mackinlay Hahn, who were both spotted by People Magazine during Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Together since 2010, Ryder met her fashion designing gentleman at a party promoting the picture Black Swan, and they have been comfortably low-key together since.

Do Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder still feel like they would make the perfect married couple? The ‘yes’ I would speak aloud is as confident as Gary Oldman’s Dracula trying to win over his lady love. But does that mean the reality of their solid friendship is any less beautiful with separate partners? It absolutely does not.

Happiness looks beautiful on both of these icons, and if anything, we should all be hoping for them to reunite on screen. I mean, it’s been six years since they last appeared together, and that’s way too long as far as I’m concerned. It's a good thing Bram Stoker’s Dracula is available to stream with an MGM+ account, which can conveniently be added onto a Prime Video subscription.

It’s still feels a bit surreal to look at the 2024 movie schedule and actually see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice listed as an actual release. Growing up with a love of director Tim Burton’s 1988 original, it always felt like the talk surrounding an actual sequel would ebb and flow, but leave us all with the same non-existent result. To this day, I still wonder if Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian is one of the greatest missed opportunities in the history of development hell.

But here we are, with the first reactions to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in the bank and preview screenings already kicking things off. Almost 40 years after Beetlejuice landed as surprise box office hit for Warner Bros., the juice is loose again, and the road to this point wasn’t an easy one. Even with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder both hyped up to get back to work, some things had to happen before Tim Burton was ready to return to the director’s chair.

Beetlejuice 2’s development required life experiences, a brush with Burton almost quitting Hollywood, and assembling the right cast to finally get off the ground. Thanks to a recent press day where Tim Burton held court as only he could, the story behind what could be considered a miracle legacy-quel has finally been told.

Why Tim Burton Almost Quit Hollywood

During the New York City stop for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s press tour, I was invited to take part in a roundtable interview with a handful of other journalists, representing CinemaBlend in the first of a handful of such chats scheduled for that day. Our mission: to get Mr. Burton to spill his guts on everything he was comfortable with sharing about his long-awaited return to the Afterlife.

I’d say that we were successful, as there’s a lot of details that didn’t even make the cut for this rundown. That includes the fate of some rather risqué concept drawings Tim Burton had done, but will not share, in case he uses them for something else. But one of the most important tidbits we learned was that the career of this practitioner of the strange and unusual almost ended with the studio that gave him his start.

That’s thanks to Burton’s stories about Dumbo’s painful production, an experience that the Batman director basically confirmed as the straw that almost broke the sandworm’s back. A greater reflection on his career as a cinematic helmer came as a result of questions that asked if there were any other iconic creations that Tim Burton would want to return to, as well as his approach to CGI versus practical effects.

With CinemaBlend on hand to hear this knowledge first hand, Tim Burton addressed those concerns with the following combined remarks:

As an executive producer and director of half of Wednesday Season 1's episodes, the experience seems to have been the antidote to the woes that Burton felt as a director. Though that’s not the turning point that saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice being brought back to life.

In fact, much like Michael Keaton’s comedic supernatural menace, the idea had a pretty rich life in the margins between the living and the dead. I’m not going to go into the complete history of Beetlejuice 2’s development, as there are a lot of names and several drafts that pave the road to its production.

What’s important is how Tim Burton finally cracked the idea for what this now legacy-quel was going to tackle. You know how people like to say that life sometimes gets in the way of such plans? Well, in the case of Beetlejuice's grand return, it actually helped things along.

Explaining this concept throughout our conversation, the following comments highlight the emotional hook that generated Burton’s excitement about the project:

If there’s anyone that can attest to the trials required in reopening those doors to the Afterlife, it’s one of the writers still credited on this picture’s story team. Seth Graeme-Smith’s reported Beetlejuice Beetlejuice difficulties honed firmly in on the story being key to making everything work.

In the end, his contributions are credited along with two other major influences: screenwriters and Wednesday creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and a healthy attitude towards improv on the Beetlejuice 2 set. But without that basic kernel, nothing else would have mattered. Which leads to the next part of our story, in which Tim Burton shares some key decisions that hammered this entire enterprise into being.

The Decisions That Shaped Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Ideas are not only formed by thematic inspiration, but also through influences dictating how to execute them. Those twin factors become even more important after decades of fans hoping for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s arrival, and Tim Burton considered them rather carefully. Much as Winona Ryder believes Jenna Ortega importance to this sequel, Tim Burton saw her character Astrid as the doorway to what we see before us.

As myself and the other journalists in the room pondered if there was a special process that was intended to update Beetlejuice for Gen-Z, Burton easily dissuaded that notion. Rather than worry about updating a character that both Burton and Michael Keaton felt has always been politically incorrect, the Frankenweenie mastermind shared these details about how the movie was aimed squarely at today’s youth:

Basically, in order to help younger viewers identify with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it was important to have someone like Astrid Deetz who could call bullshit on whatever they felt to be untrue. Which happens a lot, as Jenna Ortega’s newcomer is constantly questioning whether her mother Lydia (Winona Ryder) actually can see ghosts.

For as important as it was to have a story that worked, Beetlejuice 2 kind of runs on the same sort of engine that its predecessor did. Meaning that plot only gets you so far before inspired madness kicks in and a lot of fun additions come out of the improv process.

That approach reigned once again, and Tim Burton chalks up the beauty of why it still works to the fact that there was still a lot of practical effects used in the picture’s production. Here’s more of what Tim Burton shared in our roundtable in terms of how his old school techniques really helped in terms of that sort of creative license:

While Tim Burton did acknowledge that this sort of freewheeling energy was a bit more difficult with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s living, breathing effects, he also tipped his hat to the effects team that made it all work in the end. Listening to him talk about the energy he seemed to rediscover making this picture was infectious, and I think it shows in the final product.

Seeing the madcap lunacy of this Beetlejuice sequel really did feel like returning to the fun and vigor of that original movie. Mixing everything from stop-motion animation and puppets, along with some more modern methods where needed, you could sense that Tim Burton stepped back in time to recapture his process, while also holding onto the experiences of the past when absolutely necessary.

It’s enough to make fans think about the future, as the crazy ending to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will probably have people asking for more. That applies both in terms of answers and action involving the netherworld’s leading bio-exorcist.

Tim Burton’s Future, Post-Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Surely even people who haven’t even seen the latest Beetlejuice adventure are wondering if we could potentially see Tim Burton make another. The nature of this new chapter’s title alone kind of dictates it, as it flirts with the ever dangerous rule of three that’s needed to invoke the ghost with the most.

However, after actually watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the whole room of journalists present to question Mr. Burton wanted to know if he had any intentions of doing so. I’m not going to spoil the ending here, as I wouldn’t want to repeat Michael Keaton’s Batman gaffe from his 1989 appearance on David Letterman's show.

That being said, I can share what Tim Burton said about a potential Beetlejuice 3:

I apologize if I’ve helped simultaneously excite and disappoint Beetlejuice fans worldwide with those statements above. However, Mr. Burton did jokingly throw out the title, Beetlejuice: The Sands of Time as we started to wind everything up. Though, again without any spoilers, one of the threads that could be followed in Beetlejuice 3’s hypothetical story would be the subject of Lydia’s biological mother.

She’s mentioned briefly in passing in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and when asked if that was something we learn more about in the future, Tim Burton left us with a cryptic “we’ll see.” At the same time, we shouldn’t push for another Beetlejuice too hard because Tim Burton’s life experiences are a huge part of what drove him to make it in the first place.

Also, it's not every day that a Jenna Ortega-level performer is seemingly born to make it happen. With Astrid Deetz's role playing such an integral part of following the right story beats into the future, that's not something that's easy to replicate. At least, not if done right.

Just as Winona Ryder’s lament over a potential Heathers legacy-quel, it’s important to know when the ship has sailed. It’s also crucial to have the ideas and influences that help shape and energize such an undertaking. Which brings me to one final quote to share from this Burton roundtable, perfectly summing up the reason Beetlejuice Beetlejuice had to exist in the here and now:

With that said, let’s hope that Tim Burton continues to move forward into that future with all of the inspiration and energy he needs to follow what he sees as a worthy project. Of course, now’s the time to turn on the juice once again, as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is about to head to theaters in early showings; and yes, that includes the 4DX format!

Though you don’t need a history lesson before heading into this undead caper, you can of course catch the original Beetlejuice through streaming it with a Max subscription. And for a little extra credit, check out Beetlejuice: The Animated Series on Tubi. If I grew up thinking it was weird Beetlejuice and Lydia somehow became friends, you need to experience it too.

More than 35 years have passed since Michael Keaton first suited up as Beetlejuice, but I guess for those stuck in the afterlife waiting room, that’s not all that long. For us, though, who walk amongst the living, the lengthy wait to see the eccentric ghoul on the 2024 movie calendar is finally over, as he reunites with Winona Ryder’s Lydia and Catherine O’Hara’s Delia in the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. As Tim Burton’s new project hits theaters September 6, critics are weighing in, and if the first reactions to the Michael Keaton legacy sequel are any indication, fans are in for some fun.

As we return to the haunted house in Winter River, Jenna Ortega has joined the Beetle-verse as Astrid, Lydia’s daughter. The tension between the women is all too real as they return to Connecticut after Lydia’s father’s death, putting them on a collision course for a reunion with the undead figure from Lydia’s past.

Siddhant Adlakha of IGN rates it a “Good” 7 out of 10, saying the movie is a charming, if unnecessary, legacy-quel that should please fans of the original. The critic writes:

Fred Topel of UPI says Tim Burton remembers what made the original movie so special, and while he can’t reinvent the afterlife, he’s sure to include plenty of the fun and surrealism that drew fans in the first time around. Topel continues:

Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gives Beetlejuice 2 3 out of 5 skulls, saying this legacy sequel is packed with fan service and callbacks, making for an overstuffed narrative. However, Michael Keaton hasn’t missed a beat, and Catherine O’Hara steals every scene, as this strange and whimsical return to the afterlife is plenty delightful, Navarro says, writing:

Matt Singer of ScreenCrush gives it 6 out of 10, saying that while the sequel is overloaded with characters and unnecessary subplots, Michael Keaton is still the ghost with the most. He says:

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 78% ahead of its official opening. From the critics’ assessments, it sounds like the story may not be as smooth as we’d like it to be but seeing these characters back in this world might be worth the price of admission. Find out for yourself, as the upcoming horror movie hits theaters on September 6.

Jenna Ortega just showed why she's the kind of fresh Hollywood star we need—one who stands up for her co-stars and doesn't tolerate any disrespect. During a photocall for the upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the Venice Film Festival on August 28, the 21-year-old actress made it clear just how close she is with Winona Ryder through a simple yet meaningful gesture. When a rude photographer started getting loud, the Wednesday star immediately stepped in to support her castmate, and you can see the moment for yourself.

In a video from the event shared by Entertainment Tonight on TikTok, photographers repeatedly pressured the Heathers icon to remove her sunglasses for photos despite her appearing content with them on. The Stranger Things star seemed to consider complying with the requests until Jenna Ortega stepped in, reassuring her that she didn't need to take them off if she wasn't comfortable. In the clip, which you can see below, the X actress can be seen softly saying, "No, you don’t have to":

Fans flooded the comments with messages of support for the Scream star's actions. Gerry Gonzalez captured the sentiment perfectly, writing:

User Re8ekahlyn pointed out how the moment was a healing one of sorts. They commented:

Another fan, Jnenaaa, highlighted the Studio 666 actress’ protective nature. They noted:

Some users also praised the younger generation for their approach to fame and setting boundaries. Judesamson79 expressed their admiration by saying:

It's clear that this sweet moment between Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder has touched the hearts of their longtime admirers. Ortega's calm and reassuring presence is heartwarming to see, especially alongside Ryder, who (in the moment) appeared to be a bit nervous being at the center of attention. Fans, including myself, have been eagerly observing the dynamic between the two leading ladies, both on and off-screen. The recent moment at the film festival only heightens my excitement to see how their chemistry will play out in Beetlejuice 2.

Ahead of the highly anticipated sequel's release on the 2024 movie schedule, the actresses made a memorable appearance, channeling each other's iconic looks for the Venice Film Festival premiere. The Jane the Virgin alum stunned in a striking red gown that channeled Lydia Deetz's vibes. At the same time, Winona Ryder wore a chic black outfit reminiscent of Wednesday’s fashion from the hit Netflix series.

Whether you're a die-hard fan of the original Beetlejuice—and honestly, who isn’t, given its status as one of the best '80s movies and highest-ranked Tim Burton flicks—or you're eager to see this new take, one thing is sure: Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder are a duo to keep an eye on. Their chemistry, both on and off the screen, highlights the power of genuine connection in Hollywood. This bond promises to add something truly special to the upcoming sequel.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will hit theaters on September 6. In the meantime, fans can catch the original film, featuring the iconic “Ghost with the Most,” as its streamable with a Max subscription.

Ever since the first time you saw the Tim Burton movie Beetlejuice, have you been prone to saying the poltergeist’s name three times? Winona Ryder sure has, having playing Lydia Deetz back in 1988 and reprising the role in the highly-anticipated sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Actually, I should be saying that Ryder has said the ghost’s name outside of the horror-comedy film series, as she recalled the wild story of the TSA holding her up to say “Beetlejuice” three times.

It’s no surprise that when people see Winona Ryder, they think of Beetlejuice, one of her best movies. She played Lydia flawlessly with all of her dark, yet funny memorable quotes from the Tim Burton classic as well as fashioning her goth attire. Her Beetlejuice presence is so memorable that the Stranger Things actress told the story to eTalk CTV of the TSA holding her up so she'd say the name of Michael Keaton’s character name three times:

That’s ridiculous to make someone late for their flight so they can hear them say “Beetlejuice” three times. I wouldn’t want to be that airline right now. I’d be curious if the TSA people were hoping that the “Ghost with the Most” character would pop up at the sound of his name. I would leave that for a potential Halloween Horror Nights haunted house rather than the airport.

Fans of the Tim Burton comedy-horror film seem to have been saying Beetlejuice’s name for the past 35 years. After so many questions about whether or not a Beetlejuice sequel would happen, our dream came true, with several members the original cast returning for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, like Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara. There will also be fresh new faces in the Land of the Dead, like Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe and more. Considering Beetlejuice has become such a pop cultural phenomenon with its gift ideas, Halloween costumes and the huge public reaction to the character, I have a feeling the goth culture director has created box office gold with this sequel.

Winona Ryder has also been saying “Beetlejuice” plenty of times to people long after the 1988 flick. Apparently she had secret meetings with Tim Burton for years about the possibility of a sequel. Even for Stranger Things, she had a Beetlejuice-related condition when signing on for the Netflix series that the Duffer Brothers needed to let her film the Tim Burton sequel when the moment came. Her faithfulness proves that she wasn’t going to let anyone else step into her iconic role as Lydia except for her. You can watch the Edward Scissorhands actress’ full interview here:

Lydia from Beetlejuice has become so memorable that TSA agents stopped Winona Ryder so she could say “Beetlejuice” three times. I have a feeling we’re all going to be saying the ghoulish character’s name more often seeing the 2024 movie release in theaters on September 6th.

It’s showtime! One of our favorite and most theatrical demons is back with an offering for the 2024 movie release calendar. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes 36 years after the Maitlands first asked Betelgeuse to help scare away the new family that had moved into the deceased couple’s home, and now critics have had the opportunity to screen the sequel, which will see Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz return to her haunted teenage home. The upcoming horror movie is a highly anticipated venture for lovers of the 1988 classic, and from the looks of the first reactions, we won’t be disappointed.

In addition to Winona Ryder, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also features Michael Keaton reprising the role of the titular troublemaker, as well as Catherine O’Hara as Lydia’s stepmother Delia. The former goth teen comes face-to-rotten face with the mischievous ghoul after her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) accidentally opens the portal to the afterlife. As for what people are saying, CinemaBlend’s own Mike Reyes thinks Beetlejuice 2 is just as bonkers and nostalgic as you’d hope, writing:

Erik Walkuski of JoBlo agrees, calling the OG trio “a sight for sore eyes,” and Catherine O’Hara steals the show in a successful zany offering from Tim Burton. He posts:

A couple of those who caught an early screening of the sequel mention too many subplots, and that critique is echoed by Eric Goldman. He also mentions how seamlessly its stars fall back into these classic characters and that Catherine O’Hara brings her A-game. In Goldman’s words:

Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue calls Tim Burton’s latest effort a “worthy sequel,” and even more than 30 years later, Michael Keaton is perfect as the title character. Leishman says:

She’s not the only one talking about the film’s use of “MacArthur Park,” as Scott Menzel of We Live Entertainment says Beetlejuice 2 found a worthy followup to “Banana Boat (Day-O).” Menzel predicts box office success, writing:

As a huge fan of the 1988 film, Perri Nemiroff calls the sequel a “joyous romp back into that world.” Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega are a great mother-daughter pair (as expected), with Willem Dafoe putting in a fun effort as well. In Nemiroff’s words:

Ema Sasic of Next Best Picture says the Tim Burton film offers a healthy dose of nostalgia mixed with its entertaining new plotlines. Sasic also praises the afterlife’s set pieces, writing:

These are very promising first reactions, and it sounds like fans of the original are going to find a lot to like here. Those who want a refresher on the 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice can screen it with a Max subscription, and then catch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice when it hits the big screen on Friday, September 6.

Like mother like daughter is the name of the game today, as Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder rocked the red carpet wearing outfits that were reminiscent of each other’s projects. Ahead of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s release on the 2024 movie schedule, the actresses attended a premiere for it at the Venice Film Festival with Ortega wearing a gorgeous red gown that gave Lydia Deetz energy while her on-screen mom wore a black outfit that had big Wednesday vibes.

As you can see in the image below, Jenna Ortega, being the fashion icon that she is, continued to kill the method dressing trend by donning a look that featured a lot of red tulle that was reminiscent of Winona Ryder’s red gown from the OG Tim Burton movie. Meanwhile, the Stranger Things actress seemingly took a page out of her co-star’s book by wearing a black suit top and big black skirt that made her look like she was ready for a day of school at Nevermore Academy, take a look:

The Wednesday star’s stunning Dior red two-piece set, per Harpers Bazaar, takes direct inspiration from Ryder’s red look in Beetlejuice, Ortega’s stylist Enrique Melendez confirmed on his Instagram. Across this whole press tour, she has been rocking looks that are inspired by Burton’s 1988 movie, and in many cases, they specifically reference Ryder’s character Lydia.

For example, along with this red number, she wore a plaid skirt and sweet cardigan that looked exactly like Ryder’s outfit in the final scene of Beetlejuice. Along with that, when she hopped on the “demure” TikTok trend with Justin Theroux, she was wearing a black and white striped blazer that looked a lot like Michael Keaton’s titular character’s signature look.

As for Winona Ryder, her outfit was radiating both Lydia and Wednesday energy. While it’s not confirmed if her fit is directly inspired by Wednesday’s fashion and Ortega’s hit Netflix show, there’s no denying that it fits right into that gothic Addams Family world. Plus, with Season 2 of Wednesday in production, and both Ortega and Tim Burton’s involvement in it, it’s hard not to compare the aesthetics of that project and this movie.

On top of these looks paying homage in many ways to each other’s careers, it’s also another example of how much these two adore each other. They play the mother-daughter-duo Lydia and Astrid Deetz in the movie, and off-screen they’ve both spoken so highly of each other and their relationship.

Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to see these two share the screen together, because Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters on September 6. However, while we wait a bit longer to witness Ortega and Ryder’s on-screen chemistry, I’ll be thinking about this sweet moment during their premiere and these incredible and on-theme looks.

Ruling over the box office roost in its first weekend of release, the 2024 movie Alien: Romulus has reignited 20th Century Studios’ long running sci-fi franchise. A huge part of that tradition has come from the fact that the 1979 original started something that would carry on throughout the rest of the Alien movies timeline, as well as the various spin offs and tie-in media that came after. 

Throughout the entirety of this IP, there has been a strong current of female leads that have built this saga into what it currently is. Whether serving the forces of good, or in some cases working for The Company itself, the entire Alien series has been anchored by this collection of women who have saved humanity countless times in the depths of space.

How Alien’s History Of Female Leads Almost Didn’t Happen

The history of Alien starts with the script from writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, which was actually written without genders set in stone for the characters. According to a 1976 draft house on The Daily Script, the project then known as “Starbeast” carried this insightful stage direction:

Of course, history played out in its own fun way, as the suggestion to make Ellen Ripley Alien’s witty survivor was apparently made on the studio level. In a 2020 L.A. Times interview with Ridley Scott (via CBR) then president of 20th Century Fox Alan Ladd Jr. was the person who pitched Ripley to be a female character. And the rest, as they say, was long lasting history. 

Ellen Ripley (Alien - Alien: Resurrection)

Ellen Ripley: warrant officer and last survivor of the Nostromo, her adventures would become legendary. Surviving three encounters with the Xenomorphs, and being resurrected for one last ride in Alien: Resurrection, her clear thinking is the stuff of legend. Not to mention, thanks to a really impressive shot in her final film in the series, Sigourney Weaver actually sank a basket from quite a distance, without looking, and on the first take.

Private First Class Jenette Vasquez (Aliens)

Throughout her adventures, Ripley didn’t have all of the fun being a strong female lead. Aliens made sure to introduce another fan favorite in the character of Private First Class Jenette Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein). A Colonial Marine who just needs to know where a target is to take it out, her tragic backstory has been fleshed out through a recent continuation novel, Aliens: Vasquez by author V. Castro.

Annalee Call (Alien: Resurrection)

Alien: Romulus introduced the world to another new Synthetic through the character of Andy (David Jonsson), who ranks as one of the least threatening androids in this universe. Right up there with him would be Annalee Call (Winona Ryder), the artificial person who helped clone, Ripley 8, and her surviving crewmates from The Betty escape the fury of a rather unique Xenomorph queen. 

Elizabeth Shaw (Prometheus)

An archeologist who helped unlock the key to discovering the Engineers’ home world, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) is kind of the Indiana Jones of Alien. Though getting a little too wrapped up in her work leads to some horrific consequences, like unwittingly giving birth to a new life form and fighting for her life against the creators of Mankind.

It’s a shame she was eventually revealed to be killed by David (Michael Fassbender). While Elizabeth helps put David back together in the Alien: Covenant promo short “The Crossing,” her good intentions lead to her untimely death, thanks to the android’s betrayal and usage of his human companion as a Xenomorph experiment kit. 

Meredith Vickers (Prometheus)

Not all strong women in the Alien universe are playing for the side of good. Marking one of the rare female antagonists, Prometheus’ Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) is a Weyland Industries’ company woman from head to toe. Taking after her own father and company founder Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), Meredith’s ambition leads to her downfall; thanks to getting crushed by a downed Engineer spaceship that rolls over her fleeing body.

Amanda Ripley (Alien: Isolation)

In the film canon of the Alien movies, the extended version of Aliens tells us that Ellen Ripley’s daughter is dead. But apparently the video game and book canon have seen her live a richer life, and somehow cheat death. Fighting her own battle against Xenomorphs in the game Alien: Isolation, Weyland-Yutani engineer Amanda survives the disaster of the Sevastopol Space Station through her crafty resolve, and is apparently frozen in cryo-stasis, past the date of her supposed death. 

Daniels (Alien: Covenant)

The space colonists of Alien: Covenant’s titular spaceship found themselves fall prey to the machinations of David (Michael Fassbender), leaving the would-be final girl Daniels (Katherine Waterson) to seemingly escape with good guy android Walter (also Fassbender). But, as Alien: Covenant’s twisted ending showed us, Daniels has more than likely been turned into a Xenomorph breeding lab, thanks to David’s old switcheroo with Walter.

Rain Carradine (Alien: Romulus)

So far, the Alien franchise’s run of strong female leads ends with Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), the functional lead of Fede Álvarez’s current entry in the canon. Without spoiling any details from the Alien: Romulus ending, let’s just say that Rain’s struggle against the Xenomorphs is a welcomed entry in the halls of women who save the day in space.

It’s truly crazy to think that if it wasn’t for a simple decision made in 1979, the world of the Alien movies could have turned out vastly different. Without Ellen Ripley’s heroic journey into terror, the path may not have been paved for other female pop culture icons who helped break down barriers in action and sci-fi cinema.

It’s truly crazy to think that if it wasn’t for a simple decision made in 1979, the world of the Alien movies could have turned out vastly different. Without Ellen Ripley’s heroic journey into terror, the path may not have been paved for other female pop culture icons that helped break down barriers in action and sci-fi cinema. 

However, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Sigourney Weaver herself, courtesy of an Alien Anthology YouTube video honoring a 2019 high school production of the original film. When reflecting on Ripley’s status as a female character, Weaver highlighted exactly why this decision worked:

Ellen Ripley will always be a role model for good character writing and strong female leads getting their due in blockbuster entertainment. So long as her example inspires creative forces in the right ways, that legacy will carry on for some time to come. That decision can be honored by the fans by not only going to see Alien: Romulus in theaters, but also by revisiting the best moments of Warrant Officer Ripley herself via the use of a Hulu subscription. 

The hype surrounding the 2024 movie schedule may be rising soon, given that a certain highly anticipate title is about to rear it's humorously creepy head -- Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The long awaited legacy-quel to the 1988 classic, this upcoming horror movie also marks the return of actor Winona Ryder as the iconic Lydia Deetz. And, while speaking with her about this welcomed revisitation, Ryder not only expressed excitement for this project, but revealed to CinemaBlend another legacy-quel she was trying to get off the ground for years. Sadly, in her own words, "that ship has sailed," and it makes me sad.

While sitting down with the veteran performer behind films like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Scissorhands, I asked her if there are any other roles from her illustrious career that she'd love to reprise. When faced with that question, Winona Ryder shared this answer with CinemaBlend:

A follow-up that would've allowed the world to compare the Heathers cast then and now could have been spectacular. Following Winona Ryder’s Veronica Sawyer decades after her teen-angst bullshit and the ensuing body count is something that moviegoers probably would have loved to see, too. Especially if the potential story saw her raising a potential Heather of her own; similar to what Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees Lydia Deetz doing with her grounded, not strange and unusual daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega).

The Stranger Things star's excitement for that concept is only part of what makes me sad it never happened. On top of that disappointment, there’s also the fact that two of the three actors that gave Heathers its name are sadly no longer with us. With Kim Walker’s passing in 2001, as well as Shannon Doherty’s untimely death earlier in 2024, Heather Duke and Heather Chandler would be respectively absent from the proceedings.

At the same time, Winona Ryder’s overall point shared above hits even harder in this context. Someone could read these remarks and think that now is the time to make a Heathers legacy-quel, or even a reboot with Ms. Ryder being invited to play a legacy cameo. That’s certainly the approach that was taken with the ill-received, and ultimately canceled Heathers TV show, which had Shannon Doherty playing the role of JD’s mother back in 2018.

With all the time that’s passed, and the property already having a second life through a cult hit musical, I hate to say it, but Winona Ryder is right. The ship has sailed on Heathers 2: The Wrath of Prom, but It’s still a nice what-if scenario to consider, bittersweet remembrances and all. Then again, no one ever thought a Beetlejuice sequel would happen. And, if a good enough idea happens to surface, that wish could come true in a new and exciting way; so long as the heart and humor of that project were to come from the right place.

On the bright side, fans can revisit the original Heathers, as it’s currently streaming for free with ads on Tubi. And, if you’re preparing for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, you don’t need to say the magic word a third time! Just use your Max subscription to stream the original film ahead of the long-awaited sequel, which debuts only in theaters on September 6th.

You know, I didn’t need more convincing when it came to Jenna Ortega playing Winona Ryder’s daughter in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice or the fact that the Wednesday star is a fashion icon. However, we have more evidence to further prove both of those points. This is because, ahead of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s release on the 2024 movie schedule, the young actress rocked an outfit that proved she’s a master method dress as it paid homage to her on-screen mom’s OG Beetlejuice character.

In the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice, Jenna Ortega plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz. Let’s be real, these two both have the death stair down, and they can pull off the black and white gothic style that Tim Burton loves incredibly well. So, throughout this press tour, the Scream actress has been method-dressing with looks that fit right in with the upcoming horror movie. However, I think her latest ensemble is my favorite, because it’s such a great homage to Lydia Deetz and the original movie, check it out:

At the end of the 1988 film, Ryder’s Lydia dances to “Jump in the Line” while levitating in the air, and when Beetlejuice is shown in the waiting room, the book “Handbook for the Recently Deceased” is shown. The Astrid actress’s outfit is basically a 1:1 recreation of that look (which you can see below), and it even incorporated the book in the form of a handbag.

Over on Instagram, Jenna Ortega’s mom, Natalie Lopez Ortega, reposted the outfit and added a clip from Beetlejuice of Ryder dancing in the air. She applauded her daughter’s stylist Enrique Melendez, writing that he “always understands the assignment,” and that she loved the “homage” it pays to Lydia and the actress who plays her. Girl, I couldn’t agree more!

As you can see in the image above, Ortega rocked a long plaid skirt, a navy blue cardigan with a gold embroidered ring on the right side of her chest and a white button-down by Thom Browne. Her book bag is by Ozais, and it was made “for Jenna Ortega,” as the brand posted on IG. Honestly, it’s so perfect for this event, it looks exactly like Ryder’s ensemble in the original movie, and it’s another major addition to the trend of method dressing.

Like Zendaya’s looks for Dune: Part Two and Challengers or Margot Robbie’s fits for Barbie, Jenna Ortega’s ensembles for this press tour have been on-theme with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. From her red carpet dress that was gothic yet romantic in Mexico to some of her interview outfits that simultaneously have Beetlejuice and Addams Family energy, she’s been killing the method dressing game. This latest look was simply another cherry on top of an already perfect sundae.

Overall, the X actress has always felt like a natural addition to the Beetlejuice universe, especially since she’s been collaborating with Tim Burton on Wednesday. However, her press tour outfits have further proven the point, and her method dressing shows just how well she and her team understand this fun, fantastical and gothic world that fans have been loving since the late ‘80s.

Pretty soon, we’ll be able to see Jenna Ortega playing Winona Ryder’s daughter in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice when it premieres in theaters on September 9. While we wait a bit longer for that, I’ll be obsessing over this stellar recreation of Ryder’s fun fit, and wondering what her on-screen daughter might have planned for her next Beetlejuice-inspired outfit.

It’s hard to believe that after three decades, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is finally being released this year. However, talks about a Beetlejuice sequel didn’t start recently. Apparently, its star Winona Ryder and director Tim Burton have had secret meetings for years about bringing this sequel back from the dead without understanding “why it was popular.”

Other than Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder has met up with Tim Burton throughout the years to work on many of his best movies like Edward Scissorhands and Frankenweenie. However, the Stranger Things star revealed to Harper’s Bazaar that she’s had secret meetings with Burton to discuss bringing a Beetlejuice sequel to life for years:

Very sneaky of her! Beetlejuice was a true breakthrough role for Winona Ryder. With only the coming-of-age ‘80s movie Lucas under her belt, the former teen star played the "strange and unusual" Lydia Deetz with a supernatural ability to see ghosts. Based on the trailer of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it looks like Lydia’s gift and gothic style haven’t left her as she reunites with “the ghost with the most.”

According to Harper’s Bazaar, Lydia will be a widower with an estranged relationship with her daughter, Astrid in the sequel. She'll also be the host of her own TV show Ghost House as she makes use of her gift. It looks like Tim Burton’s magic will return once again with sandworms, tiny heads, and more making an appearance as we’re ready to face the nostalgia.

Two years after the release of one of the best horror-comedy films, Beetlejuice 2 had a lot of working names like Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, Beetlejuice and the Haunted Mansion, or Beetlejuice Goes West. With so much talk going on since Beetlejuice’s release, Tim Burton admitted he didn’t understand where the hype of his beloved film was coming from:

It’s true that nowadays, just like when a television series gets high ratings in its first season, a successful box office hit is likely to get sequel talks. At the time, Tim Burton may not have known he was creating such a cult classic that would spawn a Broadway musical, a cartoon series, and viral Halloween costumes. Even Michael Keaton wasn’t ready for the public reaction to his titular character.

However, I think Beetlejuice became a memorable flick because of its iconic performances, its clever use of blending dark elements with quirky humor, and its original storytelling. I have no doubt its sequel will do the same.

Back when Beetlejuice 2 rumors were circulating, Tim Burton and Winona Ryder apparently had secret meetings about putting a sequel in motion without knowing "why it was popular." With action following all these talks, audiences will finally get to relive the nostalgia and see our favorite unworldly characters back on the big screen again. Add Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to your watchlist as it hits the 2024 movie schedule on September 6th.

If you can believe it, the hauntingly nostalgic theme of Stranger Things has been humming through our TV sets for almost a decade! Ahead of Stranger Things Season 5 concluding the long-running Netflix phenomenon, Winona Ryder has shared a wild Beetlejuice condition she gave the Duffer Brothers when she signed on way back when.

Winona Ryder recently reflected to Harper’s Bazaar on how her role in Stranger Things began. In her words: 

Stranger Things would go on to premiere for those with a Netflix subscription on July 15, 2016 with Ryder playing the mother to Will Byers, who gets stuck in the Upside Down. For nearly a decade the actress has been a key character in the science fiction series. 

Prior to Ryder reuniting with the Stranger Things cast for Season 5, she had the chance to have a highly-anticipated reunion by shooting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with Tim Burton alongside some of her castmates like Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara. As Ryder continued: 

That’s right! Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been on the brain of Tim Burton and the cast for a very long time. In fact, scripts for a sequel were first commissioned back in the nineties. However, Keaton and Burton soon became consumed by making Batman movies instead and those ideas fell to the wayside. For years and years to come, the Beetlejuice sequel was placed in and out of development until it finally was made and wrapped production back in November.

Michael Keaton and Tim Burton recently spoke to the three decade process of bringing back Beetlejuice. Keaton shared that over the years the pair would “kind of kick the notion around” but the timing wasn’t really right until it was… 35 years later! It certainly sounds like Keaton is happy with the final product, saying that “it’s really fucking good” a few months back to CinemaCon. Check out the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer below: 

Lydia Deetz is back, and she even introduces the trailer. In the upcoming movie, Lydia now has a teen daughter named Astrid (played by Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega) along with a husband named Rory (played by The Leftovers’ Justin Theroux). In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the Deetz family returns to the location of the first movie after a family death. However, when Astrid repeats history to some extent by opening a portal to the Afterlife, Keaton’s Betelgeuse gets to say hello to his former bride.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6.

Summer hasn't even arrived yet, but the spooky season vibes are living and thriving thanks to anticipation for Tim Burton's return to afterlife shenanigans with the upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which has finally dropped its first full-length trailer for horror-comedy fans around the world (and beyond). It's a step six feet up from the easter egg-filled teaser promo, and I still can't believe it's real.

Few upcoming horror movies have the bonafides of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, thanks to the original 1988 hit that turned black-and-white suits into a Halloween mainstay. And here's hoping the sequel 36 years in the making will be worth the wait. Not that B. would realize it, since time works a little differently in the afterlife. He still looks great, except for maybe when his face does that thing that makes people faint.

Even if the trailer would have been a big honking mess, I'm pretty sure fans would still line up in droves to see Michael Keaton back in black and white for a smorgas-corpse of ghoulish humor and puns better than the one I just lobbed out there. Keaton previously hyped up the movie as being "really fucking good," and I'm not gonna be the one to say he's wrong. Because the trailer looks flipping perfect.

So many callbacks to the good ol' days, from the striped sandworms of Saturn (and some sweet-looking animation) to Lydia's father Charles, whose death is what kicks off this return to glory for the ghost with the most to the familiarly tiny head of Harry the Hunter.

And check out this shot of Catherine O'Hara within the drudgery of the afterlife's waiting room, where she's sat next to a pair of....let's just call them interesting gents.

Beyond Keaton being back in all his gruff-voiced glory, the new pic brings Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara back as daughter Lydia and mother Delia Deetz, respectively, with Jenna Ortega joining the fray as the generational third, Astrid. Other co-stars include Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci (as Beetlejuice's sewn-up wife), Willem Dafoe and Burn Gorman. And wait a minute, who's this surprising new cast member? It's Danny DeVito, boyeeeeee!

Batman and The Penguin are back together again! Or at least Michael Keaton and DeVito are, even if they're not in the signature costumes they wore for Tim Burton's superhero sequel. This thing can't get more perfect, unless Michelle Pfeiffer is hiding somewhere.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — which was nearly given the oddball homage title Beetlejuice 2024 A.D., which is legit name-checked on the title screen — is set to rise up into theaters on Friday, September 6, among many other big summer blockbusters hitting the 2024 movie schedule.

There are a lot of reasons that a young actor may change their name. Sometimes it's as simple as just wanting a cool new name. Often it's because someone is already in the union was using the actor's real name and they have to adjust. Here's a list of some of Hollywood's biggest stars and their real names. 

Ben Kingsley (Krishna Pandit Bhanji)

The great Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for his role in the great biopic Gandhi. It makes sense he would play the Indian freedom fighter, as Kingsley himself is Indian. Born to an Indian father and an English mother, Kingsley grew up in England and while his father was a practicing Shia Muslim, Kinglsey is not and considers himself a Quaker. He changed his name for that oh-so-common reason, that he feared a foreign-sounding name would hurt his career. 

Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson)

The story is both hilarious and heartfelt. She was born Caryn Elaine Johnson in New York, but when she started acting, she was accused of being flatulent, so Whoopi "short for whoopee cushion." Her surname came from a Jewish ancestor, Goldberg, so she could celebrate the diversity in her family line. 

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm)

Judy Garland first started in show business as a singer with her sisters, going by their names, The Gumm Sisters. After they were billed as the "Glum Sisters" for a show, it was suggested they change their name. Judy Gumm took her mother's maiden name, Garland, and the rest is history. 

Martin Sheen (Ramon Gerard Estevez)

Martin Sheen's real name is Ramon Gerard Estevez, but he changed it when he broke into the business for the same reason so many others have made the decision, to be less ethnic, as early in his career they said he looked Irish. One of his sons, Charlie Sheen, chose to use the same screen name, but one of his other sons, Emilio Estevez, chose to use his given name. Sheen's daughter, Renée Estevez, an occasional cast member of The West Wing with her father, also stuck with the family name. 

Vin Diesel (Mark Sinclair)

Vin Diesel took on that name after being born Mark Sinclair when he worked as a bouncer as he tried to break into show business. "Vin" comes from his adoptive surname, Vincent, and Diesel came simply because he wanted a cool name as a bouncer. 

Miley Cyrus (Destiny Hope Cyrus)

Though she was born Destiny Hope Cyrus, Miley Cyrus decided to go by the moniker she's best known as because that was simply what her family called her growing up. Her nickname in the family was originally "Smiley" which was eventually shortened to Miley. Her first couple of professional acting gigs, in the TV show Doc and the Tim Burton movie Big Fish, she was billed by her real name, Destiny Cyrus. 

Cary Grant (Archibald Alec Leach)

Early in his Vaudeville career, the great Cary Grant used his real name, Archibald Leach. When he got to Hollywood, as is so often the case, the studio didn't think the name wasn't "box office" enough, so he changed it to Cary Grant. 

Natalie Portman (Natalie Hershlag)

Natalie Portman's real name is Natalie Hershlag, but unlike so many others, she didn't change it because the name was "too ethnic" or not generic enough. As she explained to Vanity Fair in 2024, it was because she wanted to create a separate identity for her work and personal life. 

Portia De Rossi (Amanda Lee Rogers)

Portia de Rossi's name change came, at least originally, because she simply wanted a more exotic-sounding name when she started acting in her teens. Her given name, Amanda Lee Rogers, was just bland. She later revealed it may have been in part because she was struggling with her sexual identity as well. After marrying Ellen Degeneres in 2008, she changed it again, this time combining her real and stage names, Portia Lee James DeGeneres. Professionally she is still Portia de Rossi though. 

Joaquin Phoenix (Joaquin Rafael Bottom)

The Phoenix family has a fascinating history, one that includes time in the cult Children of God. When the family left that group, they made a collective decision to change their last name to one of rebirth, and Joaquin Rafael Bottom became Joaquin Phoenix.

Jamie Foxx (Eric Marlon Bishop)

Born Eric Marlon Bishop in 1967, Jamie Foxx took his stage name early when he was a standup. He says that he noticed women often got preferential spots during open mics, so he decided he wanted a more androgynous name, choosing Jamie. For his last name, he picked it as a tribute to his favorite comedian, Redd Foxx. 

John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison)

It was a lot more common back in the day for actors to adopt cooler-sounding stage names and that was pretty much the case for Marion Robert Morrison, who ended up John Wayne. It's easy to see why he did it, whether it was a good idea or not. It worked for him. 

Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV)

Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise didn't change much, but it was a meaningful change. His real name at birth was Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, obviously named after his father, hence the suffix. Cruise had a very difficult relationship with his dad, so when he began his career, he dropped the Mapother in part to distance himself from his then-estranged father. The two later reunited when his father was on his deathbed. 

Olivia Wilde (Olivia Cockburn)

Actor and director Olivia Wilde's story about why she changed her name is pretty simple. She decided she wanted to stage name, and at the time was acting in Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, which she loved. So she went with Wilde as a homage to the legendary playwright. 

Meg Ryan (Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra)

It's pretty easy to see why Meg Ryan chose to simplify her name when she started acting. Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra sure is a mouthful, so cutting a 25-letter name down to a seven-letter one makes sense. Meg is short for Margaret and Ryan is the maiden name of maternal grandmother. 

Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch)

In another example of early Hollywood stars fearing their given names would hold them back for sounding too ethnic, Kirk Douglas changed his name from Issur Danielovitch. He told People it was because he feared it would hold him back and it sounded "too Semitic." 

Mahershala Ali (Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore)

Like others on this list, it's easy to see why Mahershala Ali changed his name from Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore. Not only is Mahershalalhashbaz really hard to spell and pronounce, but the Green Book actor also converted to Islam as a teenager, taking Mahershala Ali as his Muslim name. 

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson)

One of the most famous name changes in Hollywood history is Norma Jeane Mortensen changing her name to Marilyn Monroe. There is no big story behind it, it simply was a snazzier name and Monroe was her mother's maiden name. 

Michael Keaton (Michael Douglas)

This one is easy to understand. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas. Obviously with an actor already in the union (Romancing The Stone star Michael Douglas), Keaton had to come up with a new name for billing. He chose the last name out of respect for early Hollywood star Buster Keaton. 

Michael Caine (Maurice Joseph Micklewhite)

If you think Maurice Micklewhite is a bit of a mouthful, you're not alone. English legend Michael Caine thought so too. In 2016, he legally changed his name from Micklewhite to Caine, because, according to the Batman Begins actor says it caused too much confusion at airports. 

Winona Ryder (Winona Laura Horowitz)

This one is a little in dispute - though not really. Charlie Sheen once claimed he gave Winona Horowitz her new name, Ryder, after listening to The Doors song "Riders on the Storm." Ryder says she got it when her father asked if she wanted a stage name while they were listening to Mitch Ryder. 

Demi Moore (Demetria Gene Guynes)

The story of Demi Moore's stage name (changed from Demetria Guynes) is both mundane and unique. Before she started appearing in acting roles, Moore married musician Freddy Moore when she was 18. So while Moore was her married name, it was a new name, just as her career was taking off. Demi is simply short for Demetria. 

Dove Cameron (Chloe Celeste Hosterman)

Dove Cameron has never explained why she chose Cameron as her stage name, but her reason for choosing Dove is bittersweet. Dove was her father's nickname for her and after he took his own life, she decided she wanted to go by that, in tribute to him. 

Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian)

It takes a lot of gall and a lot of talent to decide you're going to go with a one-name moniker, and Cher has oodles of both. It's not hard to see what she did, she simply shortened her first name, Cherilyn, and dropped her last. 

Olivia Colman (Sarah Caroline Colman)

Like others on this list, Olivia Colman couldn't join the actors union with her birth name, Sarah Colman, so she changed it. As she explained in 2013, Colman chose Olivia because it is one of her best friends from college's name and she loved it. 

Carmen Electra (Tara Leigh Patrick)

There aren't many people who can claim the legendary Prince gave them their name, but Carmen Electra can. Way back at the start of her career, when she was working with the Purple One, he decided Tara wasn't good enough and named her Carmen. In 2023, Tara Leigh Patrick officially changed her legal name to Carmen Electra, because who wouldn't?

Lily James (Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson)

Like others here, Lily James renamed herself in honor of her late father, James. Though Thomson was also her father's name, of course, she wanted to do more, deciding taking on the stage name "James" to do so. 

Nicolas Cage (Nicolas Kim Coppola)

Nicolas Cage's first movie role was basically just a background character in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. He is billed in the credits by his legal name, Nicolas Coppola, and yeah, it's that Coppola. While on the set of Fast Times, his co-stars would endlessly quote his famous uncle's (Francis Ford Coppola) movies. He decided then and there he needed to distance himself from his famous family (Talia Shire is his aunt, and Sophia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman are cousins).

Julianne Moore (Julie Anne Smith)

Julie Smith is a pretty common name, and when the great Julieanne Moore hit Hollywood, she soon discovered the name was already taken in the union. She tried different combinations, but they were all spoken for. In the end, she combined her first and middle names, and took her father's name, Moore, as her surname. It's like having to go through dozens of combos to find the right vanity plate, but in the end, it's hard to imagine the actor with any other name. 

Mindy Kaling (Vera Mindy Chokalingam)

It seems Hollywood is still getting people to change their names if they or people around them fear a real name is too complicated or foreign. Indian actor and writer Mindy Kaling is a recent example when she simplified her name from Vera Mindy Chokalingam to Mindy Kaling. 

David Tennant (David John McDonald)

Former Dr. Who and Jessica Jones star David Tennant has a tried and true story as well, his real name, David McDonald, was taken. He explained some years ago on James Corden's show, where he also explained that he chose "Tennant" because he saw the name from a music magazine in an article about Neil Tennant of The Pet Shop Boys. 

Chevy Chase (Cornelius Crane Chase)

Chevy Chase comes from a very blood-blue family who can trace their roots in America back to the Mayflower. Cornelius Crane Chase, the Vacation star's real name, reflects this perfectly. The reason he goes by "Chevy" is because his grandmother started calling him that when he was a kid. So, not much of a story here, but he's real name is just so posh, that we had to include it here. 

Helen Mirren (Helen Lydia Mironoff)

Like others, this one is just a technicality. Helen Mirren was born Helen Lydia Mironoff in London to an English mother and a Russian father. When Mirren was 10 years old, her father anglicized the family name to "Mirren." 

When the absolutely terribly titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives in theaters later this year, we’ll see the return of several characters from the original film. The Beetlejuice 2 cast includes the return of Michael Keaton of course, as well as Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, but another actor is nowhere to be seen. Some new Beetlejuice 2 details might shed some light on why the character of Charles Deetz is missing.

Jeffrey Jones played the role of Lydia’s father Charles Deetz in the original Beetlejuice cast, and while the reason the actor won’t be in the sequel likely has a lot to do with Jones running afoul of the law a few years back, the way the character was going to be written out of the sequel was less clear... especially since the rest of the family is in the movie. But EW has revealed that the Beetlejuice sequel will open with three generations of Deetz women, O’Hara’s Delia, Ryder’s Lydia, and Jenna Ortega’s Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, dealing with a death in the family.

While the story doesn’t reveal who died, it does suggest that the funeral could be for Charles Deetz. That would certainly make sense based on the fact that the actor isn’t part of the cast, as far as we know. Killing the character off would be an easy way to explain the absence. 

Of course, considering Beetlejuice deals heavily with the afterlife, the fact that somebody died is no reason for them to not appear in the movie. Perhaps Charles found some way to move on and avoid becoming a spirit. Unless he's just just stuck in the waiting room for the entire film.

Whoever has died, the death is the catalyst for whatever the events of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are. After more than three decades a sequel to Beetlejuice has finally happened. There have been countless Beetlejuice sequel rumors over the decades, and there was even a script for Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian once, but the previous attempts at a sequel never came to pass.

While the Beetlejuice sequel may have a terrible name, it will hopefully be everything that movie fans have been waiting for. A first look at Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice in the EW story that the actor hasn’t missed a step. The addition of Jenna Ortega, one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood, is a huge addition to the cast.

Now we just need to see it all in action. A trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is expected to drop pretty much anytime. That may confirm exactly who is dead, and how the death ties into the rest of the story. We’re very excited to see it when it happens. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s release date is currently set for September 6, 2024.

There was a time when music videos were as important as the radio in promoting the hottest artists and songs of the day. Back in the '80s and '90s, MTV was one of the most powerful cultural forces in the country, and that was reflected in how many stars you can spot in videos from the day. 

Sometimes, they were already huge stars, like Robin Williams and Chevy Chase, other times, they were actors looking to get their break and now, years later, we can marvel at their humble beginnings. This is a list of famous people in videos from the zenith of MTV highlights both.

Alicia Silverstone - "Cryin'"

Alicia Silverstone first got famous for starring in videos, specifically Aerosmith videos. The Clueless star appeared in three videos for the Boston rockers, the first for the song "Cryin'", then later showing up in the videos for "Amazing," alongside Dazed & Confused cast member Jason London. Silverstone's final appearance, and maybe the most famous video, was for the song "Crazy," alongside Steven Tyler's daughter, Liv Tyler. 

Courteney Cox - "Dancing In The Dark"

One of the most famous examples of a star getting her first break in a music video is, of course, Friends star Courteney Cox in the video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark." The video, which came out in 1984, was directed by Brian De Palma and, according to Cox, she was one of several women Springsteen could have picked out of the audience, and it was random that he chose her. What kismit! 

Cindy Crawford - "Freedom '90"

Director David Fincher, who has had quite an amazing career in film, started in music videos. One of those videos, George Michaels' "Freedom '90," was challenging because Michaels told Fincher he wasn't going to appear in the video. Fincher decided to cast a bevy of famous supermodels to lip-sync the song, including Cindy Crawford in a bathtub. 

Eva Mendes - "Miami"

In 1998, a young actress from Miami was cast in a video for the Will Smith song, "Miami." Eva Mendes had starred in one direct-to-video movie at that point and was that actress. It would be another three years before her breakout role in Training Day. It's a brief moment in the video, as she drove her convertible next to Smith's on the causeway to Miami Beach.

In 1993, Janet Jackson was on top of the world. Her fifth album, janet. was another huge hit, selling millions of copies, partly on the strength of the single, "That's the Way Love Goes." Little did anyone know at the time that one of the extras in the video would go on to a career that eclipsed even Jackson's, a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez. 

Matt LeBlanc - "Miracle"

Bon Jovi's "Miracle" is, let's be frank, not the New Jersey legends' best work. One thing they did get right was the casting for the video. Matt LeBlanc was a young actor and model just starting out on a career, so while his job is really only to look good in this video, he certainly does. It would be a few more years before America was introduced to his comedic chops too. 

Hugh Laurie - "Walking On Broken Glass"

By the time Hugh Laurie appeared in the video for Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass" in 1992, he was already very famous in the UK. It would be a few more years until the legendary TV show House would debut in the US, making Laurie a household name on both sides of the pond. John Malkovich also stars in the video, reminding fans of his role in Dangerous Liaisons. 

Angelina Jolie - "Wondering"

Angelina Jolie was a model in Hollywood from her teen years on, so it's no wonder she would have a few videos of her resume, including The Rolling Stones' video for "Has Anybody Seen My Baby," but it is surprising to see her in a video for the Athens, GA-based jam band Widespread Panic's song "Wondering" from 1993. Jolie also appears on the cover of the band's album Everyday, which includes "Wondering."

Zooey Deschanel - "She's Got Issues"

Zooey Deschanel is as successful in music, with her duo She & Him as she is on the big screen, so of course she has an early credit in a music video. Deschanel appears with fiery red hair in the video for "She's Got Issues" by The Offspring. 

Naomi Campbell - "Is This Love"

Bob Marley died over four decades ago, but his legacy is as big as ever, with the release of the biopic One Love in 2024. Back in the day, the reggae superstar filmed a video in London for his song "Is This Love" featuring a couple of local kids, including a 7-year-old Naomi Campbell!  

Macaulay Culkin - "Black Or White"

Michael Jackson redefined what a music video could be with "Thriller" and after that, he often released short films that were much more than just a song, and often they had big stars in them. For "Black or White" in 1991, MJ brought in Macaulay Culkin and George Wendt to play father and son, for example. 

Christina Hendricks - "One Hit Wonder"

Long before Christina Hendricks hit the big time with her role in Mad Men, she was a model and struggling actor in the '90s. One of her earliest roles, way back in 1998, was in the video for "One Hit Wonder" by Everclear. Luckily for all of us, that wasn't her only hit. 

Matthew McConaughey - "Walkaway Joe"

Alright, alright, alright, we'll concede that Dazed and Confused is what made Matthew McConaughey famous, but before that, he appeared in Trisha Yearwood's video for her hit "Walkaway Joe," playing the titular character of the song. 

Wesley Snipes - "Bad"

For the second single, "Bad" from his album of the same name, Micheal Jackson teamed up with Martin Scorsese to make an 18-minute short film for the video. In the video, Jackson famously has a dance-off with his rivals in a New York subway station. One of the baddies is none other than Wesley Snipes, who only had a few credits under his belt previously. 

Patrick Swayze - "Rosanna"

Toto's song "Rosanna" is famously about Rosanna Arquette. Less well-known is that if you watch the video closely, you'll notice a familiar face as one of the West Side Story-like dancers. Patrick Swayze, one year before his big break in The Outsiders is one of the dancers. In an even cooler bit of trivia, another one of the uncredited dancers in the video is Cynthia Rhodes, who would co-star as Swayze's first dance partner, Penny, in Dirty Dancing. 

Elijah Wood - "Forever Your Girl"

Elijah Wood has been working in Hollywood forever. He started as a child actor in films like Back to the Future II and The Good Sun, but before those even, he had a part in Paula Abdul's video for "Forever Your Girl" in 1989. 

Chevy Chase - "You Can Call Me Al"

Chevy Chase was one of the biggest stars on the planet in 1986 when he starred in the video for "You Can Call Me Al" with his buddy Paul Simon. It is, no lie, one of Chase's best performances, and it's impossible not to crack up at his facial expressions and physical comedy in the video. 

Johnny Depp - "Into The Great Wide Open"

Johnny Depp has always wanted to be a rock star, so it was a great move by Tom Petty to get him to play the part of one in the video for "Into The Great Wide Open" in 1991. The video also stars the legendary Faye Dunaway and Gabrielle Anwar. 

Jennifer Connelly - "I Drove All Night"

The late, great Roy Orbison found almost as much fame after he died as he found in life. Two albums of all-new songs were released posthumously and one song, "I Drove All Night," released in 1992, featured Jennifer Connelly alongside Jason Priestly, in the video, along with Orbison in grainy images of an old TV appearance. 

Kirsten Dunst - "I Knew I Loved You"

Does anybody remember the band Savage Garden? The Aussie duo had a string of huge hits in the late '90s, including the song "I Knew I Loved You" which features Kirsten Dunst as a woman on a subway with whom the lead singer, Darren Hayes, is in love. 

Robin Williams - "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Bobby McFerrin's 1988 song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" has to be one of the most surprising #1 hits of all time. The song was huge when it came out, and went on to win three Grammys. Someone must have had an inkling though, because superstar Robin Williams co-stars in the video with McFerrin. 

Kim Basinger - "Last Dance With Mary Jane"

Tom Petty made some legendary videos during his career, but the strangest has to be the one for "Last Dance With Mary Jane" which features Kim Basinger playing a corpse, dressed up as a bride. Great song, but a very weird video.

Keanu Reeves - "Rush, Rush"

1991 was a big year for Keanu Reeves. Not only did he star in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Point Break, but he also appeared as a James Dean-like character in the video for "Rush, Rush" by Paula Abdul. 

Eddie Murphy - "Do You Remember The Time"

In case you've forgotten just how huge Michael Jackson was in the early '90s, remember there was a time he could premiere a video on MTV, BET, and Fox all at the same time. The video starred Jackson, of course, along with Eddie Murphy and Iman as ancient Egyptian royalty. Magic Johnson also appeared. 

Katie Holmes - "Tongue Tied"

Katie Holmes' career was just starting to take off in 1999 with her starring turn on Dawson's Creek. She also found some time to appear in the video for the song "Tongue Tied" by pop punk band Eve 6. It's not the last time Holmes has appeared in a video, either. A year later, in 2000, she starred with Micheal Douglas and others in a Bob Dylan video. 

Winona Ryder - "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child"

By far the award for the strangest appearance on this list goes to Winona Ryder in the video for Mojo Nixon's song "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child." Leave it to the late Nixon for coming up with the most ridiculous premise for a song, then landing a star like Ryder to star in the video in 1989, the same year she appeared in Heathers. 

RuPaul - "Love Shack"

If one were to guess which 1980s video to expect a RuPaul appearance, the smart money would be a B-52's video. That's exactly what happened in 1989 when RuPaul popped up very briefly in the video for "Love Shack" as a dancer and partygoer. He wasn't close to famous yet, but he was good friends with the band and he fits right into the campiness of the video. 

Benicio del Toro - "La Isla Bonita"

Benicio del Toro made his big screen debut in 1988 in Pee Wee's Big Top, but a year earlier, he was one of the extras in the video for Madonna's "La Isla Bonita." He is way in the background and can only be clearly seen in one shot, but when you watch the video, it's unmistakenly del Toro. 

Liv Tyler - "Crazy"

According to Liv Tyler, she didn't meet her biological father, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, until she was eight, and didn't know he was her father for another few years. Still, by the time she starred in the video for "Crazy," they had developed a healthy relationship, and the video, in which she co-stars with Alicia Silverstone, launched her career.

Captain Lou Albano - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Cyndi Lauper was one of the biggest breakout stars of early MTV and for good reason. The low-budget video for her debut single, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" featured a quirky cast that included her mother (playing her mother), her lawyer, and wrestling star "Captain" Lou Albano as her father. It's a video as fun as the song and it was played on repeat in those early MTV days. 

John Goodman - "Wild Wild Life"

The song "Wild Wild Life" by The Talking Heads was part of their soundtrack for the David Byrne-directed film True Stories. For the video, he recruited some of the people who appear in the film, including John Goodman, who lip-syncs along with the song in a karaoke bar. 

LeVar Burton - "Word Up"

LeVar Burton first found fame as Kunta Kinte in Roots, one of the most memorable performances by any actor, ever. About a decade later, between Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Burton popped up in the video for "Word Up" by Cameo, playing a police officer trying to arrest the band. 

One video we left off this list because it's just too big a list on its own is the video for Ghostbusters which, in addition to the stars of the film also includes Chevy Chase, Danny Devito, Peter Falk, Al Franken, John Candy, and more. It's all too much to add to his list of some of the coolest appearances of stars in music videos! 

Between a host of lovable characters, skin-crawling monsters and the mysterious underworld of the Upside Down, Stranger Things is one of the most obsession-worthy shows imaginable for fans of science fiction. As we prepare to say goodbye to one of Netflix’s best creations with Stranger Things Season 5, it’s a great time to show your love of the TV show in your living space (or give a great gift to a fellow fan) with the show’s many available Funko Pops.

Across the four seasons of Stranger Things that have been released thus far, so many iconic character moments and they’ve been immortalized through Funko Pops. If you’re shopping for the best Stranger Things Funkos, look no further to become a master of Pop-pets. 

Eleven With Eggos And Mike With Walkie Talkie (From Season 1) 

Friends don’t lie! Our love of Stranger Things all started back in 2016 when the first season introduced us to Eleven and the gang of friends who help her. Eleven and Mike create a special bond from the start, and those beginnings have been turned into a pair of Funkos you can buy together, because as we know, Eleven and Mike don’t like to be apart for long.

Will The Wise (From Season 3) 

It’s safe to say the Stranger Things boys may not have become the best of friends that they are without the power of Dungeons and Dragons, which they would play every week together before their life kind of became a game of survival on its own. In the spirit of that, a unique Funko to own is this glow in the dark “Will The Wise” figure! 

Hawaiian Shirt Hopper (From Season 3) 

David Harbour’s Jim Hopper is one of the best parts of Stranger Things, between his character arc and funny moments with the cast. His best fit of the series has to be in Season 3 when he rocked a Hawaiian shirt and does some action-packed investigating. Hopper fans will love this find. 

Max with Walkman (From Season 4) 

I don’t think we’ll ever forget the emotional “Running Up That Hill” sequence starring Sadie Sink’s Max in Season 4 of Stranger Things. The moment that made Kate Bush’s ‘80s song go viral decades after its release has been tributed though this Funko Pop. She looks a lot more content as a frozen figure than how she appeared in the show, that’s for sure. 

Joyce with Christmas Lights (From Season 1) 

When we first fell for Stranger Things, Joyce’s sequence with the Christmas Lights in an effort to communicate with Will from the Upside Down was one of those big moments that got us there. This Funko Pop's price has lit up a big higher over the years as it's become more rare, so snatch it up before you have to communicate by otherworldly means to get your own! 

Robin In Scoops Ahoy Outfit (From Season 3) 

It’s hard to believe Maya Hawke’s Robin has only been around for two seasons on Stranger Things, because she’s become a favorite of ours so quickly! While she’s worn a lot of great fits since her introduction, her most identifiable outfit remains from Scoops Ahoy, where she was once a coworker with Steve Harrington at the mall. A lot of mileage comes from that hat font.

Eddie Munson & Dustin With The Demobats (From Season 4) 

The last we saw of the series was the Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2 ending, where Dustin and Eddie came across some pesky Demobats in the Upside Down and had to fend them off. Ultimately, Eddie fended them off and lost his life saving everyone doing so by playing Metallica’s “Master of the Puppets” on his guitar. Funko made this special set of both Eddie and Dustin coming against the Demobats. It’s a great keepsake for an all-time great moment in the series. 

Steve Harrington with Spiked Baseball Bat (From Season 2) 

I say with confidence that Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington remains the No. 1 heartthrob of Stranger Things in many of our hearts, and him swinging his spiked baseball bat with Demogorgon-destroying rage was most certainly a highlight of the character’s arc on the show thus far. This Funko Pop was a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, so it’s pricer than the others, but we’re not bat-ting any eyelashes at that, since it’s a great figure!  

Alexei with Slurpee (From Season 3) 

Another iconic slice of Season 3 (arguably the most iconic of anything free from danger and romance) was Alexei’s Slurpee moment. The Russian scientist quickly became a beloved character during the 2016 season of the show. Sadly, Alexei did not make it long enough to try new flavors, but this Funko Pop can keep him alive forever. 

Barb (From Season 1) 

The first famed casualty of Stranger Things was Barb. Anyone and everyone who saw Season 1 of Stranger Things needed a few business days (or business years, honestly) to cope with the sudden death of Nancy’s best friend so early in the series. She was gone too soon…but at least the character found justice in Funko form. 

Billy On Halloween (From Season 2) 

No list of ST characters would be complete without the hellacious Billy Hargrove, who first arrived in Season 2. The older step-brother of Max Mayfield was used as a vessel by the Mind Flayer, making him a sizable villain in Stranger Things. Perhaps his most memorable fit was on Halloween when he wore the leather jacket without a shirt. It’s one of the most sought after Funkos as well, given the price tag.  

Black Light Vecna (From Season 4) 

Speaking of villains, the big bad of Stranger Things is Vecna of course. With the release of the fourth season of the series, Funko released a special black light version of Vecna that will add some creepy coolness to whatever space you place it in. Is it Number One? That's up to the buyer.

Camo Lucas (From Season 3)

Caleb McLaughlin’s Lucas Sinclair has had tons of great moments in the series (and plenty of Funko editions as well), but our favorite is this sweet fit he wore in Season 3. As you may recall, Lucas wore the same camo bandana in Season 1, so it was fun to see him bring it back for Season 3 with an upgrade to his ‘80s sense of style. 

Hunter Nancy (Season 4) 

Another OG Stranger Things character to add to your collection is Nancy Wheeler. While there’s many versions of the high schooler in Funko form, we argue the best is from Season 4 when she went into badass mode, gun and all! She might also have the best plastic 'do of anyone.

Jonathan With Camera (Season 1) 

And to finish out our collection of best Funko Pops, check out this Season 1 figure of a glaring Jonathan holding his camera. It’s going for $70 these days because it’s more rare than a lot of other figures, and presumably not because of what's on the camera's film. Treat yourself to Funko treasure! 

As you go down the Funko Pop rabbit hole, check out what movie Funko Pops we cannot believe hasn’t been made yet! You can also catch up on Stranger Things now with a Netflix subscription. 

Whether it's doing stunts or just freak accidents, even the biggest Hollywood stars aren't immune to getting injured on set. While we mostly think of stars chilling in their posh trailers while their stunt people take the biggest risks, sometimes it's the celebrities themselves who get the worst of things. Here is our list of big stars who have been injured while filming, and what happened after. 

Daniel Craig 

You can't just pick one of the James Bond movies that Daniel Craig was injured during the filming of, because the truth is, he's been injured a lot. In No Time To Die, it was his ankle, which required surgery and he was off-set for a couple of weeks recovering. In Casino Royale, he knocked out two teeth filming a fight scene. In Quantum of Solace, he injured his shoulder, and in Spectre, it was his knee. It's easy to see why Craig has retired from the role, filming James Bond movies can be dangerous. 

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise famously does many of his most intense and dangerous stunts himself. It's become his brand, but it doesn't mean he doesn't get hurt. In fact, while filming Mission: Impossible – Fallout, it was one of his more innocent stunts, jumping from building to building, that caused an injury when Cruise broke his leg landing the jump. Filming halted for a few months while Cruise recovered, but the footage was included in the movie. 

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has a long history of getting injured on movie sets. Maybe the most high-profile time was when a door fell on his leg while shooting Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He broke his leg and director JJ Abrams injured his back helping pull the door off the Han Solo actor. 

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is one of the premiere action stars of the last 50 years, and as such, he's been injured a few times on set doing stunts. The worst, according to Stallone, came while filming the boxing match with Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV. Lundgren hit him so hard in the chest at one point that it caused his heart to swell and he ended up in intensive care for eight days. 

Isla Fisher 

One of the best scenes in Now You See Me is when Isla Fisher's character performs the underwater escape trick. It wasn't so great for the actress though, as she nearly drowned during the filming. Luckily a stuntman was there to flip the safety switch and save her. 

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the most intense scenes in Django Unchained is Leonardo DiCaprio's speech after dinner. He bangs his hand on the table and slices his hand on a glass. DiCaprio, ever the pro, kept going without missing a beat. It's so good, director Quentin Tarantino left that take in the final cut. 

Kristin Chenoweth

TV stars aren't safe either. Kristin Chenoweth was almost killed on the set of The Good Wife when part of the lighting rig fell on her. According to the actress, she had a "skull fracture and a rib issue and a hip issue" as a result. 

Bruce Willis

Like a lot of action stars, Bruce Willis has had his fair share of injuries in stunts gone wrong. In Live Free or Die Hard, the Hollywood legend suffered a serious cut above his eye that required stitches, after Maggie Q's stunt doubled kick him with high heels on. 

Mariska Hargitay

Sometimes, the extent of the injury isn't immediately understood, as was the case with Mariska Hargitay after a fall on the set of Law & Order: SVU. Hargitay performed a stunt that required her to land on some pads, but, in her words, something went wrong. She shook off the injury at first, but a few months later, she felt a sharp stabbing pain and ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. She recovered after surgery, though a second surgery was needed later. 

Charlize Theron

Æon Flux is not one of Charlize Theron's best movies, and it did almost leave her paralyzed. The actor fell on her neck performing a stunt and had she not been lucky and fallen just a centimeter differently, according to her, it could have been very bad. 

Malcolm McDowell

One of the more terrifying scenes in A Clockwork Orange is when Malcolm McDowell's character is "rehabilitated" by being forced to watch violent videos while his eyes are held open. For McDowell, it was even worse, as the setup caused his corneas to be scratched and he was blinded temporarily as a result. 

Brad Pitt

In the weirdest of coincidences, there is Brad Pitt in Troy. In the film, Pitt plays the Greek hero Achilles. Achilles is famous for one thing, his armor not covering that one tendon in a person's heel... Well, it just so happens that while filming Troy, Pitt tore his Achilles Tendon. 

Uma Thurman

During the filming of the Kill Bill movies, Uma Thurman crashed a car she was driving into a palm tree in Mexico and suffered injuries to her knees and a concussion. Years later she exposed what she claimed was a cover-up by the film's producers in an Instagram post. 

Orson Welles

The great Orson Welles really gave everything he had to make Citizen Kane. That includes chipping a bone in his ankle that forced him to use a wheelchair on set for two weeks while he directed. The injury occurred when he fell down some stairs while filming, and the scene made it into the final cut. 

Linda Blair

During the iconic scene in The Exorcist when Linda Blair's character, Regan, thrashes around as the bed levitates, the scream queen injured her back due to a mechanical default. The injury caused scoliosis, which still causes her problems today, though she's found ways to make it less painful. 

Jim Caviezel

The list of injuries that Jim Caviezel suffered while filming The Passion of the Christ has become the stuff of internet legend. Some injuries are hard to verify, but others aren't, the most notable of which is that as Caviezel prepared for the Sermon on the Mount scene, he was actually struck by lightning. That's got to be some sign, right?

George Clooney

The head injuries George Clooney sustained while filming the torture scene in Syriana were so debilitating that the actor says he even contemplated suicide. Eventually, doctors were able to alleviate the headaches after surgery, but in the meantime, Clooney called it "the most unbearable pain I've ever been through."

Orlando Bloom

There were a few injuries on the set of the Lord of the Rings movies, and one notable one was Orlando Bloom. Bloom broke some ribs when he fell from a horse while filming LOTR: The Two Towers. His fellow cast members gave Bloom a little...uh... ribbing in a behind-the-scenes video as well. 

Martin Sheen

There may be no more infamous Hollywood production than Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. No one had it worse than the film's star, Martin Sheen. As told in the documentary about the filming, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, Sheen not only suffered a near-fatal heart attack during production, but he also suffered a nasty cut on his hand. In the famous opening scene, Sheen punched a mirror and sliced his hand open and it bled badly. If you've seen the movie, you know what it looked like, because Sheen continued the scene and all the blood is very real.  

Michelle Yeoh

As an actor known for doing her own stunts, it's no surprise that Michelle Yeoh has been injured a few times on set. The most notable came when Yeoh tore her ACL during the production of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She was flown from China to Baltimore where surgery was performed to fix the injury at Johns Hopkins. 

Tom Hanks

Sometimes the most innocent-sounding injuries can be the worst. Such is the case for Tom Hanks, who cut his leg filming Cast Away. While a cut doesn't seem all that serious, it caused sepsis and landed Hanks in the hospital, who almost died as a result of the blood poisoning. 

Buddy Ebsen

The Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen could claim one of the weirder injuries on this list. Ebsen was the original actor cast to play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz and as part of the role, he was painted silver. The aluminum powder in the paint caused a reaction that landed Ebsen in the hospital due to breathing problems and he was recast by actor Jack Haley in the role. 

Winona Ryder

Accidents happen, even on movie sets of comedies, not action movies. Such was the case for Winona Ryder while filming Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler. While filming the scene on the bike in Central Park, Ryder took a tumble off it and broke her arm in three different places. Ouch. 

Matt LeBlanc

Injuries even happen on sitcoms. Even the biggest ones. While filming a scene for Friends, Matt LeBlanc fell into a chair and dislocated his shoulder. Production was delayed briefly, but the evidence is still on the screen, as LeBlanc was seen wearing a sling for a couple of episodes as his shoulder healed. 

Michael J. Fox

One of the scariest injuries didn't happen during a proper stunt. In Back To The Future III, Michael J. Fox almost died in the scene where his character, Marty McFly, is hanged. A mishap meant that he was actually getting choked and at first no one noticed. He passed out before he was lowered to the ground. 

Ed Harris

Ed Harris was almost killed while filming The Abyss. In one of the many underwater scenes in the movie, Harris ran out of oxygen and no one else on set realized he'd signaled that he did. He passed out from a lack of oxygen, but luckily someone finally noticed and they got him some air. 

Vincent D'Onofrio

Marine boot camp is intense, even for actors just playing Marines. Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, injured his knee so badly during filming one of the training scenes that he ended up needing surgery to fix it. 

Melanie Griffith

One of the most notoriously dangerous movies ever shot is Roar by director Noel Marshall. In the 1970s, Marshall was married to Tippi Hedren, which also made him Melanie Griffith's stepfather. The movie filmed Hedren and Griffith (who was a kid at the time) living with lions. Real lions. According to legend, at least 70 people were injured by the big cats, including Griffith, who was "mauled near the eye" and needed plastic surgery to fix it. 

Jackie Chan

One actor you won't be surprised to see on this list is Jackie Chan. The martial artist and stuntman has pulled off some of the most insane stunts in film history, so it's no surprised he's been injured along the way. One notable time was while shooting Police Story. In one scene, Chan slides down a metal pole, which he did so quickly he suffered third degree burns on his hands. The shot was used in the movie. 

Al Pacino

Injuries can occur when actors don't quite make the best decisions. Take, for example the great Al Pacino. While filming a scene in Scarface, Pacino grabbed the business end of a gun that had just been fired and severely burned his hands. According to Brian De Palma, the actor was off for the next two weeks. 

Matthew Fox

Every now and then, one actor will injure another one, as is the case with Terry O'Quinn and Matthew Fox on the set of Lost. In a fight scene, O'Quinn stabbed Fox with a knife, which O'Quinn thought, incorrectly, was a prop knife, but it was very real. Thankfully, Fox was wearing a protective Kevlar vest that saved him from actually being stabbed. 

Dylan O'Brien

Dylan O'Brien was almost killed while shooting The Maze Runner: The Death Cure. While shooting a scene, the star of the movie was struck by a car. According to Vulture, O'Brien had a "concussion, facial fracture, and brain trauma among his injuries." Production on the movie was halted as he recovered, which, according to O'Brien, was one of the worst periods in his life. 

Dominic Purcell

Even without stunts and other action, injuries happen. Prison Break star Dominic Purcell broke his nose and had other facial injuries while filming for the show in Morocco. It was a freak accident as a lighting truss fell from the set and hit him. It could've been very scary, as those kinds of accidents have killed people, but luckily for Purcell, his injuries healed quickly and production on the show wasn't impacted.

Most of the time, when actors are injured on set, the injuries are minor, thankfully. Of course, that isn't always the case, and though deaths on movie sets are rare, they happen, so anytime someone is injured seriously, production is usually halted. Just looking through this list, you can see just how close some of these big names came to serious injury, and in a way, they're lucky (and we're lucky) that they are still around.   

Fame is a tricky thing, and sometimes the biggest stars in the world can lose it all. Personal problems, changing times, and other factors can lead to a once-promising career disappearing almost over night. These stars, however, reversed their trajectories and came out on top after enduring rough times, in this list of actors who made remarkable career comebacks. 

Robert Downey, Jr.

Robert Downey, Jr was one of the most promising young actors in Hollywood in the 1980s, starring in films like Less Than Zero, Chaplin, and Natural Born Killers. In the mid-90s his life went infamously went off the rails with substance abuse problems. When it looked like he'd thrown it all away, he cleaned up and his fame exploded as he became one of the highest-paid actors in the MCU.

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda has had a few ups and downs in her career. After breaking out as a star in the '60s, she was later shunned by many for her notorious trip to North Vietnam during the war. She rebounded and starred in hits like 9 to 5 and On Golden Pond. In 1991, Fonda married Ted Turner and completely stepped back from acting. She didn't appear in anything at all until after their divorce in 2001, but roared back to prominence in the 21st Century. 

Rob Lowe

As a member of the "Brat Pack" in the 1980s, Rob Lowe was on top of the world. That all came crashing down when a videotape of Lowe in a compromising situation was leaked. His hard partying had caught up to him, and though he got sober in 1992, he would spend much of the decade playing smaller roles or in direct-to-video movies. In 1999 he landed the role of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing and was once again on top, where he's stayed ever since. 

John Travolta

In the late '70s, there was no bigger star than John Travolta. From Welcome Back, Kotter to Grease and Saturday Night Fever, Travolta was in some of the biggest pop culture touchstones of all time. Then the '80s came and his career hit a serious lull. While he was in the hit Look Who's Talking and its sequels, it was 1994's Pulp Fiction that vaulted Travolta back to the top. 

Natasha Lyonne

In the late '90s, Natasha Lyonne was one of a group of budding stars in American Pie and other movies like Slums Of Beverly Hills before health and addiction problems derailed her career. Thankfully for all of us she came out of those those stronger and has since starred in fantastic shows like Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll. 

Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for 2022 The Whale capped off one of the greatest comeback stories in Hollywood history. His work had all but completely dried up in the late '00s and 2010s, but his career has had the most incredible resurgence in the 2020s. 

Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder defined "movie star" for late Gen Xers in the '90s, but after her infamous arrest for shoplifting in 2001, her career nosedived and she didn't appear in a movie for about three years after. For the next decade or so, she worked steadily but didn't regain her star power from early in her career. That changed when she starred in Stranger Things, starting in 2016, and she once again became a huge star. 

Dave Chappelle

In 2003 Dave Chappelle debuted Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central and it became a massive hit. Despite the network throwing tens of millions of dollars at the comedian to keep the show going, he turned it down and walked away. Chappelle stayed away for most of the next decade before reviving his standup career, and while Chappelle continues to garner controversy, it's safe to say he's as big as ever. 

Betty White

When Betty White died in 2021 she was mourned by millions. The beloved actress had been a television star since the 1940s, but not all of those years were in the spotlight. After early success in the '50s in Life with Elizabeth and other sitcoms, White's career hit a lull for more than a decade. She returned to the big time with her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the '70s, The Golden Girls in the '80s, and then later with Hot in Cleveland in the 2010s.

Ke Huy Quan

There is no more heartwarming story than that of Ke Huy Quan's resurgence. the actor, who first found fame as a child in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, completely disappeared from Hollywood. For twenty years, he appeared in not one TV show or movie, before returning in 2021 with a role in Finding ʻOhana, and then winning an Oscar for his performance in 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton was a controversial choice when he was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, but it shows just how famous he was at that time. After Batman Returns, Keaton's star faded and he starred in a run of films to mixed reviews. In 2014 Keaton starred in the very meta Birdman, as a former superhero star looking to regain his fame. It worked, at least for Keaton. 

Katharine Hepburn

Anyone with a career as long as Katharine Hepburn's is bound to have some slow periods. The most amazing fact of the legendary actress' career was the 34-year span between Best Actress Oscars. She won in 1934 for Morning Glory and then again in 1968 and 1969 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter, respectively. She would win her fourth 13 years later in 1982 for On Golden Pond. 

Mickey Rourke

In the 1980s Mickey Rourke starred in a string of hits. Eventually, though, his reputation as being difficult to work with overshadowed his performances and he was left in the Hollywood wilderness until triumphantly returning to his past glory in 2008 with The Wrestler.

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was one of the biggest stars of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Then came the '80s, when he stepped away from acting and concentrated on directing, to mixed reviews. In 1988 he turned back to acting and had a wonderful late career resurgence with films like Shoot To Kill and Sneakers. 

Jason Bateman

In the 1980s it looked like Jason Bateman was a surefire bet to be a huge star. Then the '90s came and his career pretty much dried up. He had some guest spots on TV shows, but little else. He was all but forgotten. In 2003, Fox debut a show you may have heard of, Arrested Development, with Bateman as the star, and he's been huge ever since. 

Keanu Reeves

It's hard to remember a time when Keanu Reeves wasn't one of the biggest stars in the world, but after his success in the '90s and early '00s with The Matrix and Speed and more, he starred in a slew of commercial and critical failures. Thankfully for Reeves fans everywhere, John Wick came along and Reeves was back on top of the mountain, where he still is. 

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore almost became a Hollywood child star casualty after her string of hits as a kid in the 1980s. She had a rough childhood that led to substance abuse problems as a teenager. Against the odds, she got through it all and became an even bigger star on the other end. 

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris first got famous as a child prodigy playing a prodigy on Doogie Howser, MD. After the sitcom ended in 1993, he struggled to regain that popularity. That is, until he played a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in 2004. Soon after he landed the role he's best known for, Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. 

Matthew McConaughey

Most of Matthew McConaughey's early career was made up of starring roles in rom-coms. In 2009 the Lincoln Lawyer star took a two-year acting hiatus to re-evaluate his career. He emerged in 2011 by taking on more serious roles and leaving his rom-com leading man reputation behind. Since the so-called "McConaissance," McConaughey's become on of the most acclaimed actors of the 21st century. 

Nicolas Cage

By 2009 Cage was one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood, and one of the highest-paid actors in the business, but it seems he couldn't curb his spending and ended up in debt to the IRS and other creditors. As a result, Cage seemingly took every job offered to him, and he put out an immense catalog of straight-to-video movies that few people have ever watched. Finally, in 2022, Cage revealed he was finally debt-free and started being more selective with his roles. this led to acclaimed roles in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and 2023's Dream Scenario.

Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore's career started like a comet as a singer in the late '90s which she parlayed into an acting career. That career slowed way down in the early 2010s, only to be revived in a massive way with her starring role on the NBC hit This Is Us. 

Christian Slater

With starring roles in Heathers, Pump Up The Volume, and Gleaming The Cube, Christian Slater became a Gen X icon. He scored a number of high-profile roles in big-budget movies in the '90s, before work started drying up in the early 2000s. He returned to Hollywood prominence with his award-winning role in Mr. Robot and has maintained it ever since. 

Luke Perry

Luke Perry was one of the biggest television stars of the 1990s as part of the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210. After the show ended though, his star faded some. That is, until he was cast in the CW's Riverdale and he was discovered by a whole new generation of fans. Tragically, Perry died in 2019 at age 52. 

Christina Ricci

Childhood success for Christina Ricci didn't immediately translate to success as an adult. She's always worked steadily, but her fame never quite reached the heights of her early career in The Addams Family. That changed in 2021 with Showtime's Yellowjackets. 

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh first found international fame with her roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She maintained a level of success, but she exploded to new heights with her Oscar-winning turn in 2022's Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. 

Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell was huge in the '90s with her starring role in the show Party Of Five and movies like The Craft and Wild Things. In the early 2000s, she starred in the Scream franchise, but hit a lull after that. Recently, she's been back on top with roles in The Lincoln Lawyer and Twisted Metal. 

Channing Tatum

Fans might not think that Channing Tatum has never had a career lull, but he has actually had a couple. He's always had to fight the idea that he's all looks and little substance (which is far from accurate), and that has affected his career at different points. He's always rebounded with strong performances like the one in Foxcatcher, however. 

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence's career hasn't really had a financial downturn, her lull was completely her choice. After a couple of poorly reviewed films and becoming the most famous victim of the iPhone hacking scandal, Lawrence stepped away from acting for two years in 2019. She triumphantly returned in the great movie Don't Look Up in 2021. 

Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey was first famous for starring in teen comedies like Loverboy and Can't Buy Me Love. He bounced around for a few years after that, working steadily but hardly a star. That changed in a big way when he landed the role of Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in 2005 on Grey's Anatomy. 

Marlon Brando

The 1960s weren't kind to Marlon Brando. After establishing himself as a bonafide star and one of the finest actors of the 20th century in the '50s, his mercurial nature earned him a reputation as difficult to work with. A string of box office failures didn't help. Famously, he pushed hard to get the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, and wow, was that the right move! He won an Academy Award and reminded everyone how great an actor he was. 

David Carradine

Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to help revive a star's career like he did with John Travolta. David Carradine was huge in the 1970s as the star of Kung Fu, and while he always found work, it took until Kill Bill in 2003 that he found that same level of fame again. 

Kiefer Sutherland

After becoming one of the biggest teen idols of the '80s, Kiefer Sutherland spent most of the '90s in smaller, supporting roles. In 2001, however, he landed the role of Jack Bauer in 24 and it became the part he's most known for, becoming a television icon over the run of the show. 

Fame, as they say, is fleeting, and these actors prove there can always be a second act in Hollywood. 

The “will they, won’t they” trope refers to when a TV show traces the blossoming romance of two central characters — such as Jim and Pam from the U.S. version of The Office cast or the two original lead Cheers characters, Sam and Diane. But, what about the characters who led a major storyline that involved the end of their relationship and, more specifically, the end of a marriage? We thought we would give some of the most iconic divorced TV characters their due by highlighting our favorites below.

Ross Gellar (Friends)

The ultimate TV divorcee — in sitcoms, at least — is easily Ross Gellar (David Schwimmer), who is splitting from his first wife, Carol, in the Friends pilot. In Season 4, his marriage to Emily Waltham (Helen Baxendale) is ruined during the ceremony because of his oft-debated history with Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), who later becomes his third wife by a drunken mistake in Vegas. 

Joyce Byers (Stranger Things)

Before Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and the rest of the Stranger Things cast faced off against Demagorgons and other creatures, she had another monster to contend with: her husband. The selfish, deceitful, and abusive Lonnie (Ross Partridge) did not even care about the disappearance of his own son, Will (Noah Schnapp), in Season 1 of the Netflix sci-fi drama and blamed Joyce, who eventually — and quite thankfully — found romance with longtime friend, Jim Hopper (David Harbour).

Don Draper (Mad Men)

The seemingly picture-perfect union of Don Draper and Betty Hofstadt (Mad Men cast members Jon Hamm and January Jones) came to an end by the AMC period drama’s fourth season after unsuccessful attempts to reconcile amid each other’s affairs. However, it was not the ad executive’s last or even first marriage. Previously, his union with Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton) — widow of the man whose identity he stole — was annulled and he and his third wife, Megan Calvet (Jessica Pare), began to grow apart in the penultimate season.

Reba Hart (Reba)

One of the best country music singers-turned-actors, Reba McEntire, became sitcom royalty with her Golden Globe-nominated performance as the lead of her own comedy on The WB (and, later, The CW). Lasting six seasons, Reba was the story of a Southern single mother of three struggling to maintain a relationship with her ex-husband (played by Christopher Rich) and the woman he left her for (Melissa Peterman). Luckily, as the theme song says, she’s a survivor.

Seong Gi-hun (Squid Game)

In one of the best Netflix TV shows, Squid Game, the central protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae) chooses to leave for the deadly tournament after surviving the first round. But, after learning that his daughter is about to move to the United States with his ex-wife and her new husband, which is what convenes him to reenter the games. However, in the Season 1 finale, he ditches his chance to reconnect with his daughter in favor of taking down the tournament, which we will see playing when Season 2 of the South Korean hit premieres.

Frasier Crane (Cheers, Frasier)

On Cheers, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) meets and eventually weds fellow psychiatrist, Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth). After she left him for another man before later pleading reconciliation, the long-running series ended with their marriage facing an uncertain fate. When Frasier’s self-titled spin-off premiered, it was revealed that he had left for good before packing up for Seattle, where they would sometimes reunite, including on Paramount+’s revival series in 2023.

Toby Flenderson (The Office)

The HR representative at Dunder-Mifflin’s Scranton branch, Toby Flenderson (The Office writer Paul Lieberstein), is divorced — a fact his self-described enemy, branch manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell), often uses to taunt him. Toby and his ex-wife had a daughter named Sasha (Delaney Ruth Farrell), whom we meet in one of the most cringe-worthy episodes of The Office, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day.”

Dorothy Zbornak (The Golden Girls)

What led Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) to move in with her mother, Sophia (Estelle Getty), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Rose (Betty White) is her split from Stan (Herb Edelman). Nonetheless, Dorothy’s ex-husband would remain a recurring staple of The Golden Girls, and the former spouses’ lasting, yet imperfect, affection for one another made for a uniquely charming pair.

Bobby And Pam Ewing (Dallas)

The only thing as captivating as the mystery of who shot J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) on Dallas was the marriage of Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) to Pamela (Victoria Principal), who comes from the rival Barnes family. The Romeo and Juliet-style romance which turned many against them was initially the central focus of the primetime soap (one of the most popular TV shows of its time), until the couple ended up turning against each other.

Kirk And Luann Van Houten (The Simpsons)

In Season 3 of The Simpsons, we meet Milhouse’s parents, Kirk (Hank Azaria) — one of the most popular Simpsons characters to enter the series late — and Luann Van Houten (Maggie Roswell). In Season 8 — after a disastrous game of Pictionary at Homer and Marge’s dinner party — the couple called it quits and Kirk’s many efforts to salvage their union — including penning a song called “Can I Borrow a Feeling” — could not redeem it, unfortunately.

Grace Adler (Will & Grace)

Interior designer Grace Adler (Will & Grace cast member Debra Messing) almost got married in the pilot before finally finding her match in Dr. Leo Marcus (Harry Connick, Jr.), until his one-night-stand on a Cambodian Doctors Without Borders assignment ruined things. While they managed to work things out, remarry, and raise their daughter together in the finale, the 2017 revival series (which ignores the previous series’ ender) reveals that Grace, unable to trust Leo for his past mistake, left him again.

Michael And Jane Mancini (Melrose Place)

At the beginning of Melrose Place, the heart and soul of the Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off was surgeon Michael (Thomas Calabro) and fashion designer Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett). However, by Season 2, Michael’s suddenly villainous transformation — complete with a terrible attitude and adulterous habits — saw the end of the marriage.

Matt Foley (Saturday Night Live)

When Chris Farley’s most famous SNL character, Matt Foley, made his SNL debut — in a beloved sketch written by Bob Odenkirk — the motivational speaker provided three important facts about his life: he is 35, divorced, and lives in a van down by the river. In subsequent editions of the bit, we learn he has actually been married “thrice” and even winds up in jail for failing to pay alimony at one point.

Cleveland Brown (Family Guy)

One of the funniest Family Guy characters, Cleveland Brown (Arif Zahir, who replaced Mike Henry) was married to Loretta (Alex Borstein) until she was caught cheating with Quagmire (Seth MacFarlane). When he got his own spin-off, The Cleveland Show, he reunited with his childhood friend and secret crush, Donna Tubbs (Sanaa Lathan), and his dreams came true when they married.

Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

After years of putting up with the neurotic and selfish behavior of her husband, Larry David (creator Larry David), the final straw for Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) came late in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s sixth season when he was too preoccupied with a TiVo installer to comfort her during a turbulent flight over the phone. Larry would later attempt a few schemes to win her back, including casting her as the wife of a character he inspired, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), for an in-show Seinfeld cast reunion special. 

Alan Harper (Two And A Half Men)

Initially, the premise of the long-running CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men, saw Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) reluctantly take in his brother, Alan (Jon Cryer), and nephew, Jake (Angus T. Jones), after Alan’s wife, Judith (Marin Hinkle) kicks him out. Alan later meets and marries the young, ditzy Kandi (April Bowlby) in an impromptu ceremony, but she splits with him because of — as it is eventually revealed — their differing opinions on having children… and his ear, nose, and chest hair.

Selina Meyer (Veep)

For, just about, the entire duration of their 12-year marriage, Andrew Meyer (David Pasquesi) cheated on his wife, Selina (Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus) almost constantly. Still, upon their reunion on Veep — a show Parks and Rec fans will love —  the attraction between them remains strong, which results in some increasingly ridiculous hijinks behind the scenes of Selina’s political career.

Lucious And Cookie Lyon (Empire)

We learn at the beginning of Empire that Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) divorced Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) while she was still in prison — kicking off a volatile personal and professional relationship between the music industry magnates upon her release. While they would remarry in Season 4, the sixth and final season began with them separated before, eventually, finalizing their second split.

Maura And Shelly Pfefferman (Transparent)

At the beginning of Amazon’s Emmy-winning dramedy, Transparent, Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) — then known as “Morton” — revealed to her wife, Shelley (Judith Light) that she was transgender, Shelley could not accept this news and opted to split up. Eventually, however, despite a brief chance at rekindling their romance, they prove to be much stronger friends.

Jules Cobb (Cougar Town)

After the series finale, Friends cast member Courteney Cox’s most successful follow-up was an ABC (later TBS) original sitcom called Cougar Town. She played Jules Cobb: a single, forty-something mother to Travis (Dan Byrd) — whom she had with ex-husband, Bobby (Brian Van Holt) — who eventually remarries when she falls for her neighbor, Grayson Ellis (Josh Hopkins).

Lou Grant (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

One of the first TV characters depicted as a divorcé was Lou Grant, portrayed by the late Ed Asner to multi-Emmy-winning acclaim on The Mary Tyler Moore and on his more dramatic self-titled spin-off. The TV news producer’s marriage to Edie (Priscilla Morrill) ends roughly halfway through the series, but they remain in touch and Lou even attends Edie’s nuptials to Howard Gordon.

Erica Kane (All My Children)

One of the most notorious divorcés in TV history is Erica Kane, played by the legendary Susan Lucci on All My Children. Over the course of four decades on the ABC daytime soap opera, the businesswoman was seen tying the knot a staggering eleven times.

Angela Bower (Who's The Boss?)

Years before Judith Light portrayed a divorcé on Transparent, she played single mother Angela Bower on the hit ABC sitcom, Who’s the Boss? The advertising executive would eventually find love again with her widowed live-in housekeeper, Tony Micelle (Tony Danza).

Rhoda Morgenstern (Rhoda)

When Valerie Harper left the Mary Tyler Moore Show to star in her own spin-off, Rhoda, the title character would meet and marry a divorced man named Joe Gerard (David Groh). Their relationship would only last a couple more years and we discovered much later in a 2000 TV movie called Mary and Rhoda that she found a new French husband named Jean-Pierre Rousseau, but that marriage did not last either.

Niles Crane (Frasier)

Arguably the funniest recurring gag in Frasier is that Niles Crane’s (David Hyde Pierce) wife, Maris, is never once seen — due to the characters’ increasingly bizarre descriptions making her impossible to cast — even after their marriage falls apart in Season 4. Thankfully, Niles would later fall in love with his brother’s housekeeper, Daphne (Jane Leeves).

Angela Martin (The Office)

After her engagement to Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) ends due to her affair with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), Angela Martin’s (Angela Kinsey) marriage to state senator Robert Lipton (Jack Coleman) ends due to his affair with Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) in the final season of The Office. Soon after, she and Dwight finally and openly admit their love for each other and wed in the series finale, which actually counts as their second after Dwight fooled her into a marriage while she was still engaged to Andy.

Alexis Morrell (Dynasty)

Much of the most intense drama on the long-running primetime soap opera, Dynasty — which was later rebooted for The CW — stemmed from the relationship between former spouses Alexis Morrell (Joan Collins) and Blake Carrington (John Forsyth). The marriage was actually the first of four for the socialite, who also went on to marry Cecil Colby, Dex Dexter, and Sean Rowan.

Bill Dauterive (King Of The Hill)

For all 13 seasons of King of the Hill, Bill Dauterive (voiced by Stephen Root) never quite got over his ex-wife, Leonare (Ellen Barkin). There was a time in Season 5 when he had a chance at finding love again with former Texas governor Ann Richards (voicing herself), which ultimately went nowhere, but was almost ruined by one of Leonare’s schemes.

Mike and Gloria Stivic (All In The Family)

The conservative Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) would constantly butt heads with the more liberal Mike Stivic (future filmmaker Rob Reiner), who was married to his daughter, Gloria. However, by the end of the groundbreaking run of All in the Family, the couple separated. Archie initially assumed it was by Mike’s doing, until Gloria admitted to her own infidelity.

Mr. Big (Sex And The City)

The classic “will they, won’t they” relationship between Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City cast lead Sarah Jessica Parker) and John James “Mr. Big” Preston (Chris Noth), would eventually result in marriage (until his death, as revealed in the sequel series, And Just Like That…), which was the entrepreneur’s third. He was previously married to a woman named Barbara and, during a time when he and Carrie were apart, married a younger woman named Natasha (Bridget Moynahan).

Louie (Louie)

Much like in real life, Louis C.K.’s fictionalized version of himself in the acclaimed FX series, Louie, is a divorced comedian. In fact, one of its sharpest elements is its almost tragically hilarious depiction of single parenthood from his perspective.

Henry VIII (The Tudors)

Borrowed straight from the history books, Showtime’s The Tudors incorporates a truly heinous depiction of a marriage ending. Because divorce is against her religion, Catherine (Maria Doyle Kennedy) has her marriage to King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) annulled due to his obsession with Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer). As a result, she is exiled. 

Breaking up is hard to do, but in the case of these divorced characters, it made for great television.

Winona Ryder joined the original Netflix series Stranger Things in 2016 and has since played Joyce Byers, a woman who's tried to protect her son and others from supernatural forces. The show has, of course, proven to be a hit, with its Its fourth season breaking records during its first weekend and becoming the most-watched English language series on the platform. The series' leading lady has seen a lot of success, thanks to the world of streaming and, if you can believe it, she initially didn’t know what it was before signing on.

Streaming has become such a huge part of the entertainment industry that it may be hard for some to believe there was a time when network TV was the primary producer of quality shows. In the early aughts though, Winona Ryder wasn't in the know about the growing digital trend, according to Stranger Things producer and director Shawn Levy. On an episode of the podcast series Happy Sad Confused, Levy recalled an early meeting that was conducted with the Beetlejuice star, during which her unawareness of streaming was revealed:

I can understand the confusion Winona Ryder had. While streaming was in full force by that point, many were surely still racking their brains around the gradual change in media consumption. Admittedly, I can also remember a time where I myself had a hard time accepting series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black as nothing more than "online shows." Stranger Things -- which is a must-watch series -- ultimately became the platform's first great horror series and has received numerous accolades. That's a testament to the strength of storytelling and the ability of platforms like Netflix and Apple TV+ to produce great shows.

Aside from all of that, you may find this funny, but there was also a time when Winona Ryder was confused by the concept of podcasts. Happy Sad Confusing Josh Horowitz hilariously recalled that when the Lucas actress was once on his podcast, she had no idea a “podcast” was what she was taking part in. Shawn Levy had a simple reaction to that story:

We all do. It goes without saying that times really are changing, and we need to change with them. Streaming services, podcasts and other digital media creations have more than become commonplace. While she was initially ignorant to them, I'd assume Winona Ryder is a bit more adept now. Shawn Levy continued to talk about how before she decided to join the supernatural ‘80s throwback series -- and still needed to be filled in about the logistics

Winona Ryder truly is a wonder on Stranger Things, with her character’s biggest strength being willing to do anything humanly possible for the people she loves. I was even astonished at how open Joyce was to believing in the possibility of the supernatural if it meant bringing her son back to Hawkins, Indiana. As each season brings a new adventure for Joyce and her family, I’m curious what their final adventure together will be in the fifth and season. There's also a question of when fans might see those concluding episodes.

Season 5 was impacted by the the WGA writers strike, which finally ended weeks ago. Shawn Levy told The Wrap that series creators The Duffer Brothers have been hard at work since the ending of the writer’s strike. They’re just waiting for the SAG-AFTRA labor dispute to end so that production can get underway. When that happens, the cast will be able to get back to work -- and that includes the now-streaming-informed Winona Ryder.

While you wait for the final season of Stranger Things to arrive, know that you can stream the first four seasons now using Netflix subscription. You can also take a look at the 2023 TV schedule for information on other small-screen offerings.

When it comes to Hollywood, plenty of actresses, singers, and more have taken the world by storm. It could be from their legendary acting, brilliant singing, or even how they walk the runway, but one way or another, they become Hollywood it girls, the ones that everyone looks up to and wants to be. Today, we'll review more than 30 Hollywood It girls, their time in the spotlight, and where they are now. 

Audrey Hepburn

We need to mention Audrey Hepburn if we're talking about Hollywood it girls. The actress became a major it girl in 1960s for her roles in iconic films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, and several other classic films. She won an Academy Award for acting in Roman Holiday alongside Gregory Peck and is considered one of the most iconic faces in Hollywood history. The actress passed away in January 1993 at 63. 

Angelina Jolie 

Angelina Jolie really started building a name for herself in the '90s, then gained fame for her role in Girl, Interrupted earlier in the 2000s, and only continued to grow in popularity. Her starring roles in movies such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Wanted, Salt, and more in the early to mid-2000s garnered her the coveted Hollywood it girl status. She also won an Academy Award for Girl, Interrupted. There are so many great Angelina Jolie movies to watch. 

Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno danced onto the scene as a Hollywood it girl 1962 with her starring role in the classic movie musical West Side Story, where she won an Academy Award for playing Anita. She continued to star in various films after in the 1960s and '70s. In recent years, she played Valentina in the new Steven Spielberg reboot of West Side Story and appeared in other films like 80 for Brady, Fast X, and more. 

Elizabeth Taylor 

Elizabeth Taylor became a Hollywood it girl around the time Cleopatra released in the 1960s. She would also star in films such as Father of Bride, A Place in the Sun, Ivanhoe, and many more. She also won the Academy Award for Butterfield 8, and starred in several films with her on-again-off-again husband, Richard Burton. Taylor passed away in 2011 at the age of 79. 

Drew Barrymore

Though she's been acting since childhood, Drew Barrymore was the Hollywood it girl in the 1990s, especially from her part in The Wedding Singer. Her small role in the Scream franchise was another big moment during the decade. Aside from that, she appeared in films like Charlie's Angels, Boys on the Side, Batman Forever, and more. In recent years, she became a host of her own syndicated talk show called The Drew Barrymore Show. 

Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews' best movies exemplify how she became a Hollywood it girl. Andrews is primarily known for two of her roles in the 1960s that shot her up to It girl stardom – The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins (for which she won an Academy Award), two highly iconic musical films where she showed off her acting talent and brilliant pipes. She continues to act to this day and often leads her iconic voices to several franchises. 

Dolly Parton 

When I think of Hollywood it girls, I often think of Dolly Parton. This country star has become a staple in the world of music and shot up to Hollywood it girl status in the 1980s, with a combination of her iconic music and her roles in films like 9 to 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Diana Ross 

Diana Ross is an incredible singer who became a Hollywood it girl as the lead vocalist from the Motown girl group, The Supremes, back in the 1960s. But from there, she had a solo career that expanded decades. To this day, Ross continues to perform and make music. She also won several awards for her role in Lady Sings the Blues. 

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin was another iconic voice from the late 1960s and became an even bigger star in the latter half of the decade, becoming one of the biggest Hollywood it girls out there. Some of her songs that you might recognize include "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "I Say A Little Prayer" and more. She passed away in 2018 at the age of 76.  

Brooke Shields

Back in the early 1980s, all anyone could talk about was Brooke Shields. The actress became big at a young age for her modeling, and then began to star in films such as The Blue Lagoon, Endless Love, and more, which truly cemented her status. She played Van in Holiday Harmony in 2022. 

Judy Garland 

You can't get more Hollywood it girl than Judy Garland, someone who starred in one of the most iconic movies ever, The Wizard of Oz, and became a well-known Hollywood it girl from the 1930s onward. Garland primarily became known for her role as Dorothy, but she did star in several other movies (such as Easter Parade, Summer Stock, A Star Is Born) and more before she died in 1969 when she was 47. 

Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald was the Hollywood it girl in the mid-1980s, appearing in several major coming-of-age teen films that I'm sure most of us know today. Some of these that really cemented her status as a Hollywood it girl were The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and more. Ringwald still acts, both on TV and in movies. For a few years she played Archie's mother in the hit CW show Riverdale. 

Cher

Cher is a singer who became known for her deep voice and style, and also her acting. Cher has been around since the 1960s, and has been a Hollywood it girl for several decades. The late '80s was where we got several songs synonymous with Cher today that really cemented her place in the music industry, like "I Found Someone" and "If I Could Turn Back Time." Today, Cher still works on music. 

Barbra Streisand

Barbara Streisand is a singer who also became a prominent voice of the late 1960s. Specifically, her role in Funny Girl made her stand out even more, a part that she won an Academy Award for, and from there she only grew in stardom and it-girl status.  Streisand still works on music and has achieved EGOT status over her time in Hollywood. 

Goldie Hawn 

Goldie Hawn gained fame for her role in the sketch comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-On but blew up even more after her time in the 1960s film Cactus Flower, which really cemented her status as a Hollywood it girl. She appeared in several other movies, such as Shampoo, The Sugarland Express, Private Benjamin, and more. She's been the partner of Kurt Russell for many years and even appeared alongside him in Overboard, and more recently, The Christmas Chronicles 2. 

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is a legend in the world of music, becoming super famous in the early 1970s, especially with her release of "What's Love Got To Do With It." The singer is known as the "Queen of Rock and Roll" and has released such well-known tunes as "Better Be Good To Me," "The Best" and many more. Tina Turner unfortunately passed in 2023 at the age of 83. 

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts’ best movies are mainly from the 1980s and 1990s, making her the Hollywood it girl of the time. Pretty Woman was one of Roberts' best movies that cemented her status as an it-girl, but she appeared in several films throughout the 1990s, like My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, and more, and even won an Academy Award for Erin Brockovich in 2000. She appeared in Ticket to Paradise in 2022. 

Liza Minnelli

The daughter of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, is known for her work as an actor, singer, and dancer, and for also achieving EGOT status. Minnelli's status as it girl really started to appear in her part in Cabaret in 1972, but she also starred in other movies like Arthur and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, as well as many others. The actress most recently had a cameo appearance in Halston in 2021. 

Carly Simon 

The iconic Carly Simon has worked in music for many years and became a major it girl in the early 1970s. She released songs such as "Haven't Got Time For Pain," "You're So Vain," "Mockingbird," and more. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Donna Summer (1975) 

Donna Summer, a disco legend, released music such as "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love," among many other iconic music from that time in the mid-1970s. Both songs were huge hits among the rest of her discography. She passed away in 2012 at the age of 63. 

Lisa Bonet

Lisa Bonet primarily gained fame from her role on The Cosby Show in the 1980s, which she reprised in the college-set spinoff A Different World. Aside from that, she also starred in movies like Angel Heart, which further cemented her status as a leading lady. She held a recurring role in Ray Donavan in 2016. 

Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton is known for numerous roles, going back to 1970s, and was a great Hollywood it girl, specifically beginning from her time in The Godfather movies. She also appeared in films such as Play It Again, Sam, Sleep, Love and Death, and Annie Hall, which won her an Academy Award. Keaton was in Book Club: The Next Chapter in 2023. 

Olivia Newton-John

You couldn't go anywhere in the 1970s without hearing about Olivia Newton-John. Not only was the actress known for her role in Grease in 1978, but she also had an excellent singing career, releasing hits like "I Honestly Love You" and "Physical," which only further showed just how much of an it girl she was. Newton-John passed away in 2022. 

Pam Grier

Pam Grier has appeared in several memorable action films. Coffy in 1973 was really what brought her to stardom, but she continued to shine in films like Foxy Brown, The Big Doll House, Women in Cages, The Big Bird Cage, The Arena, Sheba Baby, and many more. Years later, she also starred in Jackie Brown, one of Quentin Tarantino's films. She appeared in Pet Sematary: Bloodlines in 2023. 

Meryl Streep 

While I will always consider Streep an it girl all the time, she became well-known at the end of the 1970s and '80s for her starring roles in movies like Kramer vs. Kramer (which won her an Academy Award), The Deer Hunter, and Sophie's Choice. In 2023, held a recurring role on the great Hulu TV series Only Murders in the Building. 

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett was an actress known not only for her beautiful and luxurious hair, but for her acting in the series Charlie's Angels from 1976 to 1981. She also appeared in Harry O and The Six Million Dollar Man. She unfortunately passed away in 2009 at the age of 62. 

Jennifer Beals

Jennifer Beals rose to fame from her role in Flashdance in 1983 and continued appearing in other significant movies, including Vampire's Kiss, Devil in Blue Dress, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Cycle, and more. Today, she still acts and appeared in the 2022 film Luckiest Girl Alive and was a part of the guest cast of the Disney+ Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett. 

Winona Ryder

While many people remember her well for her role in Beetlejuice, she began to appear in several films in the late 1980s and 1990s. Her biggest one in my opinion was Edward Scissorhands in 1990, which really showed off her acting prowess and made her an it girl, but she also appeared in films such as Heathers, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, and Little Women, among others. She has a starring role in the hit Netflix binge-able series Stranger Things.

Janet Jackson

While Michael Jackson was a Hollywood it guy, his sister Janet was undoubtedly a Hollywood it girl. Janet Jackson is a legendary voice in the music genre and released hits during the 1980s like "Nasty" and "Rhythm Nation," among others. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Naomi Campbell 

Naomi Campbell was a massive influence in the modern-day fashion industry, becoming the first-ever Black woman to headline the covers of both Vogue France and Time in the late 1980s. Aside from modeling, Campbell also worked in acting and music. She more recently appeared in Black is King in 2020 and was a part of the docu-series The Super Models. 

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston rose to fame in the late 1980s for her songs like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "Greatest Love of All," but later starred in The Bodyguard in 1992, which included several hit songs on its soundtrack, including her iconic version of "I Will Always Love You." She also starred in several other films like The Preacher's Wife and Waiting to Exhale, further showing her Hollywood it girl status. Houston passed away in 2012. 

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon gained a lot of fame for her roles in movies in the late 1990s, such as Cruel Intentions and Election, but became huge with her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde in 2001, which is genuinely one of Reese Witherspoon's best movies, and has since appeared in several other films. She even won an Academy Award for her co-starring role in Walk the Line. She has a co-starring role in the Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, alongside Jennifer Anniston. 

There are so many amazing Hollywood it girls out there that we could talk about, but these are just some that have taken the world by storm. Who knows who is going to end up becoming the next Hollywood star that tops this list? 

Do you like Tim Burton? Because I do – and apparently so do these actors. 

It's common for an actor who enjoys working with a particular director to frequently collaborate with them on movies. I could name a ton off the top of my head that I have seen appear in multiple films. There have been plenty of actors who have been in many Christopher Nolan movies. Others have appeared frequently in Wes Anderson films. Today, we will talk about the actors who have appeared in the most Tim Burton movies. 

I'll be upfront and say that most of these actors are from movies I saw as a child and grew to love even more over time, so their characters are some of my favorites ever. There are so many that I could point out that I truly loved so much, from Lydia in Beetlejuice to Johnny Depp’s starring role in Edward Scissohands and so much more. 

When I saw just how often they collaborated with Tim Burton, I was surprised. Here are the actors who've been in the most Tim Burton movies. 

Johnny Depp – 8 Movies 

First up on this list is, unsurprisingly, Johnny Depp. Out of everyone, Depp has appeared in the most films, with eight on his resume.

His movies include Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which I just rewatched for the first time in years), Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows. 

Many of these characters have become synonymous with Depp's name, especially the titular character of Edward Scissorhands and the candy mogul from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both of which hold a significant place in my heart. 

Helena Bonham Carter – 7 Movies

Helena Bonham Carter is only one movie behind Depp in her appearances in Tim Burton films, with seven to her name. Hers include Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows. She was also a part of the Charlie and Chocolate Factory cast and was one of the leads of the excellent stop-motion movie Corpse Bride. 

Carter was married to Tim Burton for several years, which might explain her frequent collaboration with the director. I will never forget her as the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. It's genuinely one of the best fun adaptations out there. 

Christopher Lee – 5 Movies 

Next up on this list is Christopher Lee, who has appeared in five Tim Burton movies. These include Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows. 

Unfortunately, Lee passed away in 2015, so we won't see him in any future projects of Burton's, but he truly stood out in those roles. 

Michael Keaton – 5 Movies

Keaton is another big name from Tim Burton's movies, and he's appeared in four so far, with one planned for the future. Keaton is primarily known for his role as the titular character of Beetlejuice, a film that I honestly can't believe I was allowed to watch as a child. 

Besides that, Keaton appeared in three other films, including Dumbo, Batman and Batman Returns. His fifth Burton film will be Beetlejuice 2, where he is reprising the same role.

Michael Gough – 5 Movies

Next up on this list is Michael Gough, who has also appeared in five movies that Tim Burton has directed. These include Batman, Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland. 

His best-known role from these movies is likely Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman films. Michael Gough passed away in March 2011, but his parts were always the best. I doubt I'm alone thinking no one can quite beat his Alfred. 

Lisa Marie – 4 Movies

So now we move onto the part of the list where these following four actors have all been in four movies (or will appear in an upcoming film). 

The first is Lisa Marie, who has appeared in four Tim Burton films. These include Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow and Planet of the Apes, all released one year after another. Marie was also a partner of Burton's for a time, which could explain why she frequently collaborated with the director. Her most known role from Burton's films is most likely portraying Lady Crane in Sleepy Hollow.

Danny DeVito – 4 Movies 

Danny DeVito has been in four Tim Burton films. Most people probably know the actor from his time portraying The Penguin in Batman Returns, but DeVito was also in the movies Mars Attacks!, Big Fish and Dumbo. 

DeVito feels like the perfect pick for a Tim Burton movie because not only does the actor have plenty to watch if you like him, but he has played some weird characters too, which is perfect for Burton's aesthetic. Just watch him in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia – you won't be able to view DeVito the same ever again after seeing him as the native Philadelphian Frank Reynolds. 

Deep Roy – 4 Movies

Moving on, we look at Deep Roy, who also appeared in four movies of Burton's. These include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish and Corpse Bride. 

You probably remember Roy the most for his portrayal of the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which no one would ever forget. The actor was a great addition to that strange, but entertaining movie. 

Winona Ryder – 4 Movies

Last, but most certainly not least, we have Winona Ryder. One of Ryder's first big films was Beetlejuice, a movie that shot her into stardom for portraying Lydia. Not long after that, she went on to co-star with Depp in Edward Scissorhands, a film that led to those two co-stars dating later on. 

Ryder also held a voice role in Frankenweenie, another stop-motion movie directed by Burton. She's next set to appear in Beetlejuice 2 as her fourth Burton collaboration, where she will reprise her iconic role as Lydia – and Jenna Ortega is going to play her daughter.

With so many talented actors and actresses, it's not surprising that they have appeared in all these Tim Burton movies – and honestly, it just makes me want to go and binge of all of these. Wish me luck!

Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie was full of easter eggs and references to the classic Disneyland attraction. However, that was far from the only that the movie added a little something special to the horror-comedy. In addition to the major stars in the Haunted Mansion cast, the film also included an excellent cameo from the star of another iconic horror-comedy, Beetlejuice’s Winona Ryder.

It’s a bit surprising when you’re midway through Haunted Mansion and suddenly Winona Ryder is on the screen with no warning. And yet, she sort of fits perfectly. Her role isn’t particularly spooky, but it is hilarious. Director Justin Simian told THR Ryder was somebody he wanted in the movie from early on, and he was able to make the schedule work, though he jokes he had to trick her into telling her she was filming a sequel to Beetlejuice. Simian said…

The Netflix series and Haunted Mansion were both shooting in Atlanta around the same time, with the Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 ending production just before Haunted Mansion started its shoot there, giving Winona Ryder a bit of time to rest before taking on her role.

She appears in one of the few scenes in Haunted Mansion that takes place outside the titular house. Owen Wilson and Lakeith Stanfield’s characters make a trip to an old manor, which has been converted into a B&B and museum, looking for something that will help them with their own ghost problem. Ryder appears as Pat, one of the owners of the establishment, who is giving the guests a tour of the house. She and Stanfield have several hilarious interactions as he keeps asking if any of the display items are actually historical, and she responds that they are all reproductions, while trying to figure out just what this weirdo is up to.

While actual Beetlejuice 2 details are slim, the long-rumored sequel is actually in development and Winona Ryder is set to reprise her role as Lydia. The film was shooting, but now that writers and actors are both on strike it’s unclear what its status is. The movie was set to release next year but if filming was not completed before the strike, it may be delayed.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, there are some big questions right now about the role it will come to play in entertainment. People are just starting to experiment with its capabilities, and one thing that’s currently popular is creating realistic visuals for fictional situations — for example, what the Friends characters looked like as toddlers. A digital creator has now released a series of A.I. photos that imagine what the kids of famous exes would look like, and he’s tackled some big couples, including Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

It’s easy as fans to get caught up in the love lives of our favorite celebrities, and when those relationships come to an end, as silly as it seems, it can feel like we personally lost something. Artist Jeremy Pomeroy has delved into the “What if?” of it all, as his A.I. creations take “If They Mated” musings to a new level. Brace yourselves, because if you’re still shipping any of these couples, this is likely to tug at some heartstrings over what might have been:

I feel personally attacked at this first photo, because I was not OK when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announced their split in 2005. Their hypothetical children actually do look too perfect to be real, so that lessens the blow a little bit, and I think Pitt’s Fight Club character Tyler Durden would have something to say about their fucking khakis.

Scroll through the post, and you can almost hear the screams of Jelena fans over Justin Bieber playing girl dad to Selena Gomez’s three children. For the Twihards, the artist was kind enough to create renderings of Twilight star Kristen Stewart with both Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, satisfying members of both Team Edward and Team Jacob. And while Johnny Depp is better known these days for a different relationship that didn’t last, movie lovers in the ‘90s were all about his pairing with Edward Scissorhands co-star Winona Ryder.

Here’s another one that will hit you right in the gut if you were a turn-of-the-century pop culture fan. Ever wonder what Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s children would have looked like? (If you say no, I don’t believe you.) Does this A.I. image come close to what you imagined?

I weep for the song-and-dance routines we’ll never see from this fictional family of five. Jeremy Pomeroy’s Instagram page is full of similar musings, even diving into famous fictional couples like Jack and Rose from Titanic (get ready for a resurgence of the door debate), Meredith and McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy (who, to be fair, did have kids on the show) and Allie and Noah from The Notebook. 

Honestly, it’s all enough to drive one crazy with longing, and it makes me excited (and nervous) about what avenues of nostalgia A.I. artists are going to tap into next. In the meantime, though, you can continue to find new couples to ship on the big screen with our 2023 Movie Release Schedule. 

Stranger Things has been a tentpole series on Netflix essentially since it premiered on the streamer in 2016. Now, following the overwhelming success of the fourth season, and with the fifth and final season of Stranger Things on the way, the cast is reportedly set to make a lot of money. 

In a report from Puck, via Uproxx, the cast of the Duffer brothers' hit series closed on their contracts for the fifth season. According to the article, the cast went into negotiations together and were grouped into three tiers. 

Tier one is made up of the adult actors. This includes Winona Ryder (Joyce) and David Harbour (Hopper), who will reportedly make $9.5 million for Season 5. 

Tier two is the original ensemble of kids, including Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will) and Finn Wolfhard (Mike) as well as Sadie Sink (Max), who joined the cast in Season 2. These actors are projected to make a little over $7 million this season.  

Tier three is the actors who fall between the ages of the adults and the kids. This group includes Joe Keery (Steve), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Maya Hawke (Robin) and Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), who are reportedly making $6 million on the final season. 

According to the article, tier four is “everybody else,” and they are making “much less.” 

Now, you might have noticed, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) was not mentioned in any of these tiers. That’s because, according to the article, she’s in a category of her own, and likely making more than all the other actors. Per the report, her tier is “record-breaking,” and she signed a “separate (and ridiculously lucrative) overall deal with Netflix.” This separate deal makes a lot of sense, considering she is also the star and producer of the ever-evolving Enola Holmes movies. 

It’s also noted that this is a massive raise for everyone involved. Ryder and Harbour reportedly made $2.8 million on Season 3, which means they are getting a raise that is well over $6 million. Meanwhile, the kids reportedly earned $25,000 per episode during Season 1, also marking a major bump in income for the young ensemble. 

Going into the final season of a show that has consistently broken records for Netflix, and single-handedly helped streaming get a major victory over cable, these raises make complete sense. Plus with the actors being in higher demand for other projects – I mean just look at Sadie Sink’s upcoming projects for example – it seems natural that the beloved stars of Stranger Things would receive substantial pay bumps. 

It seems obvious to me that these pay increases are well-deserved for the hard-working cast. They’ve been with the show for so long, and with the fifth and final season on the way, I’m sure they will produce a product that lives up to the high bar set by the first four seasons. 

Season 5 of Stranger Things won't appear on the 2023 TV schedule since it’s such a high-budget and complex show to create, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have caused delays for most productions in Hollywood. While we wait to see the final adventure, you can watch the first four seasons of the sci-fi phenomenon with a Netflix subscription. 

Not only is Haunted Mansion one of the biggest upcoming 2023 movies, but this year marks a major anniversary for it. To be clear, I am NOT referring to the popular attraction at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, but the first movie based on that ride – from director Rob Minkoff and starring Eddie Murphy – which was released 20 years ago.

Disney has been hit and miss when it comes to turning theme park attractions into movies but the original Haunted Mansion movie, despite having a lot more going for it than you might remember, is seen as one of the misses. But the ride is still popular, and following the success of Jungle Cruise, Disney has assembled an impressive ensemble for the new Haunted Mansion cast to make it a hit with the public. See what foolish mortals are getting spooky – as classic characters and new ones alike – in director Justin Simien’s new cinematic take on the freaky favorite.

Rosario Dawson (Gabbie)

Leading the impressive cast of Haunted Mansion as Gabbie –  a single mother, doctor, and new owner of the “strangely affordable” New Orleans mansion – we have Rosario Dawson, whose relationship with Disney dates back to her role on Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian, as Ahsoka Tano, which she is reprising in her own upcoming, self-titled series on Disney+. The actor broke into Hollywood as a teen with her underrated performance in Kids before becoming a “Geek Goddess” by playing multiple comic book characters like Wonder Woman in some DC animated movies, nurse Claire Temple in Daredevil and other MCU-canon shows, and, eventually, narrating Max’s new DC docuseries, Superpowered: The DC Story. Also recently, she received acclaim for her performance in Hulu’s Dopesick cast, reprised her Kevin Smith movies role in Clerks III, and – according to Variety – is lending her voice to an upcoming interactive animated adventure series called Ghosts of Ruin.

Owen Wilson (Father Kent)

If The Exorcist taught us anything, it’s that when you’re dealing with otherworldly beings, call a priest. In Haunted Mansion, that priest will be played by Owen Wilson, who also has previous ties to Disney as the voice of Lightning McQueen in the Cars franchise and playing Time Variance Authority officer, Mobius, in the MCU. The actor – who has an Oscar nomination for co-writing one of the best Wes Anderson movies, The Royal Tenenbaums – also made his debut under Anderson’s direction (one of many times) in 1994’s Bottle Rocket, before going on to an eclectic career involving a few blockbusters like Armageddon, many classic comedies like Meet the Parents and Wedding Crashers, and films that combine drama with comedy fair like Midnight in Paris and the more recent Paint, in which he plays a Bob Ross-like character hosting a public TV art show.

Lakeith Stanfield (Ben Matthias)

Widowed scientist-turned-failed paranormal expert, Ben, will be played by Dawson’s Sorry to Bother You co-star and one of the first people cast in Haunted Mansion, Lakieth Stanfield. After making his debut in the acclaimed 2013 drama Short Term 12, the actor, went on to star on one of the funniest shows on Hulu, FX’s Atlanta, play a memorable role in Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, and earn an Oscar nomination for Judas and the Black Messiah, among so many other highlights. Next in the pipeline for Stanfield is an Apple TV+ original sci-fi series called The Changeling and a biblical epic coming out in 2024 called The Book of Clarence.

Tiffany Haddish (Harriet)

Playing a psychic named Harriet, we have Stanfield’s co-star from Jay-Z’s “Moonlight” video, Emmy winner Tiffany Haddish, who has also worked with Jordan Peele to great effect in 2016’s Keanu, in addition to her many great scene-stealing and lead roles in comedies like Girls Trip and The Oath. She has also tried her hand at drama in the likes of The Kitchen and The Card Counter, and a mix of both with movies like Here Today and TV shows like The Afterparty as Detective Danner, whom she is reprising for Season 2 on Apple TV+. She is also known for lending her voice talents to many notable roles, such as Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and Netflix original-turned-Adult Swim series, Tuca and Bertie as Tuca.

Danny DeVito (Bruce)

As a “crotchety” college history professor named Bruce – according to D23.com – is an actor more than capable of embodying the concept of “crochety”: Danny DeVito, whose own previous Disney credits include Dumbo (which also reunited him with his Batman Returns co-star, Michael Keaton, and director, Tim Burton) and the One and Only Ivan voice cast in 2020. Years earlier, he was best-known for his Emmy-winning role on Taxi and movies like Throw Momma From the Train, The War of the Roses, and Matilda (all of which he also directed), but the Academy Award nominee (for co-producing Erin Brockovich) has a special fanbase these days that know him as Frank from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Also this year, he lends his voice to Migration and will soon star alongside Chris Pine in his directorial debut, Poolman.

Chase Dillon (Travis)

Rounding out the key cast members as Gabbie’s son, Travis, is Stanfield’s The Book of Clarence co-star, Chase Dillon, who makes his theatrically released filmed debut with Haunted Mansion, as his only other film role was the Netflix original western, The Harder They Fall, in 2021. The young actor has appeared in several TV projects – including his debut on BET’s series reboot of First Wives Club; the Max original sketch comedy, That Damn Michael Che, as the SNL star’s younger self; one of the best Amazon Prime original series, The Underground Railroad; and Apple TV+’s animated series, Pinecone & Pony.

Jared Leto (The Hatbox Ghost)

It wouldn’t be much of a Haunted Mansion movie without some direct references to the popular attraction, and the new film has found some big names to take on some key roles, such as Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost, according to EW. The Academy Award winner (for 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club) last played a creepy creature in his Marvel movie debut, 2022’s Morbius, (six years after his DC movie debut as the Joker in Suicide Squad) but has a more longer history with horror, having starred in the 1998 slasher Urban Legend, a memorable scene from American Psycho, and the extremely disturbing thriller, Requiem for a Dream. From his breakout performance as Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life to his lead role in the upcoming Tron sequel, Ares, the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman has led a pretty eclectic career.

Jamie Lee Curtis (Madame Leota)

Succeeding Jennifer Tilly in the role of the iconic Madame Leota – the head inside the floating crystal ball – is, arguably, the all-time best Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis. Of course, in addition to being the face of the Halloween movies not named Michael Myers and starring in plenty of other great horror movies, the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh has a couple of other Disney movies on her resume – namely Freaky Friday and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Curtis – who recently won Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once – will also soon appear in the film adaptation of the Borderlands video game. 

Winona Ryder (Pat)

As a teaser for Haunted Mansion reveals, Winona Ryder is making a cameo as a tour guide named Pat – only her latest role in a long line of creepy credits. After breaking out in the Beetlejuice cast as Lydia (whom she is reprising in the upcoming sequel), she led the dark teen movie, Heathers; starred in a some more classic Tim Burton movies (such as Edward Scissorhands); and played Mina Murray in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula adaptation. Of course, the two-time Academy Award nominee (for Little Women and The Age of Innocence) is also expected to return for Stranger Things Season 5 as Joyce Byers.

Dan Levy (Vic)

Along with Ryder, another actor revealed to be joining Haunted Mansion at D23 Expo in a small, unconfirmed role is Dan Levy, who is best known from the Schitt’s Creek cast as David Rose. The son of his co-star and co-creator, Eugene Levy, first got into acting with a small role on Degrassi: The Next Generation and more recently appeared in Hulu’s Happiest Season cast, lent his voice to Netflix’s Q-Force, and was on an episode of The Idol for HBO. He also created and judges a reality cooking competition for Max called The Brunch. 

Hasan Minhaj (Sketch Artist)

Appearing as a police sketch artist whom Ben and Bruce enlist to identify a ghostly encounter, we have Hasan Minhaj – formerly of The Daily Show and Netflix’s Patriot Act. Some of his most notable acting credits include two of Kate McKinnon’s best movies (Rough Night and The Spy Who Dumped Me), and Jennifer Lawrence-led 2023 comedy, No Hard Feelings, more recently. The comedian also has a couple great Netflix original stand-up specials called Homecoming King and The King’s Jester.

There are plenty more other grim, grinning ghosts to behold, in addition to star-studded Haunted Mansion cast. Any volunteers to see the new film when it hits theaters Friday, July 28th?

There are some celebrities who share about their Hollywood struggles, no matter how deeply upsetting they may be. Then, there are others who prefer to be private with their past lives. Winona Ryder would be an example of one of those people who lived a storied life in Hollywood but made some good comebacks going forward. The Generation X actress has decided to open up about moments of her past such as her past breakup with Johnny Depp and her subsequent spiral in Hollywood.

Winona Ryder’s least favorite subject is talking about herself. Considering the trouble she has experienced under the spotlight, it’s understandable. But she spoke to Harper’s Bazaar about coming to terms with her past such as what her life was like after her very public break-up with Johnny Depp. As she put it,

In 1989, the Stranger Things star fell in love with Johnny Depp. They shared the same dark moodiness that you would appreciate in a Tim Burton movie. Hence, why it was perfect that the two of them were cast in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, one of Winona Ryder’s best movies where she played a young girl who sees the person beyond the misunderstood scissor-handed protagonist. The ‘90s pair were engaged after five months of dating but broke up after four years. Even though things didn’t work out between the two of them, the 50-year-old actress still defended Depp in court during the Depp Vs. Heard trial when he was accused of being a “wife beater.” Despite not being present at the trial, her statement said that the idea of the Pirates of the Caribbean star being violent was the “farthest thing” from the truth.

Winona Ryder had her share of mental health problems after a broken arm led her to overprescribe on painkillers which rendered her disoriented. Luckily when she was dealing with her mental health issues, she had the support of one of her former co-stars. Michelle Pfieffer, who starred with Ryder in 1993’s The Age of Innocence, offered this iconic actress some sage advice that really helped her through her struggles.

This Oscar-nominated woman had a very successful career in Hollywood. She made her film debut as the love-lorn outsider Rina in 1986’s Lucas. But, the film that launched her career was playing the “strange and unusual” teenager Lydia who can see ghosts in Beetlejuice. She continued playing “outsider” roles in films like Heathers, Little Women, The Crucible, and Girl, Interrupted. Unfortunately, her career came to a halt in 2001 after Ryder was arrested for shoplifting at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. This made her disappear from the Hollywood spotlight and remained in San Francisco. At the same time, she wasn’t getting any offers.

While Winona Ryder’s comeback was not with the sequel to Beetlejuice which was shelved at the time, she ended up heading to TV with Stranger Things. She plays Joyce Byers who is the devoted mother of Will Byers who went missing in the first season. Ryder made the character not just your typical worried mother, but a force of nature who uses her out-of-the-box thinking to save her children. In real life, she did the same thing to her young co-stars as she advised them not to let the press or the anxiety of having a Hollywood career get them down. 

You can continue to follow Joyce Byers battling the unusual forces of Hawkins, Indiana in Stranger Things: Season 4 Volume 2 premiering this Friday on your Netflix subscription.

Spoiler Alert: The article below contains details pertaining to events from Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1. If you’re not caught up on the series through the first part of Season 4, read on at your own risk. 

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 premiered in May 2022 and quickly broke Netflix records in terms of viewership as the first seven episodes raked up 286,790,000 hours of viewing during a three-day period. The first chunk of episodes, which featured several all-stars (both newcomers and longtime fan-favorites) taking on perhaps their most diabolical enemy yet, came to an end with those very same characters stuck in some rather perilous situations. But we don’t have to wait all that much longer to see how things shake out for Eleven, Eddie, Hopper, and the rest of the characters.

In no time at all, we’ll be crowded around our TVs, computers, phones, and every other device that allows for a Netflix subscription to surely break even more records with the second half of the latest chapter of the Duffer Brothers’ beloved sci-fi series. Here is everything we know about Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2…

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 Premieres July 1

The first three seasons of Stranger Things premiered in full in July 2016, October 2017, and July 2019, respectively, but the show’s fourth season was split up into two parts. The first seven episodes, aka Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1, debuted on Memorial Day weekend in May 2022, with the final episodes coming later in the summer. 

Those two final episodes are set to premiere and conclude this chapter of the beloved series on Friday, July 1. But fans of the series shouldn’t feel like they’re getting a raw deal because those final two installments, aka Volume 2, are going to be much longer than just about anything that has come before.

Both Remaining Episodes Are Feature Length

According to Netflix’s official fandom site Tudum, Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 will clock in at around four hours in length. The penultimate episode, titled “Chapter Eight: Papa” is 1 hour, 25 minutes in length, while the season finale is almost two-and-a-half hours in length, the longest episode the series has featured so far.

“Chaos” Is Coming

The Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 ending left Hawkins’ heroes (both in the cursed Indiana city and elsewhere) preparing for their biggest fight yet, a battle of good against evil that will continue when the chaotic final two episodes debut on July 1. When speaking with TV Line, co-creator Matt Duffer revealed that Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 quoted Joseph Quinn (who portrays Eddie Munson) by describing the final episodes as a “mad symphony of chaos.”

The Stranger Things Season 4 Cast Includes Returning Stars And New Additions

When the show returned in May 2022, the Stranger Things cast included 15 new characters, with Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson, the leader of the Hellfire Club, Thomas Wlaschiha’s Dmitri, and Eduardo Franco’s Argyle quickly becoming fan-favorites. And how could we forget Robert Englund in one of his most tormenting roles yet as convicted murderer Victor Creel or Jamie Campbell Bower as the mysterious Rainbow Room orderly Peter Ballard?

Those new additions joined Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Brett Gelman and Priah Ferguson as the first seven episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 carried out.

The Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 Trailer Teases A Final Showdown With Vecna

Ahead of the release of Stranger Things Season 4, Netflix released multiple teaser trailers showcasing the show’s new locations (sunny California, the Russian prison camp, the haunted Creel house, etc.) with a mixture of tones and imagery. The teaser trailer for Volume 2, however, is straight up horror in its brief display of what’s to come for Eleven, the Hellfire Club, and Hopper and company behind the Iron Curtain. The short video also teases an ultimate showdown with Vecna, who says he has been “freed” by Eleven. Check it out below:

The short video doesn’t offer much in terms of information about what will happen in the final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4, but it does look like we’re about to see one massive assault from all sides…

Hawkins, Indiana Isn’t The Only Setting In Stranger Things Season 4

The majority of the first three seasons of Stranger Things took place in the confines of Hawkins, Indiana, but the fourth installment in the Netflix series gave its characters a much larger playground to explore. 

Over the course of the first seven episodes, viewers were taken back to Hawkins and to some new locations including that terrifying Russian prison camp and its Demogorgon, California, the vast American West, and the Upside Down, which was explored more than ever before when Nancy, Robyn, Eddie, and Steve crossed through the “Watergate” to get to the bottom of Vecna’s mystery. 

And judging by the trailer mentioned above, the Upside Down looks to be a place we will spend even more time when Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 arrives on the scene.

Stranger Things Season 4 Is The Beginning Of The End

Our time in Hawkins will soon come to an end, but not with Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2. When the Duffer Brothers announced in February 2022 that the show’s fourth season would be split into two parts, the show’s co-creators also revealed that it will be the penultimate season with the saga of Eleven and her friends coming to an end following one more chapter:

But don’t get too sad as the Duffer Brothers also revealed that there are more exciting stories within the Stranger Things world that could be explored in the future. What the adventures are, and if they will include any familiar characters, remains to be seen.

It is hard to say what the future holds for Netflix’s most popular show, but we’ll know more about the supernatural love-letter to ‘80s pop culture in the coming weeks and months. And if you’re looking for something to watch while you wait for Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2, check out our schedule of the 2022 TV premiere dates for all the latest on new and returning shows coming out before year’s end.

It’s almost here!

That’s right. Stranger Things Season 4 is right around the corner as part of the 2022 TV schedule, and I am so excited. While there are plenty of things to remember before Season 4, and all the major deaths that we have to anticipate, it’s sometimes hard to remember that it’s been three years since 2019, when Season 3 came out. And, the cast members of this show have been doing a lot. 

For fans of the Stranger Things cast, here is what they've all been up to in between Seasons 3 and 4. So, maybe you’ll be able to find something new to watch then in now. 

Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers)

Starting off strong, let’s take a look at Joyce Byers, the loving matriarch of Stranger Things that we all fell in love with during Season 1, played by the wonderful Winona Ryder. This actress has been in plenty of movies and TV shows in the past, and in the last three years, that hasn’t changed a bit. 

Ryder recently made an appearance in the thriller, The Cow, and also had a main role in The Plot Against America, as well as the television special, Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine. But, it won’t be long before we see her as Joyce Byers again on the small screen. 

David Harbour (Jim Hopper)

While we may all know David Harbour as Jim Hopper, the slightly gruff sheriff who became a father to Eleven and ended up “sacrificing” himself at the end of Season 3 of Stranger Things, Harbour has been very active these last few years. 

His biggest role thus far was being a part of the Black Widow cast, where he played Alexei. Some of his other big roles over the last three years was playing the titular character of Hellboy, a role in Extraction, and a part in No Sudden Move. He’s also guest-starred on many television shows, like The Simpsons, Q-Force, Big City Greens, and more. 

Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler)

You want to talk about a young man who’s been making a name for himself? Look no further than Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things. Over the last several years, Wolfhard appeared in several movies, such as reprising his role in IT: Chapter 2, had a huge part in the Ghostbusters: Afterlife cast, appeared in the movie, The Goldfinch, had another starring role in The Turning, and many others. 

He also had a main role on the Netflix reboot of Carmen Sandiego, and guest starred on many TV shows such as Smiling Friends, Home Movie: The Princess Bride, and more. 

Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven / Jane Hopper)

Arguably one of the most known names from Stranger Things is Millie Bobby Brown, who blew up after her starring role as Eleven - later known as Jane Hopper. Millie Bobby Brown has consistently proven herself a valuable actress, and has appeared in a couple of movies. 

Her biggest role was starring in Enola Holmes as the titular character, a role which she will reprise in the upcoming sequel. She also had a role in the big-time monster movie, Godzilla Vs. Kong, and had a guest spot on Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special. 

Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson)

I think everyone else has collectively decided that we all love Dustin Henderson on Stranger Things, and he could only be played by the wonderful Gaten Matarazzo. While this young actor hasn’t been in any movies since Stranger Things Season 3 came out in 2019, he’s been very active in television. 

He guest-starred on the show, Nickelodeon’s Unfiltered, and hosts his very own prank show on Netflix called Prank Encounters, and with that charming personality, it’s not surprising that he’s won the hearts of viewers through his hosting skills. 

Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair)

Moving on, now we have Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things, and he’s been quite active in both movies and TV during these three years. He appeared in two films, the sports drama High Flying Bird, and the urban western, Concrete Cowboy. He also voiced Ghost in the animated series, Summer Camp Island.

Most recently, McLaughlin had a guest spot on The Boys Presents: Diabolical, an animated spinoff of the Amazon Prime original series, The Boys, so McLaughlin hasn’t strayed too far from television. 

Noah Schnapp (Will Byers)

Will was the boy we were all looking for in Stranger Things Season 1, but now it seems that he and Eleven are going to be spending plenty of time together in California in Stranger Things Season 4, where he will continue to be played by Noah Schnapp. 

Schnapp has appeared in a few movies over the last few years, including the films Abe, Waiting for Anya, and the Netflix Adam Sandler original, Hubie Halloween. Schnapp also appeared in a guest spot on the YouTube Red comedy series, Liza on Demand. 

Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield) 

Sadie Sink is a name that I’m sure you have heard a lot over the several months. 2021 was really her year, because not only did she have a pretty big role in the popular Netflix horror trilogy, Fear Street, she also had a starring role in Taylor Swift’s short film, All Too Well, based on the song that Swift wrote long ago for her album, Red. She also appeared in the movie, Eli. 

Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler)

Nancy Wheeler was one of those characters where, at first, you wanted to not like her because of how she abandoned Barb in Stranger Things Season 1, but now, after some time has passed, you can’t help but admire her persistence to want to do good and her lowkey badassery. And, she's still played by Natalia Dyer. This young actress has been putting in work over the last couple of years, appearing in a variety of movies. 

She appeared in the films, Yes, God, Yes, Velvet Buzzsaw, After Darkness, Tuscaloosa, United States vs. Reality Winner, and Things Heard & Seen. She also had a guest role on the TV series, Acting for a Cause, where she guest-starred on the episode, “Jane Eyre,” playing the titular character. 

Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers)

Another character that I genuinely liked since the beginning of Stranger Things was Jonathan Byers, the strange yet sweet older brother of Will who would do anything to keep his family safe, and who ends up being Nancy’s boyfriend in Season 2. Jonathan is played by Charlie Heaton, who has appeared in plenty of movies and TV shows over the last few years 

In terms of film, he played a part in the movie, No Future, and was a part of The New Mutants cast. He also played Jim Dagger in The Souvenir: Part II. Heaton also had a guest role on the series, Soulmates, where he appeared on the episode, “Break On Through” as Kurt. 

Joe Keery (Steve Harrington)

Oh, Joe Keery. The person that I have truly fallen for over these last couple of years, because he is just so dang funny. To fans of Stranger Things, you know Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, the character that started off as someone that we all sort of collectively didn’t like, but over the last several seasons, he’s proven just how much of a nice guy he is - and a lowkey mentor to all of the children we know and love on the sci-fi hit. 

Steve has some amazing moments and they could only be performed by Keery. I can’t picture anyone else pulling it off. Well, maybe Ryan Reynolds - whom he does co-star with in Free Guy - but that’s besides the point. 

Anyway, Keery has been in a couple of movies and TV shows, which include being a part of the Free Guy cast, as mentioned earlier, as well as appearing in the film, Spree as Kurt Kunkle. Keery also has a recurring role as Officer Ed Reinhardt in No Activity, and had a special role in two television specials on Netflix, Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, where he played Duke Goolies. You just gotta love him. 

Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley)

Last but not least, we have Maya Hawke. While she only joined Stranger Things in Season 3, her character, Robin Buckley, left an impression on audiences and quickly became a fan-favorite, and also gave us some adorable friendship moments between her and Steve, who are basically besties now. Hawke has been very active these last several years, appearing in a variety of movies and TV shows. 

She appeared in the films Human Capital, Mainstream, and Italian Studies, and even was in Fear Street: Part One: 1994. Hawke has also stepped into the TV world a bit more, appearing in the miniseries, The Good Lord Bird, where she played Annie Brown.

With Stranger Things Season 4 around the corner, one can only wonder what these amazing cast members are going to do next. Are they going to end up joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Will we see more sci-fi from them after Stranger Things comes to a close? Only time will tell. But, you can bet that no matter what, I’ll be there watching from the sidelines to see whatever they do on the big or small screen. 

It’s been nearly three years since Season 3 of Stranger Things was released to Netflix subscribers. While fans are finally about to get some answers to our numerous questions following that shocking Season 3 cliffhanger ending, they may also be surprised at just how much our Hawkins, Indiana friends have grown in that time! Stranger Things Season 4 had its red carpet premiere in Brooklyn on May 14, and the whole gang was there, including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp and more. And those adorable kids from Season 1 are all grown up!

The changes aren't too surprising, considering how long it's been since Season 3. Like practically everything in the past couple of years, Stranger Things saw production of Season 4 delayed by COVID, although producer and director Shawn Levy saw the silver lining. He said the delay allowed for the writing and rewriting of the full season before they shot, making the quality of Season 4 “exceptional, maybe better than ever.” Fans should certainly be in for a treat when the sci-fi series returns on Friday, May 27. Honestly, it was a treat just to see the cast together again, looking fantastic at the season premiere:

Excuse me, down in front! Millie Bobby Brown is almost unrecognizable with her long blonde hair and bangs. The party’s mage wore a white Louis Vuitton gown with thigh-high slit, black tulle shoulder and silver belt. Brown’s character is iconic, as Eleven has provided some of the best moments on what has consistently been one of Netflix’s best shows to binge. We don’t know what El has in store for us in Season 4, as we’ll explore her past with Dr. Brenner, but we’re already blown away by the looks Brown served at the premiere.

Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery joined the “grown-ups,” Winona Ryder and David Harbour, on the red carpet, but seeing the younger generation — including Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Priah Ferguson — all together again really made us wonder where the last three years have gone. 

The actors all rocked their own style on the red carpet, with Caleb McLaughlin going full Dalmatian in his polka dotted suit with fur trim and flare legs. Noah Schnapp and Gaten Matarazzobut looked great in pink, but David Harbour stole the show in his custom Stranger Things suit, which featured Eleven, the Upside Down, a demogorgon, and an Eggo waffle (of course).

Joining the Stranger Things universe for Season 4 will also be some new faces. Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund was cast as convicted murderer Victor Creel, and Thomas Wlaschiha, who made a name for himself as Jaqen H’ghar on Game of Thrones, will be portraying a Russian guard who befriends Hopper.

Season 4 is said to be Stranger Things’ most challenging season yet, and it’s not one we’ll be able to binge through in one sitting. The fourth season will be released in two parts, with the first set of episodes coming May 27 and the second volume dropping July 1. It won’t end there, either. It was announced in February that while Stranger Things will return for a fifth go-round, Season 5 will be its last. 

While we count down the days to Stranger Things Season 4, check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what other shows are premiering soon.

When it comes to the '90s, there are so many iconic movies that I’m sure every single one of you has seen reading this article. But with these iconic movies comes iconic film roles, and these actresses were some of the best in the business. Here are several actresses with some truly iconic film roles in '90s movies. 

Kate Winslet (Titanic)

Considering Titanic was once the biggest film in the world, it’s not surprising the first pick here is Kate Winslet, who played Rose DeWitt Bukater. It’s certainly one of Winslet’s best films so far, and put her on the fast track to become the famous actor she is today.  

Gwyneth Paltrow (Se7en)

While Gwyneth Paltrow known amazingly well now from her variety of film performances, her role of Tracy Mills in Se7en is certainly an iconic one, with her character playing an essential role throughout the story. It wasn’t that long after she would star in Shakespeare in Love and win an Academy Award for her acting. 

Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct)

Yes, this is Sharon Stone from that controversial scene in Basic Instinct. But no one can deny that her performance in this film was great, and she acted her butt off in this erotic thriller. Every single scene she was in, she stole the show.

Jodie Foster (The Silence Of The Lambs)

The '90s were filled to the brim with iconic horror films like The Silence of the Lambs, and was only the third film in history to win the Big Five at the Academy Awards - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor. Best Actress went to Jodie Foster for her amazing portrayal of Clarice Starling. 

Sandra Bullock (Speed)

While Sandra Bullock is currently busy in 2022 with her film, The Lost City, one of her first big roles ever was starring alongside Keanu Reeves in the action film, Speed, portraying Annie Porter, the main love interest of the film and a total badass. 

Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands)

This is definitely one of Winona Ryder’s best movies. Playing Kim Boggs in Edward Scissorhands, Ryder perfectly captured what true kindness is meant to look like, and her love story with Edward is one for the history books that anyone would adore to witness.  

Rachel Leigh Cook (She’s All That)

While the reboot, He’s All That, made plenty of references to the original film, She’s All That just can’t be beaten, and that includes Rachel Leigh Cook’s iconic performance as Laney Boggs. I mean, who could forget that memorable “Kiss Me” scene? It’s the epitome of teen movie makeovers. You have to love it. 

Meryl Streep (The Bridges Of Madison County)

Meryl Streep has been around for many years in the movie industry and has some amazing films under her belt. And while she did plenty of movies in the '90s, my personal favorite performance of hers was in The Bridges of Madison County, where she played Francesca Johnson, a married mother who has a steamy four-day love affair with a photojournalist. Her chemistry with Clint Eastwood is second to none. 

Meg Ryan (Sleepless In Seattle, You’ve Got Mail)

A legendary queen of romantic comedies, you could not stop Meg Ryan in the '90s. Not only was she in two iconic roles in romantic comedies, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, both of those films were alongside Tom Hanks and showed just how amazing their chemistry is. 

Demi Moore (Ghost)

That damn pottery scene has been recreated by so many people - I mean, even Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart recreated it! - but no one can quite beat Demi Moore's performance. She shined in her leading role of Molly Jensen alongside Patrick Swayze. I think all of us have wished at least once we were in her shoes. 

Sarah Michelle Gellar (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

While plenty of folks know Sarah Michelle Gellar for her portrayal of Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gellar starred in another horror hit that same year portraying Helen Shivers in I Know What You Did Last Summer, giving a masterclass in chase scenes in horror movies. 

Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act, Ghost)

Whoopi Goldberg is certainly an iconic name that I am sure you’ve heard of plenty of times before, and she had not one but two iconic roles in the '90s. To me, my favorite is her lead role in Sister Act, starring as Deloris Van Cartier and bringing some soul into religion, but I can’t not mention her Academy Award-nominated performance as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost. 

Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)

It’s one of Julia Roberts' best movies. Pretty Woman has some pretty iconic scenes, but none of them could have been accomplished if not for the charming performance that Roberts delivered as Vivian. I’m pretty sure every time I’ve watched that movie, all I want is to be in that bathtub. That looks so damn nice.

Drew Barrymore (Scream) 

Drew Barrymore was only in the first twelve minutes of the first Scream movie, and yet her scene has become iconic in every sense of the word. You go up to a horror movie fan and ask “do you like scary movies?” and they’ll know exactly what film its from as well as what scene - and Drew Barrymore is the star of it. 

Neve Campbell (Scream)

Even if Drew Barrymore was the star of the first twelve minutes, it was Neve Campbell that became the star of the Scream franchise, reprising her role in every single new film since, showing just how badass she is as the ultimate final girl. 

Reese Witherspoon (Cruel Intentions)

Witherspoon has been in many movies and some great TV shows, but back in the '90s, she was still just starting out, and Cruel Intentions was a breakthrough role for her. She played Annette Hargrove, a young woman who was the target of the two main characters of the film. In this '90s movie, she showed just how talented she is at acting. 

Alicia Silverstone (Clueless)

Ugh, as if! Alicia Silverstone truly stole the screen when she played Cher in Clueless, a story about a teenage girl who ends up befriending a new student and decides to give her a makeover. I mean, those outfits alone are definitely iconic enough for her to be on this list.  

Laura Dern (Jurassic Park)

Raise your hand if you’re excited to see Laura Dern back in Jurassic World: Dominion. *Raises hand* Regardless, Laura Dern in the original Jurassic Park was freaking amazing, and Dr. Ellie Sattler was a badass that I looked up to, and I can’t wait to see what she’s been up to after all these years. 

Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You)

Ugh, 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my favorites, and it’s legit because of the chemistry that Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger have in this film. They are my all-time favorite romantic couple and Julia Stiles rocks it as Kat. 

Halle Berry (Jungle Fever)

While Halle Berry has been in plenty of badass roles over the last two decades, there was a time where she was just getting started in Hollywood. One of the first films that she had a supporting role in was Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, where she played Vivian. While she's gone on to play more prominent roles since then, it was one of the movies that broke her out onto the scene and paved the way for bigger things down the line, like X-Men and Monster’s Ball. 

Natalie Portman (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)

Padme Amidala, known as the Queen/Senator of Naboo and Anakin Skywalker's lover (later wife) was a Star Wars character that made her debut in 1999, and was a badass in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Natalie Portman portrayed the legendary Star Wars character for the prequel trilogy, and inspired young girls everywhere - but we don’t need to talk about how her character ends in Revenge of the Sith. 

Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction)

While my personal all-time favorite Uma Thurman performance is her role in Kill Bill, one of her biggest roles prior to this was portraying Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction, earning her a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. I mean, she was the literal character featured on the poster for this film, and honestly, I can see why. She has such star appeal. She has plenty of great performances but this is one of her best. 

Mena Suvari (American Beauty)

This 1999 film, American Beauty, told a captivating story about a man having a midlife crisis, but the main star to me of this was Mena Suvari as Angela Hayes, the object of affection for the main character, Lester Burnham. Even if the film didn’t age too well, I think we call agree Suvari was phenomenal in it. 

Robin Wright (Forrest Gump)

If you’re not saying “Jenny” by the end of Forrest Gump in a Southern drawl, I don’t think we were watching the same film. This Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks told the story of Forrest Gump and his legendary life, often times where he would think of his young love, Jenny, played by Robin Wright. Their love story is a tumultuous one, but a memorable one as well. 

Kirsten Dunst (Interview With The Vampire)

Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire is iconic for many reasons, showing how amazingly talented she was as an actress at the tender age of eleven. She later went on to star in films like Bring it On and Spider-Man, but no one can quite forget her character, Claudia.

Salma Hayek (Desperado)

Salma Hayek has been in many different kinds of films, such as being a part of the Grown Ups cast or starring in The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, but Desperado was one of the early films that made her the star she is today. Starring alongside Antonio Banderas as Carolina, Hayek was badass and her character was just as amazing. It’s definitely one of her best movies, and I would watch another film with both her and Banderas.  

Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got To Do With It, Waiting To Exhale) 

Angela Bassett is a master-class actress, and has shown just how amazingly talented she is in any role. I mean, there are so many movie parts that she should have been nominated for an Oscar, However, one of her most iconic roles from the '90s did indeed earn her nominations - her portrayal of Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It. And another great role for Bassett in the '90s was Bernadine Harris in Waiting to Exhale. Both of these movies were great showcases of her acting prowess. 

Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard)

“And I will always love you.” 

You know the song, I know you do. It’s one of the most iconic songs of all time and has been performed by so many people. Even though it was originally written by Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston sang this iconic song for the soundtrack for The Bodyguard, where she played Rachel Marron, a famous singer who falls for the bodyguard tasked with protecting her. 

Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies)

Last but not least, we have Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies. While she’s been in plenty of amazing movies such as Crazy Rich Asians and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, one of my personal favorites of hers is her role as Wai Lin, a Chinese spy and an ally to James Bond. 

Yeoh is a bloody badass. This James Bond alum truly defined the term “kick ass and take names” because she was one of the best Bond girls ever, in my opinion. I would gladly see her return to the franchise alongside Pierce Brosnan, but I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon, so I’ll just re-watch this movie over and over. 

There are truly so many other iconic roles, but these are some of the best that you should check out again next time you want to watch a great movie. Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to re-watch Jurassic Park again before the latest sequel.  

When it comes to relationships, these celebrity couples met on the sets of some of their most famous movies. From romantic films such as The Notebook to action movies like Daredevil, through the power of film, many of these couples were brought together. Here are 25 couples who met on the set of a movie but ended up dating in real life. 

Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams (The Notebook)

While you may know The Notebook as one of the best romance films out there, the two leading stars actually met on the set of the film, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. In an interview with GQ in 2007, Gosling confirmed he was thankful for the movie, as he met her through it despite the fact that their relationship ended.

While they did eventually break up in 2007, no one can quite forget this romance, both on and off screen.  

Emma Stone And Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man Series)

When Andrew Garfield was Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man series, he and his on-screen Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, ended up dating for four years after meeting on the set of the first movie. While they split back in 2015, Garfield recently said that he’s still her biggest fan during an interview with Vanity Fair’s “Little Gold Men” podcast:

Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt (Mr. And Mrs. Smith) 

On the set of the spy-movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which is getting a reboot), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt met. In an interview with Vogue (via People) in 2006, Jolie confirmed that they developed feelings for each other while filming, but didn’t start thinking of getting together instantly. 

Jolie and Pitt married in 2014, but later filed for divorce.  

Robert Pattinson And Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Series)

The Twilight series was a huge hit for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who played Edward and Bella in the adaptation of the popular vampire series, and they began dating after the first Twilight film released in 2008, according to an interview Stewart did with The New Yorker. They did eventually break up. 

Freida Pinto And Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)

The 2011 Academy Award-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, brought together its two stars, Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, after they starred in the film together. In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Patel talked about his past relationship with Pinto, and how close they were during their time together. 

The pair split in 2014. 

Michelle Williams And Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)

While filming Brokeback Mountain, co-stars Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger starred as husband and wife, and that love ended up coming off screen when the two began to date. In an interview with GQ in 2012, Williams talked about meeting Ledger for the first time, and how she felt she was always meant to meet him.

The two had a child together, but later separated.

Blake Lively And Ryan Reynolds (The Green Lantern)

These two are couples goals. Ever since Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively met on the set of The Green Lantern in 2010, these two have been inseparable and eventually ended up getting married. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2021, Reynolds admits they were seeing different people at the time, but their friendship slowly turned into a relationship. 

They’ve been married for several years now, and have four children. 

Eva Mendes And Ryan Gosling (The Place Beyond The Pines)

In The Place Beyond the Pines, the stars of the film, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling ended up getting together. Rumors of them being together popped up originally when they were spotted going on a date to Disneyland (via Us Weekly) in 2011, and now more than a decade later, they’re still together and have two daughters. 

Gosling, in an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2016, gushed about his family. 

Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton (Cleopatra)

Famed legendary actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a whirlwind romance after filming Cleopatra, which released in 1963. Their love was highly publicized and even turned into a limited series, called Liz & Dick. It spanned thirteen years, eleven films together, as well as two marriages and two divorces, according to Vogue. 

Natalie Portman And Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan)

While filming her Academy Award-winning movie, Black Swan, Natalie Portman met Benjamin Millepied, who is a famous choreographer and co-starred with her. Two began dating and married not that long after in 2012. 

In an interview with People, Natalie gushed about her husband and how much she loved working with him again on a new film, called Vox Lux in 2018.

Matthew Broderick And Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)

While they may have played siblings in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey were actually entangled in a relationship during their time on set. Jennifer Grey spoke about her relationship with the actor in her memoir, Out of the Corner, and how it was hard to keep it a secret from everyone else. 

Once filming ended, according to the memoir, they separated temporarily before getting back together, and dated in 1988. They were also briefly engaged but called it off not that long after. 

Johnny Depp And Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands)

While they originally met in the lobby of a New York theater in 1989, according to Rolling Stone (via Cheat Sheet), Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder’s relationship only grew more after co-starring in Edward Scissorhands in 1990, so much so that Depp proposed to Ryder only five months into dating. 

However, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1993, Depp confirmed they had split up due to the privacy the media wouldn’t let them have. 

Claire Danes And Hugh Dancy (Evening)

Both Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy met on the set of Evening, according to an interview Dancy did with London Evening Standard in 2013, saying that marriage to the star, as well as fatherhood, is treating him “very well.”

Goldie Hawn And Kurt Russell (The One And Only, Genuine, Original Family Band)

This long-lasting partnership started way back when in 1966. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell originally met on the set of The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, but it wasn’t until Swing Shift in 1984 that they began dating. In an interview with People, Hawn admits that the two don’t see a point in marriage.  

The pair have been together for 40 years, and recently starred in The Christmas Chronicles 2 together in 2020.  

Taylor Swift And Taylor Lautner (Valentine’s Day)

The ultimate Taylor-ship, actor Taylor Lautner and singer Taylor Swift worked together on the romantic comedy Valentine's Day and were seen out together at sports games (via People). The two reportedly dated for a couple of months before breaking up in December of the same year. 

Channing Tatum And Jenna Dewan (Step Up)

One of Channing Tatum’s best movies led to him meeting Jenna Dewan, his co-star and later wife on the set of Step-Up, as confirmed by an interview Tatum did with Elle in 2013. Tatum admitted that he almost didn’t ask Dewan out because he had just gotten out of a relationship. 

While they share a daughter, the two divorced in 2019.  

Daniel Craig And Rachel Weisz (Dream House)

While the two had actually first met at university together, both Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz were brought back together while filming Dream House. Weisz spoke with The Evening Standard in 2018 on her relationship, and how she never thought she would get married, until she started dating Craig. 

Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck (Gigli) 

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back together, but their first run at a relationship was while filming Gigli, where the two became close friends, and later began to date after Lopez divorced from Chris Judd in 2003.

Vanessa Hudgens And Zac Efron (High School Musical Series)

The High School Musical series was a huge hit for the Disney Channel, and onscreen love interests, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, turned that love into a long relationship offscreen, according to Hudgens during an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast (via People) in 2019.

The two were together for five years before breaking up. 

Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck (Daredevil)

Both Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck first met while filming Pearl Harbor, but started to date after being co-stars in Daredevil, according to an interview with Playboy Magazine in 2017, saying that this set was where they fell in love.

They later married in 2005 and then divorced in 2018. 

Liam Hemsworth And Miley Cyrus (The Last Song)

While filming The Last Song together, Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus became very close, according to Seventeen (via MTV News) where Cyrus said he was her “best friend.” Their relationship was later confirmed after they walked the red carpet together. They were together for years, marrying, before divorcing in 2020. 

Tom Cruise And Nicole Kidman (Days Of Thunder)

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman met at her audition for Days of Thunder, according to an interview she did with Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. The two stars co-starred, fell in love, married in 1990, and then divorced in 2001. 

Zendaya And Tom Holland (Spider-Man Series)

Tom Holland and Zendaya met while filming Spider-Man: Homecoming together, but it wasn’t until closer to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 that speculation about a romantic relationship between the two seemed to be confirmed. 

Since then, the two have been very public about their relationship, especially when Tom Holland shared a post on Instagram on her birthday, saying that Zendaya was “his MJ.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar And Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. met originally on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but didn’t begin to date until 2000, according to an interview Gellar did with People in 2002, saying they weren’t even originally supposed to go on a date - turned into one. 

They have been together for twenty years and have two children. 

Penelope Cruz And Javier Bardem (Jamón Jamón)

The two actually met for the first time as co-stars while filming Jamón Jamón, they wouldn’t get together until they reunited again filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a Woody Allen film, according to an interview Javier Bardem did with GQ in 2017, and started dating after filming was done. 

The two have been married since 2010, and have two children. 

There are so many celebrity couples out there - some that have stood the test of time and others that have not. And I’m sure over time, only more and more will start to pop up with even crazier romances. 

The 1980s gave birth to some of the most iconic movies of all time and turned dozens of actors into international superstars and box office heavyweights. Names like Michael J. Fox, Holly Hunter, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Whoopi Goldberg are just a handful of great ‘80s actors who made an impact on movies, and pop culture in general, in one way or another. 

But with time, some of use have forgotten what the heroes and villains of those beloved ‘80s movies and TV shows have been up to in the decades since they made their mark on the world. Well, not any longer, as we have put together a rather comprehensive list of those familiar faces and what they’ve been up to all these years. 

Whoopi Goldberg

Throughout the 1980s, Whoopi Goldberg proved time and time again that she was a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, receiving multiple accolades and awards for movies like The Color Purple and Jumping Jack Flash. Even though she is not in as many high-profile movies as she was in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Goldberg has remained a major player in show business as one of the hosts of the long-running daytime talk show The View, with a major role in the 2021 adaptation of The Stand, and in the Amazon original series Harlem. 

Elisabeth Shue

The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, and Back to the Future Part II, are just a few iconic ‘80s movies Elisabeth Shue appeared in throughout the early stages of her career. The Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee (1995’s Leaving Las Vegas) is still doing what she does best all these years later, with a collection of movies and TV shows including Greyhound, The Boys, and most recently, Cobra Kai, in which she reprised her beloved character, Ali Mills. 

Judd Nelson

Judd Nelson, the Brat Pack member who made a name for himself with his portrayal of bad boy with a heart of gold John Bender in The Breakfast Club, has remained just as busy in the decades since he became an undeniable heartthrob. More recently, Nelson has provided voice work for animated series like Transformers: Power of the Primes and Ben 10: Omniverse, and appeared in movies like Dead Water and Girl in the Basement. He is set to appear in the upcoming remake of The Most Dangerous Game, per Deadline.

Michael J. Fox

There are few actors who can match the talent, charm, and likability of Michael J. Fox, and with movies like Back to the Future, Teen Wolf, and The Secret of My Success, it’s hard to deny that. Despite being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1998, Fox remained busy in film and television throughout the first two decades of the 21st Century with appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Scrubs, and his own sitcom The Michael J. Fox Show. However, Fox stepped away from acting in November 2020 due to ongoing health issues, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Molly Ringwald

Between 1984 and 1986, Molly Ringwald appeared in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, all of which are arguably some of the best ‘80s movies. Ringwald’s success continued through the ’90s, into the 2000s, and even today with roles in romantic comedies like The Kissing Booth franchise, Creepshow, and Riverdale, on which she portrays Mary Andrews. 

Chevy Chase

In the 1980s, Chevy Chase went from Saturday Night Live stand-out to one of the biggest box office draws with Caddy Shack, Fletch, and the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise, to name only a few. All these years later, Chase remains a major star in the world of comedy with shows like Community and a list of movies that includes The Last Laugh, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, and Panda vs. Aliens.

Anthony Michael Hall

Michael Anthony Hall appeared in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s, including National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science, those final two coming out just months apart. Hall is just as busy these days with appearances in movies like the 2021 horror flick Halloween Kills and a list of TV shows that includes Riverdale, The Blacklist, and The Goldbergs.

Holly Hunter

Throughout the 1980s, Holly Hunter found success with a variety of roles, including standout performances in Raising Arizona, Broadcast News, and End of the Line, all of which came out in 1987. Over the years, Hunter has continued to bring characters to life in movies like The Big Sick, The Incredibles franchise, and multiple TV shows like The Comey Rule, Mr. Mayor, and Succession, to name only a few. 

Emilio Estevez

Emilio Estevez had only appeared in two of his father’s movies — Badlands and Apocalypse Now — by the time the 1980s kicked off, but he would be a major Hollywood force by the time the decade wrapped up, thanks to roles in The Outsiders, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and Young Guns. Estevez has spent much of the past decade-and-a-half writing and directing various film and television projects, but he did return to the small screen in 2021 to reprise his role of Gordon Bombay in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe became one of the biggest heartthrobs of the 1980s thanks to appearances in The Outsiders, St. Elmo’s Fire, and several other iconic movies. In the years since then, Lowe has found tremendous success on television, including shows like The West Wing, Parks and Recreation, and most recently, 9-1-1: Lone Star, a series he has led since its inception in 2020.

Val Kilmer

In the 1980s, Val Kilmer played an assortment of roles in movies like Top Secret!, Real Genius, Top Gun, and Willow, carving a place out for himself in the annals of Hollywood greats. That success would follow Kilmer throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but the talented actor would face a major challenge later on when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, a battle that would end with him losing the ability to speak. Despite that, he released the heartfelt and enlightening documentary, Val, in 2021.

Ralph Macchio

Whether he was making us cry in The Outsiders or leaving us on the edges of our seats in The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio gave it his all in the 1980s, turning out a number of box office hits. Since 2018, Macchio has once again been playing Daniel LaRusso, though instead of on the big screen, Cobra Kai is leg sweeping the competition on Netflix.

Winona Ryder

In the final two years of the 1980s, Winona Ryder made a name for herself with stellar performances in Beetlejuice, Heathers, and Great Balls of Fire!, and she has really not stopped since. Since 2016, Ryder has been one of the biggest stars of the Netflix series Stranger Things, which is slated to return for a fourth season at some point in 2022.

Ally Sheedy

The fifth and final member of The Breakfast Club cast to be featured on this list, Ally Sheedy was a massive star in the 1980s with movies like WarGames, St. Elmo’s Fire, Short Circuit, and several others. Sheedy’s most recent film appearance came in 2016 with a cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Matt Dillon

In the 1980s, Matt Dillon starred in movies like The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, Drugstore Cowboy, and nearly a dozen others, cementing his place as one of the most prolific actors of the decade. Dillon hasn’t really slowed down all that much since then, with his most recent projects including titles like Land of Dreams, Capone, and Wes Anderson's mysterious upcoming movie, Asteroid City.

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey will always be remembered as Frances “Baby” Houseman in Dirty Dancing, a role that capped off an impressive run that also included Red Dawn and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. More recently, though, Grey has been in movies like Untogether and Bittersweet Symphony as well as several TV shows including Dancing with the Stars (which she won), The Conners, and a three-episode arc on Grey’s Anatomy.

Jennifer Beals

Jennifer Beals became an international sensation upon the release of Flashdance in 1983, and she hasn’t really slowed down since then. Over the course of the past few decades, Beals has made appearances in successful movies and TV shows, including Swamp Thing, The L Word: Generation Q, and the Star Wars upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett for Disney+.

Lea Thompson

All the Right Moves, Red Dawn, Back to the Future, Howard the Duck, and Back to the Future Part II are just some of the movies that featured Lea Thompson in the 1980s, a decade that would kick off one hell of a career. Thompson has remained busy over the years and has even directed her fair share of projects. This list includes everything from The Goldbergs to Stargirl, and Mom to Young Sheldon, with multiple others in-between.

Eric Stoltz

Even though he was recast in Back to the Future, Eric Stoltz had and impressive run in the 1980s with Mask, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Say Anything…, to name only a few. That run of successes continued as the years went by and eventually turned into work for Stoltz behind the scenes, including directing credits on shows like Law and Order, Glee, and Madame Secretary, and movies like Class Rank and Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk.

Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips will probably always be remembered for his performances in La Bamba and Stand and Deliver, and rightfully so, but the talented actor has made several other contributions over the years. Recently, Phillips has landed roles on Longmire, Blue Bloods, Fear the Walking Dead, Prodigal Son, and multiple other projects in film and television.

Mary Stuart Masterson

Mary Stuart Masterson, who would go on to lead movies like Fried Green Tomatoes and Benny and Joon in the 1990s, found success in the 1980s in Some Kind of Wonderful, Chances Are, and Immediate Family, to name only a few. Following a 13-year absence from the big screen, Masterson returned in 2017 with As You Were, which she followed up with Skin and Daniel Isn’t Real. More recently, Masterson had a main role on the ABC legal drama, For Life.

Kevin Kline

The 1980s were good to Kevin Kline, who appeared in The Big Chill, Silverado, Cry Freedom, and A Fish Called Wanda (a role that earned him an Academy Award), though the good times never really stopped for the versatile actor. In 2021 alone, Kline appeared in Here Today, The Starling, The Good House, and continued to provide the voice of Mr. Calvin Fischoeder on the hit animated series Bob’s Burgers. Still no word on a Dave sequel, though.

Sean Astin

Sean Astin made his film debut in The Goonies in 1985, and his career has been one of the most consistent in Hollywood ever since. The past 35-plus years have seen him show up in Rudy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and countless other successful movies. His television career is just as impressive, with everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Stranger Things, and Supergirl to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

Adrienne Barbeau

Adrienne Barbeau kicked off the 1980s with appearances in three of the best John Carpenter movies — The Fog, Escape from New York, and The Thing (she was the voice of the computer and only woman in the cast) — as well as other classics like Creepshow and The Cannonball Run. In recent years, Barbeau has appeared in TV adaptations of Swamp Thing and Creepshow, as well as American Horror Stories and Cowboy Bebop.

Jerry O'Connell

Jerry O’Connell gave an unforgettable performance as Vernon “Vern” Tessio in Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Stand By Me in 1986, one that people still talk about 35 years after the fact. O’Connell has remained quite busy over the years, with multiple animated films that have seen him voice Superman. On top of that, he has been featured on The Big Bang Theory, Carter, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and even his own daytime talk show, Jerry O’.

Corey Feldman

In the 1980s, Corey Feldman became one of the most dependable young actors, with movies like Gremlins, The Goonies, Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, and The ‘Burbs. Over the years, Feldman has appeared in countless movies, TV shows, and documentaries, with his most recent appearance being in the 2021 slasher 13 Fanboy, in which he plays a version of himself. He has also written a series of albums, including the 2021 release, Love Returns.

Patrick Dempsey

The 1987 release of Can’t Buy Me Love instantly made Patrick Dempsey a household name, and he hasn’t let go of his place in pop culture since. Whether it’s with Grey’s Anatomy or Enchanted (which has a sequel, Disenchanted, on the way), Dempsey has remained a dreamy leading man on the big screen and small screen alike, and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Steve Guttenberg

Between the Police Academy movies, Cocoon, and Short Circuit, it’s safe to say that Steve Guttenberg had a nice run in the 1980s, and lucky for him (and us), the hits never really stopped coming. In recent years, “The Gut” has balanced between comedy series like The Goldbergs and legal dramas like Roe v. Wade, with all kinds of other work to boot, including a 2020 appearance on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Zach Gilligan

Zach Gilligan’s run in Hollywood started with a little 1984 movie called Gremlins, which he followed up with Nothing Lasts Forever and Waxwork to close out the decade. Since then, Gilligan has appeared in countless film and TV roles, and even appeared as his Gremlins character (alongside Gizmo) in the Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial.

Michael Winslow

Michael Winslow, also known as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects, had an insane record in the 1980s, appearing in Spaceballs, Police Academy, Gremlins, and multiple other timeless classics. Winslow has continued to share his talents with the world in the decades since breaking out as one of the most talented beat-boxers around. In 2021, he even appeared on America’s Got Talent.

This may appear to be an exhaustive list of iconic '80s actors, but this is barely scratching the surface. Who knows, maybe we'll make another list of all the stars we forgot, or perhaps touch on those big names of the 1990s.

Stranger Things fans, it’s finally happening. We’re inching closer to our next journey into the Upside Down, thanks to Netflix’s "Stranger Things Day!"  The streamer has dubbed Saturday, November 6 a holiday exclusively for fans of the hit science fiction show and, with that, comes a brand new present to unwrap. A brand new look at what’s to come in Season 4! 

Friends, it’s been over two years since the last season of the show premiered on Netflix for us to binge-watch. So I wouldn’t blame you if your memory is a little fuzzy. Many of the stars of the beloved series have been out and about on other projects during the hiatus, but this new teaser, following the first one from August, certainly gives us a lot to talk about. If you remember, last time, Eleven was accompanied the Byers family, as they moved away from Hawkins. Now, we’re getting an idea of where Season 4 will pick up. 

The teaser opens with Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven writing a letter to Finn Wolfhard’s Mike from her new home in California, sharing that it’s Day 185 that they’ve apparently been apart. In other words, there will be a six-month time jump from the end of the last season to the beginning of this one. Eleven says that she’s “finally adapted” to her new home as we see some additional shots of the rest of the Byers family, which of course include Noah Schnapp’s Will, Charlie Heaton as his older brother Jonathan, and Winona Ryder’s Joyce. 

Eleven is rocking a completely different hairdo this time around, with straight-across bangs and long hair. It looks like she’s being bullied a lot at school, even though she’s writing to Mike how many new friends she’s made. It seems like the pair are counting down the days to spring break, so they can finally reunite. However, as the teaser shows, once the Hawkins kids get back together, all the action starts back up again. 

The rest of the trailer erupts in a number of quick shots, but it seems to be filled with car chases, gunshots and a massive explosion as the title card rolls. Brett Gelman’s Murray is back, there’s a roller rink sequence, a suspicious doll for Joyce to marvel at and a ton of shocked looks on the characters' faces. Guess it’s almost time to get back to the Upside Down! 

The series will return to Netflix in 2022, but an official release date has yet to be announced. The teaser definitely leaves us with a ton of questions, especially when it comes to the return of Hopper, the futures of Steve, Nancy and Robin and the latest happenings in Hawkins, Indiana. We’ll keep you posted here on CinemaBlend on what’s next for Stranger Things. 

In a way, the talented members of the Stranger Things cast could already be considered superheroes and the fact that some have already starred in superhero movies really helps sell that notion. For instance, Charlie Heaton appeared in The New Mutants in 2020, which immediately made me wonder what it would be like to see his co-stars as X-Men characters, too. The following is a list of all your favorite actors from the hit sci-fi Netflix series and the mutants I would cast them as in the Marvel movies if given the opportunity, starting with one starlet who already knows a thing or two about playing a super-powered being.

Millie Bobby Brown (Kitty Pryde)

For the actress behind the telekinetic Eleven, I could have gone with the obvious choice of Jean Grey, but X-Men fans have been pulling for Millie Bobby Brown to play this mutant, nicknamed Shadowcat for her ability to walk through walls, for a while. I agree with the casting, especially considering how her Stranger Things character also shares similar telepathic powers with Kitty Pryde.

Maya Hawke (Jean Grey)

Besides, I would actually rather see how Maya Hawke, who joined the Stranger Things cast as Robin in Season 3, could handle the part of Jean Gray. Outside of a brief appearance in the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood cast as a Manson Family member who chickens out before invading Rick Dalton's house, the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke has yet to really show her dark side and portraying the powerful psychokinetic's evolution toward becoming the Dark Phoenix would be a great opportunity.

Joe Keery (Cyclops)

Someone who did show off his dark side with 2020 horror movie Spree is Joe Keery, whose Stranger Things character Steve Harrington wrongfully assumed he had a shot with co-worker Robin in Stranger Things Season 3. Well, I can switch that around by casting him as Jean Grey's longtime laser-eyed lover Cyclops, whom Keery is nearly a dead ringer for outside of possessing the charisma of good-nature, but sometimes cocky, hero that defines the role.

Natalia Dyer (Rogue)

Some fans have also considered Maya Hawke as a good fit for Rogue, as well, but I actually thought of Natalia Dyer when considering who to play the young X-Men member. Her role as the feisty, ambitious Nancy Wheeler on Stranger Things has gone through one of the series' most transformative character arcs, convincing me she would be perfect to depict the energy-absorbing mutant.

Charlie Heaton (Cannonball)

You know, speaking of second choices, I actually did consider making Natalia Dyer Jean Grey and making Charlie Heaton Cyclops as a reference to their romance on Stranger Things and in real life. However, say what you want about The New Mutants, the British actor's performance as Sam Guthrie (otherwise known as Cannonball for his destructive flight path) was a highlight that warrants a second chance at the role in an MCU X-Men reboot movie.

Finn Wolfhard (Pyro)

Another destructive X-Men character is Pyro, the name St. John Allerdyce would earn for his ability to manipulate fire, but not create it. I thought of Finn Wolfhard to play a younger version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants member, in part because I think the Stranger Things Mike Wheeler actor has potential to play a bad guy that his "sinister" role in 2020 horror movie The Turning did not quite justify.

Noah Schnapp (Nightcrawler)

When considering what X-Men character Noah Schnapp should play, I thought I would take some inspiration from his Stranger Things character, Will Byers, who chose a wizard for his Dungeons and Dragons role. While not an official magic user, I feel that the teleportation abilities of Nightcrawler make him a close enough choice. Plus, Schnapp got a taste of what it is like to portray a someone of more "monstrous" proportions in Stranger Things Season 2 when The Mind Flayer took over Will's body.

Gaten Matarazzo (Forge)

I also looked to Gaten Matarazzo's scene-stealing Stranger Things character to decide the X-Men character he had the most potential for, but not in terms of his Dungeons & Dragons role. After returning from Camp Know Where in Stranger Things Season 3, Dustin Henderson proved himself to be pretty damn tech savvy, much like Forge - an intuitive mechanical genius with mystical powers and a cybernetic leg.

Caleb McLaughlin (Cloak)

It was not, particularly, anything about Caleb McLaughlin's role as Lucas Sinclair on Stranger Things that led me to choose the darkly mystical and aptly named Cloak as his potential X-Men-related character. Yet, I did find similarities between Cloak's young, pre-superhero alter ego Tyrone Johnson and McLaughlin's role as a rebellious teen on the road to redemption in the Netflix original movie Concrete Cowboy from 2021.

Sadie Sink (Dagger)

On the other hand, I will admit that it was Sadie Sink's chemistry with Caleb McLaughlin as Max Mayfield, who became Lucas' girlfriend at the end of Stranger Things Season 2, that convinced me to cast her as the also rebellious young woman Tandy Bowen. She uses her mutant powers to project "daggers" of light as Cloak's partner in crimefighting (and on-and-off romance) under the alias Dagger. Together, they are known as Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, who would inspire a Freeform series of the same that ran from 2018 to 2019.

Dacre Montgomery (Slipstream)

As Max Mayfield's extremely antagonistic brother, Billy, on Stranger Things is Dacre Montgomery, whom you would never know is actually a native of Australia by how well, and how often, he hides his accent on screen. So, I figured, why not cast him as a mutant from Down Under like Slipstream, whose water-based powers and love of surfing call to mind Billy's stint as a Hawkins lifeguard in Season 3.

Winona Ryder (Selene)

Outside of playing Joyce Byers on Stranger Things, you no longer see Winona Ryder play the kinds of characters that made her a Scream Queen, like as Lydia Deetz in the Beetlejuice cast or the female lead of Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992. The latter role gives me the idea of casting her as one of the X-Men's most horror-centric characters Selene, whose mutant abilities of mental life force absorption classify her as a "psychic vampire."

David Harbour (Beast)

You know, I cannot say I am a fan of 2019's failed Hellboy reboot, but I still believe, as the titular demon with a heart of gold, David Harbour gave his best performances since playing Hopper on Stranger Things shot him to the A-list. To give him the chance to bring another kindhearted "beast" to life on the big screen, I think casting him as middle-aged Hank McCoy would be an inspired choice.

It almost sounds too meta, but could still be greatly satisfying, for the MCU to bring in the Stranger Things cast to play the bulk of their X-Men characters. If not, a future in the DC movies is not out of the question.

There has been talk of a potential Beetlejuice sequel, really, since the inventive horror-comedy about a deceased couple trying to scare a snobbish family out of their house became a surprise hit in 1988. In more recent years, Michael Keaton has said he would play the maniacal bio-exorcist with director Tim Burton on board, Winona Ryder has also seemed open to returning, and rumors of Johnny Depp appearing in the Beetlejuice sequel have come out lately. Sounds like a fun idea, but, if you ask me, I think it would work best if all the original members of the Beetlejuice cast came back, which would take more than saying their names three times to achieve.

Nonetheless, whether Beetlejuice 2 is or is not dead or even if it were to suddenly pop up on our list of 2021 new movie releases, it would not do much to make my millennium, to be honest, since the original is good enough on its own, and the Tony-nominated Broadway musical adaptation has already filled that void for many. I do, however, still enjoy following the stars of the beloved cult classic and their careers to this day. So, that being said, let’s turn on the juice and she what’s shaking loose with the cast of one of the best Tim Burton movies ever, starting with the ghost of the most.

Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice)

Before landing the title role of Beetlejuice (whose name is actually spelled as the less marketable “Betelgeuse”), Michael Keaton (née Douglas) had already conquered the world of comedy with 1982’s Night Shift from director Ron Howard, followed by the leading Mr. Mom the next year. In 1989, he defied fan expectations by re-teaming with director Tim Burton to play Batman, whom he may be reprising alongside Ezra Miller’s The Flash in his upcoming solo movie.

After poking fun at his comic book movie stardom in 2014’s Birdman earned him an Oscar nomination, Michael Keaton became the MCU’s Spider-Man villain, Vulture, whom he also appears to be reprising in 2022’s Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the vampiric Marvel anti-hero. The Trial of the Chicago 7 star is also appearing in action thriller The Asset and is currently filming the Hulu original miniseries Dopesick.

Alec Baldwin (Adam Maitland)

It is funny to imagine that Alec Baldwin feared Beetlejuice may ruin his acting career, considering it is one of the last things anyone thought to mention at his Comedy Central Roast in 2019. On the other hand, his performance as the desperate, deceased Adam is not quite as memorable as his rousing speech in 1992’s Glengarry Glen Ross, his Emmy-winning turn as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, or his more recent Emmy win as Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live from 2016 to 2020.

The 63-year-old Oscar nominee and latest Match Game host is returning to the animated sequel The Boss Baby: Family Business in 2021, which will also see the premiere of Peacock’s Dr. Death miniseries. Alec Baldwin is also working on a TV comedy with Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer; is in pre-production for an action thriller called The Father, a western called Rust, and cop movie Blue Before Blood; and has been announced to play Enzo Ferrari in a Ferruccio Lamborghini biopic.

Geena Davis (Barbara Maitland)

In the same year that Beetlejuice won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, Geena Davis won for Best Supporting Actress - but for The Accidental Tourist and not as Alec Baldwin’s also deceased wife, Barbara. Nonetheless, outside of David Cronenberg’s The Fly, the light horror film is the actress’ best-known foray into the genre in a career defined by versatility, from sports biopics like A League of Their Own to a crime dramedy like Thelma & Louise, which earned her her second Oscar nod.

Recently, the 65-year-old’s best known acting work has been on television, including recurring stints on Grey’s Anatomy as a brain surgeon, on Netflix’s GLOW, and the animated fantasy series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, but she also starred opposite Jessica Chastain in the assassin drama Ava in 2020. Her next film, Cowgirl’s Last Ride is now pre-production, but the founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media’s main focus continues to be her social activism.

Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz)

Since her breakout role as the “strange and unusual” teen Lydia in Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder has become a bit of a Scream Queen. She was the killer female lead of 1989’s Heathers cast, was tempted by a fanged Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and would make a major career comeback after her part in the Stranger Things cast earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Winona Ryder will return to play Joyce Byers on Stranger Things Season 4, which may be the last go-round for the Netflix original ‘80s-style sci-fi hit. Speaking of nostalgia, the 49-year-old actress also reprised her other most famous Tim Burton movie role by starring opposite Timothée Chalamet as her scissor-handed son in an Edward Scissorhands inspired Super Bowl ad for Cadillac.

Catherine O’Hara (Delia Deetz)

Starring as Winona Ryder’s snobby artist stepmother in Beetlejuice is Catherine O’Hara as Delia, who might be a close second to Kate McAllister in Home Alone as her most iconic movie mom role. The Canadian comedian also enjoyed a major comeback on TV recently as Moira Rose in the Schitt’s Creek cast, for which she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 2021.

Catherine O’Hara has two animated movies coming out in 2021, including Extinct and The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You - an interactive special spun-off from the Netflix animated series she also lends her voice to. She and an all-star cast are currently lending their voices to the upcoming animated film Back Home Again, and her comedy film Fortune, which sounds like the opposite of the plot of Schitt’s Creek, is now in development.

Jeffrey Jones (Charles Deetz)

Former real estate yuppie Charles Deetz is probably the second or third most iconic ‘80s role of Jeffrey Jones, following Principal Edward Rooney in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and his Golden Globe-nominated role in Amadeus as Emperor Joseph II. The now 74-year-old actor would actually reunite with many of his Beetlejuice co-stars in subsequent films, such as The Hunt for Red October with Alec Baldwin, 1996’s The Crucible with Winona Ryder, and Stuart Little with Geena Davis.

Other than rejoining the Deadwood cast for HBO’s follow-up movie in 2019, Jeffrey Jones does not have much going on in Hollywood anymore. His career slowed down significantly after he was placed on the sex offender registry in 2003 after hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for suggestive photographs the previous year.

Annie McEnroe (Jane Butterfield)

While no longer busy in Hollywood, Annie McEnroe played Jane Butterfield - the nosy real estate who always hounded the Maitlands about selling their house before their deaths - in Beetlejuice. The actress (actually best known for having small roles in otherwise iconic films such as Wall Street or Born on the Fourth of July) has not appeared in anything since Oliver Stone’s sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps in 2010. She did, however, appear with her producer husband Edward R. Pressman in a featurette for the 2021 Blu-ray release of The Hand - a 1981 horror film (also directed by Stone) that she starred in with Michael Caine.

Dick Cavett (Bernard)

Aside from a few instances, when legendary, Emmy-winning talk show host Dick Cavett shows up in a movie, he is usually starring as himself - most notably in 1977’s Annie Hall or in Forrest Gump from 1994. However, in Beetlejuice, he plays Bernard: Delia’s disgruntled, discouraging agent and one of the dinner guests possessed into singing Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” by the Maitlands. The 84-year-old’s most recent gig was lending his voice to the Facebook Watch animated series Liverspots and Astronots, but he will appear in two upcoming documentaries that are both in post-production: one about surrealist writer and illustrator Edward Gorey and another about Chicago nightclub Mister Kelly’s, where he, among many others, got his start as a performer.

Glenn Shadix (Otho)

You may recall that another guest to “suffer” the “Day-O” possession was the Deetzes’ friend and interior decorator Otho, played by Glenn Shadix, landing his second movie role ever with Beetlejuice. The theater-trained actor would go on to reunite with Winona Ryder in Heathers, with Tim Burton to voice The Mayor in The Nightmare Before Christmas, appear alongside Michael Keaton in Multiplicity, and also earn a relatively major role in the cult action comedy Demolition Man in 1993. Shadix’s final performance was a voice role in an animated adaptation of The Little Engine That Could before passing away in 2010 due to a traumatic head injury at the age of 58.

Patrice Martinez (Miss Argentina)

Beetlejuice was actually one of the last major movie appearance of Patrice Martinez, whose character was an Argentinian beauty pageant contestant before becoming a receptionist for the afterlife following her “little accident.” The first big film role of the American-born actress of Mexican descent was as Carmen in Three Amigos! before landing a recurring spot on the original Magnum P.I. with Tom Selleck and playing the love interest of the titular hero of Zorro from 1990-1993 on Freeform when it was still called The Family Channel. Martinez would retire from acting in 1999 and, in 2018, died unexpectedly after a long illness at only 55.

You know, for my first Halloween with my fiancée in 2019, I dressed up as Beetlejuice and she dressed as Miss Argentina. Needless to say, the movie is very important to us and it was upsetting to learn that the actress behind the character my fiancée dressed as had passed away only a year earlier. Of course, in certain ways, Beetlejuice serves as a celebration of the afterlife at its core, and Patrice Martinez, Glenn Shadix, and late members of the cast and crew remain a shining remnant of the film’s undying legacy.

By now, you're familiar with the cast of Stranger Things. The Netflix series is one of the most popular programs on TV — on their service or otherwise — and it has propelled the careers of pretty much everyone involved, most notably including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and David Harbour. 

Through the continued pop culture staying power of the streaming series, the Stranger Things cast members have branched off into their own individual film and TV projects, many of which show the expansive talents of the ensemble through dynamic performances. Some of these movies were big crowdpleasers, while others were smaller movies that might've slipped past the public. Whether blockbusters or indie joints, the cast members continue to prove their talents in several noteworthy projects. With that said, we'll take this time to highlight some of these finest film performances for fans looking for something to watch before Season 4 drops.

Millie Bobby Brown - Godzilla: King of the Monsters (HBO Max)

Though it didn't exactly meet critical expectations, particularly following the roaring success of 2014's Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a huge step forward for Millie Bobby Brown as an actress. Gaining a great deal of recognition for her great performance in Stranger Things, including an Emmy nomination, King of the Monsters was Brown's first starring vehicle, serving as the bright young eyes exploring the wondrous creatures roaming the city and skies in the wake of Godzilla's earth-shaking arrival. 

While the movie itself doesn't give its human performers enough time to shine in this lumbering, overcrowded blockbuster affair, Brown's lead performance is earnestly motivated, showcasing a bright up-and-coming actress with bright star power. In a film where the raging otherworldly monsters ultimately take the spotlight, Brown brings some gentle humanity to this hulking enterprise.

Stream It On HBO Max here.

Finn Wolfhard - IT (Amazon Prime)

Admittedly, if there's one movie on this list you've probably seen by now, it's 2017's IT. Based on Stephen King's tome of a novel, it's no secret that the source material played a huge role in shaping Stranger Things, which makes the irony of the movie being influenced by the show's success a bit startling. To blur the lines even further, Finn Wolfhard plays Richie Tozier, providing an enjoyably scene-stealing role as the clown of the group (besides, you know, the killing supernatural one that's terrorizing them and threatening their lives). 

While it's hard to live up to King's prolific work, this big-budget adaptation is appealing in its focus on the neighborhood kids fostering their friendships while also battling the unknowable terror that lurks in the shadows. While Wolfhard takes many strides to win over the spotlight, it's fitting for the character.

Rent It On Amazon here.

David Harbour - Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein (Netflix)

While it's hard to call it a "movie" as it only clocks in at 32 minutes, this streamable special serves as an enjoyably slim showcase for David Harbour's thespian talents as a veteran actor, while also providing a fun, loose platform to provide a nostalgically loving tribute to both staged theater and unpolished TV productions of decades prior. 

While it can occasionally be amusing than outright funny, the jokes remain consistently inspired, and Harbour's enthusiasm for this off-kilter premise fuels the mockumentary special's goofy sensibilities in endearing, rewarding ways. Plus, the period redesigns are — similar in Stranger Things — pointed and reverent in their approach. While Harbour is great on Stranger Things, he hasn't found much success away from it, notably with the ill-fated Hellboy reboot. This likably wacky production, therefore, is a fine vehicle for his immense talents.

Stream It On Netflix here.

Winona Ryder - Beetlejuice (Peacock)

Before she became Joyce Byers, concerned mother of Will and Jonathan, Winona Ryder was a teen star herself, notably making a splash in movies like Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, The Age of Innocence, Little Women (1994), and more. But the role that really helped propel her career in stardom was Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. As Lydia Deetz, the goth teenager who Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) believes is his way back into the land of the living, Ryder made a great impression in this entertaining spooky dark comedy, showcasing her talents for dry comedy and bringing pulpy life to reserved characters. 

While she certainly wasn't the star of the show, Ryder shined bright and stole the show in this supporting turn, launching a great '90s filmography. Though Ryder's career unfortunately stalled in the 2000s, Stranger Things' massive success brought the actress back into the limelight.

Stream It On Peacock here.

Noah Schnapp - The Peanuts Movie (Disney+)

It's nearly impossible to recapture the simplistic charm of Charles Schultz consistently-beloved Peanuts comic strip, notably outside of its hand-drawn animation style. Nevertheless, The Peanuts Movies serves as a warm, lovely, sweet-natured, and fitting tribute to the classic cartoon series, elevated by incredible 3D animation made in a 2D style and commendable vocal performances from its young cast. 

In the lead role of the perpetually downtrodden but persistently hopeful Charlie Brown, Noah Schnapp brings a rich, wholesome sincerity to the title role, providing a keener sense of kindness and compassion to the often glum character. It helped to bring out the child protagonist's youthful side, appropriately enough, allowing the child actor to ingrain an impressionable good nature to the character's various cinematic misadventures, giving everything his best shot (or his best kick) — even when facing countless suburban-set odds.

Stream It On Disney+ here.

Caleb McLaughlin - High Flying Bird (Netflix)

In Steven Soderbergh's iPhone-filmed Netflix sports drama, High Flying Bird, we're given an inside look at a sports agent (Andre Holland) who has 72 hours to pull off a controversial strategic plan. It's a zippy, quick-rolling feature, relying on the well-suited actors to fast talk about sports figures, basketball players, and some whizzy professional lingo throughout its dialogue-driven narrative. 

While that might not sound like the most exhilarating sports movie, it's livened by its pinpoint camerawork, Soderbergh's intensive direction, and the strong ensemble of actors, which also includes Zazie Beetz, Kyle MacLachlan, a great Bill Duke, and Caleb McLaughlin. While the Stranger Things actor doesn't get as much screen time as his co-stars, McLaughlin is aided by the fine support of his talented co-stars, which allows the rising star to step up his game and provide a sharply-crafted supporting performance.

Stream It On Netflix here.

Charlie Heaton - As You Are (Amazon Rental)

Channeling Charlie Heaton's moody, sullen intensity into the right character isn't easy. The British actor can capably play a darkly brewing character, though outside of Stranger Things, he hasn't found too much success in bringing out those seething impulses to the right project. This past weekend's long-delayed The New Mutants is a perfect, notable example. While he's a talented actor, Heaton needs to find the right roles to prove those talents, showing the full extent of his unsettling captivation. 

Thankfully, 2017's indie As You Are is that type of drama. From director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, who was only 23, this cold, commanding debut gives Heaton one of his most haunting performances, properly allowing him to play into his strength as a beguiling if sometimes unreadable actor. Not many films found the right role for Heaton. As You Are is an exception.

Rent It On Amazon here.

Natalia Dyer - Yes, God, Yes (Amazon Rental)

Sadly, Natalia Dyer hasn't gotten enough time to shine on Stranger Things. She's a clear talent, though she can be overlooked in the popular Netflix series. Whenever she gets a chance to prove herself, Dyer is an exceptional talent, as was the case with Karen Maine's appealing directorial debut, Yes, God, Yes, from earlier this year. The personal, reflective indie from the Obvious Child co-writer is meticulous in its period recreation, recapturing the look and feel of its time. 

A young, sheltered early 2000s Christian teen comes to terms with her budding sexuality in a strict, ultra-conservative environment. Dyer's bright eyes, inquisitive facial features, and intentionally demurred body language do wonders to reveal the insecurity and introspection of its inquiring, soul-searching protagonist. It's a charming, winning star vehicle for this undervalued actress.

Rent It On Amazon here. Also Currently Available On Virtual Cinemas.

Joe Keery - Spree (Amazon Rental)

Exploring the extreme, overzealous lengths that young wannabe influencers will go to discover internet stardom is ripe territory in our current age, though only a handful of movies have done it effectively. Be it the entertainingly silly Nerve or the thrilling character study Ingrid Goes West, social media dependency is a compelling place for movies to take unstable characters and their darkly obsessive interests in an environment that feeds on inherent cynicism and narcissism. 

While Spree doesn't dive too far below its shiny surface, this found footage dark comedy-horror is an entertaining descent into madness with an excellent lead performance from Joe Keery. Game for anything the film throws in his way, Keery indulges in Spree's fixations with wicked glee and fervent menace, allowing any narrative bumps and hang-ups to generally be absolved thanks to his unhinged dedication to this lurid spectacle.

Rent It On Amazon here.

Sean Astin - The Goonies (Amazon Rental)

Stranger Things is inspired by many products of the 1980s, not the least of which is Richard Donner's 1985 film, The Goonies. The Steven Spielberg-produced adventure-comedy follows a band of kids who attempt to save their homes from foreclosure by discovering an old treasure map leading to a lost-long treasure fortune. It's exactly the sort of charmingly goofy kid-centric plot that makes for exhilarating entertainment for young audiences, and its several cast members have found fame in its wake, including Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, and Sean Astin.

Before Lord of the Rings and Rudy, The Goonies was (and still is) Astin's calling card, and the actor's endearing child performance made him a natural fit for Stranger Things. The Netflix show's mix of high-stakes adventure and buddy camaraderie was heavily influenced by the rousing amusement found throughout this rewatchable movie's runtime.

Rent It On Amazon here.

Do you have any additional film recommendations for anyone who loves Stranger Things? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below!

Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit continues, and, needless to say, the case has been even more attention-getting than we would have thought. There have been some pretty strong accusations both by and against Johhny Depp already, and while we learned yesterday that we would not be hearing from some of Depp's former relationships on the stand, it turns out that we know what Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis would have likely said, as their pre-trial witness statements have been released.

Both Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis gave statements before Johnny Depp's libel trial against The Sun got underway. Both actors were scheduled to testify in the trial itself, but earlier this week Depp's side made the decision not to call either woman. It was ultimately decided the testimony wasn't necessary, since the issue at hand, The Sun referring to Depp as a "wife beater" in a story a couple of years ago, was specifically focused on allegations made by Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard.

We had already seen some from these witness statements in the past, but Reuters has more details on exactly what the women said in them. Winona Ryder said that the idea that Johnny Depp was violent was the "farthest thing" from the person that she knew. Vanessa Paradis called the claims "outrageous" and "false facts."

Of course, since both Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis were planning on testifying on Depp's behalf we could have guessed this would have been their testimony even without hearing it. In the end, there's no argument that Johnny Depp wasn't violent with either of those women, making the testimony ultimately irrelevant.

The Sun's defense against Depp's claim of libel is that the statement is true, which means the case rests largely on the words of Amber Heard, who has accused Depp of physical and mental abuse. Depp, for his part, has accused the actress of the same, claiming she has been the one that has been violent against him on at least one occasion. He also claims that she defecated in their bed at one point. And that's not the only instance of bodily waste entering into this case. The case has also included a severed finger.

While the court will not hear from these celebrities, other big names have become part of the proceedings. Comments made to and about James Franco have become part of the story, as have texts between Depp and Paul Bettany.

Yeah, this case has been wild.

One can only hope that these stories are as wild as things get. Of course, there's an entire second lawsuit pending. Next month, a defamation case against Amber Heard brought by Johnny Depp is scheduled to go to trial.

Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit in the U.K. has taken another interesting turn, not because of what happened, but because of what will no longer be happening. While we were expecting something of a showdown of Johnny Depp's former partners to take place during the trial, that will not take place, as Depp's side has now decided not to call either Winona Ryder or Vanessa Paradis in the case. Depp's barrister David Sherborne informed the court that there was simply no need to hear from them.

Winona Ryder was scheduled to testify via a video link on Wednesday but it seems the rest of the proceedings ran long and her testimony was delayed. Vanessa Paradis was scheduled to testify today. Both women provided pre-trial statements in which they both claimed Johnny Depp had never been violent towards them. Depp's libel lawsuit against The Sun surrounds a 2018 article in which the actor was called a "wife-beater," following allegations made by Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard.

Since the initial allegations that led to The Sun article were made by Heard, and Johnny Depp's defense is that he was never violent towards the actress, Deadline reports that the decision was made that the testimony of Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis was simply not needed.

While it seems that initially, the idea was to use the testimony of Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis to show a pattern of behavior that Johnny Depp was not violent, the feeling now is that the case needs to simply respond to the allegations made by Amber Heard, and that simply showing that the actor was not violent previously is not sufficient. The Sun's defense, in this case, is that the statement is true, based on Amber Heard's public comments, so there's really nothing that Paradis or Ryder can add to that.

While Winona Ryder testifying on Johnny Depp's behalf certainly would have been interesting and might have revealed some previously unknown details about their relationship, one wonders if anything said could possibly top what's already happened. We've seen allegations that multiple forms of human waste were allegedly used by either Johnny Depp or Amber Heard against the other. And there are pictures of some of it. This case is wild.

And this is only one of two legal matters involving the two actors that we'll be seeing. Next month a defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp against Amber Heard is set to go to trial. The actor claims that a Washington Post op-ed written by Heard about her history of dealing with abuse led to Disney making the decision to move on from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise without him.

While a couple of witnesses are no longer testifying, we almost certainly have not heard the end of this case.

With 11 Oscars to its name and over $2 billion grossed worldwide, James Cameron's ambitious romantic epic, Titanic, was an incredible success, the likes of which are very rarely seen in Hollywood. It was a sweeping sensation, staying in theaters for over a year and continuing to charm audiences all around the world with its tragically beautiful love story. While it pushed Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into stardom (and superstardom for Leo), they were among several A-list stars who were considered for these parts. Let's take a look at all the actors who could've appeared in the Titanic cast.

Matthew McConaughey Could've Played Jack Dawson (and Cal Hockley)

The casting process for Titanic was a long, extensive one, with several talented actors and actresses being considered for the various roles that needed to be filled. One of the toughest casting decisions was picking the man who would play our romantic lead, Jack Dawson. James Cameron had originally considered River Phoenix for the role, but the young actor tragically passed away before he could be asked to play the leading man part. And Paramount had several actors in mind, including Chris O'Donnell, Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff, but the studio's top pick was Matthew McConaughey. Apparently, Kate Winslet even auditioned with McConaughey originally. But Cameron felt he was too old to play 20-year-old Jack, and Cameron also thought the looks DiCaprio got from all the women around him made him an easy pick. He fought to have him in it.

Furthermore, in addition to be sought for the role of Jack Dawson, Matthew McConaughey was also considered for the villainous Cal Hockley, but the actor reportedly turned down this part. It ultimately went to Billy Zane. Alas, it apparently wasn't meant to be for McConaughey in Titanic, though he'd star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street several years down the road.

Winona Ryder Could've Played Rose Bukater

There's no doubt that Titanic was a star-making role for Kate Winslet. The then 19-year-old actress fought hard to play the part of Rose Bukater, and it paid off splendidly. Particularly since there were several big-name actresses who were up for the part, including Winona Ryder. As Winslet admitted in a 2012 interview with USA Today, when Titanic was brought back into theaters for a 3D re-release, she was up against some formidable talent, and that included the rising Ryder. The former child star had already proven herself with roles in Beetlejuice, Heathers, and Little Women, the latter for which she was nominated for an Oscar, but Winslet ultimately got the part. No matter. The Stranger Things actress continues to prove herself in a number of roles.

Christian Bale Could've Played Jack Dawson

Christian Bale is one of the most transformative actors in the business today, taking on various challenging roles and continuing to prove himself as a chameleon of a performer. Alas, in his early years, notably before he broke out with 2000's American Psycho, the former child star was turned down for a number of major roles, including several that went to Leonardo DiCaprio. Those include What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, and Titanic. He auditioned for Jack Dawson, as it was noted in the 2012 biography Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman, written by Harrison Cheung, his former assistant and publicist, but Bale lost out for the role. Of course, it'd only take a few years after Titanic's release for Bale to rise up with other projects.

Uma Thurman Could've Played Rose Bukater

In addition to name-dropping Winona Ryder as a possible candidate for the part of Rose Bukater, Kate Winslet also mentioned in the aforementioned 2012 USA Today interview that Uma Thurman was also being considered. The Pulp Fiction star and future Kill Bill actress was still riding off the former film's success and pushing herself into bigger, more commercial efforts. Certainly, Titanic would've been her biggest film at the time — and probably to date if she had gotten the gig — but it wasn't meant to be. Thurman would go on to star in movies like Gattaca and Batman & Robin, both of which came out the same year as Titanic, before she was given one of her biggest roles to date in the aforementioned Kill Bill movies.

Johnny Depp Could've Played Jack Dawson

In the 1990s, Johnny Depp made his transition from TV star to matinee idol. The transition took place through a number of artistic movies, both big and small, though the actor had to turn down some roles in order to take on some of these titles. The biggest film that he turned down, as he revealed in an interview, was the chance to play Jack Dawson in Titanic. In a phone conversation with Howard Stern back in 2001, Depp revealed that he "labored" through the first few pages of the script, but he ultimately couldn't get into it. Suffice to say, if he had trouble reading the script for the first go-around, it'd be difficult for him to take on this leading role in this blockbuster. The role ultimately went to his What's Eating Gilbert Grape? co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Claire Danes Could've Played Rose Bukater

In 1996, Claire Danes starred in Baz Luhrmann's contemporary re-imagining of Romeo + Juliet opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. If things had gone another way, they would've shared the screen yet again in James Cameron's Titanic. Alas, Danes turned down the role of Rose Bukater in the epic romantic weeper because she didn't want to make another romantic melodrama with DiCaprio. Not because they had a bad experience together, mind you, but because she felt it would've been retracing the same steps she just took; both movies were also filmed in Mexico City. So, it would've felt even more like deja vu for Danes. She admitted on the Armchair Podcast that she "didn't have it" in her. And she ultimately doesn't regret turning the role down.

Paul Rudd Could've Played Jack Dawson

For some actors, getting a role is — among other things — simply a means of furthering your career. But some roles are personal. At least, that was the case for Paul Rudd when he auditioned for Titanic. Although he wasn't quite as famous then as he is today, and he was going up against some of the biggest A-listers in the biz, he really wanted to get the part of Jack Dawson. And he wanted the role for one very specific and wholesome reason: he wanted to honor his father. As Rudd revealed on The Late Late Show with James Corden a few years ago now, Michael Rudd, i.e. Paul Rudd's father, is a member of the Titanic Historical Society. The eldest Rudd has a deep appreciation and fascination in the tragic history of that fatefully cursed ship.

In fact, Michael Rudd has travelled the world to witness key sights relating to the Titanic's voyage. He even served as a tour guide for certain locations. Paul Rudd not only wanted to get this part in this huge movie because it would obviously do wonders for him as an actor, particularly working for director James Cameron in this major blockbuster, but he knew that playing this part in this film dramatization of this historical story would make his dad proud. Alas, while he knew his stuff about the Titanic's doomed history, the casting directors didn't think Paul Rudd was the right fit for this part. There were no sour feelings from Rudd's camp. In fact, on The Graham Norton Show, Rudd claims he was the one who convinced (or, at least, encouraged) DiCaprio to take this part. They worked on Romeo + Juliet together at the time.

Gwyneth Paltrow Could've Played Rose Bukater

During a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Gwyneth Paltrow revealed many details about her past, including two major roles that she didn't play: Rollergirl in Boogie Nights and Rose Bukater in Titanic. Regarding the latter, the Academy Award-winning actress claimed that she was "really in contention" for Rose and believed she was "one of the last two" actresses up for it. Ultimately, she turned down the role. While she didn't explain the reason why she opted not to play Rose, she admits that in this business, there are times when you accept roles you'll later regret and times when turn down other roles that might've been worthwhile. Alas, Paltrow doesn't seem to regret it much, notably as she won the Best Actress Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1998 (in a role Kate Winslet reportedly turned down, ironically enough) — just one year after Titanic's release.

Michael Biehn Could've Played Cal Hockley

Having starred in The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss, Michael Biehn and director James Cameron have established a long working history together, and it appears that the two of them almost collaborated once more on Titanic. As it was reported in the Chicago Tribune back in 1997, Biehn was in the running to play Cal Hockley, in the role Billy Zane eventually played, and there might've even been a meeting about it, but it didn't pan out for Biehn. To make matters worse, Biehn later claimed that he spent nine months thinking he would play RDA Col. Miles Quaritch in Avatar, but that antagonistic role ultimately went to Stephen Lang. Hopefully, Biehn and Cameron find the chance to work together again someday.

Reba McEntire Could've Played Molly Brown

Throughout the years, Reba McEntire has split her time being a musician and an actress. Sometimes, those two professions collide and they result in Reba making some tough decisions. That was ultimately the case when it came to Titanic. Although she was previously set to star in James Cameron's three-hour epic as Molly Brown, the production timeline kept getting delayed and it ultimately interfered with her touring schedule. Instead of rescheduling the tour and making the people on her payroll jobless, she opted to turn down the part and focus on her music instead. Ultimately, Kathy Bates ended up playing the unsinkable character instead. Certainly, it must have been a tough decision, but it was certainly noble of Reba to think of her employees and fans first.

Rob Lowe Could've Played Cal Hockley

In addition to Matthew McConaughey and Michael Biehen, Rob Lowe was also considered for the antagonistic Cal Hockley. However, he ultimately lost the part to Billy Zane. Lowe admitted this bit of movie trivia in a conversation with E! News back in 2015, and though there isn't a direct reason given for why he wasn't cast in the part, he suggests that his infamous sex tape might've possibly had an impact on the movie/TV actor not being cast here.

Robert De Niro Could've Played Captain Smith

While Bernard Hill played the part of Captain Smith in Titanic, the small-but-pivotal role was reportedly once set to star one of the biggest acting titans in the business. Indeed, according to a report from The Mirror, De Niro was offered to play this part, but he had to turn it down. Apparently, the Oscar-winning star had a gastrointestinal infection at the time, which prevented him from accepting this brief-but-key role in James Cameron's romantic epic.

In addition to these big name stars, there were several other actors who may have been considered to play a part in Titanic, including (but not limited to) Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Madonna, and Reese Witherspoon for Rose and Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, and Jeremy Sisto for Jack. Lindsay Lohan also reportedly auditioned for Cora Cartmell. Suffice to say, this blockbuster's cast might've once looked completely different.

Winona Ryder just jumped into the frenzy of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation lawsuit. Unlike James Franco -- or Paul Bettany having texts read aloud in court -- it sounds like Ryder was not dragged into this. She volunteered to speak up on the record for her ex-fiancé, saying she was "absolutely shocked, confused and upset" at the abuse allegations Heard leveled against Depp.

The Stranger Things star met Johnny Depp at the Great Balls of Fire premiere in 1989. They started dating shortly after that, when Winona Ryder was 17 and Depp was 26. The Edward Scissorhands co-stars were engaged for three years, starting in 1990. Their breakup was amicable, so much so that Ryder has been vocal in her support of Depp. (Fun fact: He changed his "Winona Forever" tattoo to "Wino Forever" after their split.)

As you probably know, Johnny Depp has a couple of big lawsuits in play right now. Winona Ryder's new declaration for the court is tied to the $50 million defamation lawsuit Depp filed against his ex-wife Amber Heard in connection to an op-ed she wrote that he felt defamed him and cost him his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. His other libel lawsuit is based in the U.K. against The Sun for calling him a "wife beater" in connection to his casting for the Fantastic Beasts movies.

In this case, Winona Ryder filed a declaration in Johnny Depp's defamation case against Amber Heard. She said she was willing to be called as a witness for Depp. Emphasizing that she was speaking for herself, since she was not part of Depp and Heard's marriage, Ryder defended Depp's character from her own experience. Here's part of what she wrote in her declaration, per documents obtained by The Blast:

Winona Ryder shared her own experience with Johnny Depp:

As Winona Ryder noted, though, she can only speak from her own experience. Amber Heard shared allegations of abuse by Johnny Depp, claiming that when he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, "The Monster" would come out. Some of the texts Depp allegedly sent to his friend and frequent co-star Paul Bettany were read in court tied to The Sun libel case, with Depp alleged to have written things like "Let’s burn Amber," and also appearing to address the infamous flight where Heard alleged he kicked her.

The Sun libel case will also reportedly include more recorded conversations like the one leaked to The Daily Mail in which Amber Heard's voice can allegedly be heard admitting to Johnny Depp that she hit him, adding that she couldn't promise to not be physical again in the marriage.

Johnny Depp's libel case is heading to trial later in March, but the defamation case is currently scheduled for August. Meanwhile, Winona Ryder's Stranger Things just pressed pause on Netflix production due to the coronavirus. Amber Heard was cast in CBS All Access' The Stand adaptation, which has an interesting virus tie, as her co-star noted. And Johnny Depp should be headed to film Fantastic Beasts 3 pretty soon, since Warner Bros. has yet to delay production.

There's no denying that Stranger Things is one of the biggest cultural phenomenons of the current decade. Netflix's '80s-loving sci-fi coming-of-age horror series has become an underdog sensation. Everyone wants to be the next Stranger Things. Even IT and IT: Chapter Two, two movies based on the Stephen King novel that was critical to Stranger Things' success, have now geared themselves towards the same crowd that flocked in droves to watch the hit Netflix series. As Stranger Things continues to draw more attention and acclaim after the premiere of season three, actors like Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard and the rest of the cast continue to rise.

While Stranger Things is still going strong, with plans for a fourth season currently underway, the cast is exceptionally more busy now than they were during the show's initial premiere. In between their time on the show, they've been working on a number of different projects, which continue to keep them preoccupied before it's time to return to set on the streaming series. It's clear that this series is making big waves in Hollywood, and there's no shortage of projects which have become available to them since the show's early success.

So we're taking a look at what these actors have done professionally outside of Stranger Things, and how they've been incorporated into a number of intriguing (if not always successful) projects which have opened up for them in the years since Stranger Things' premiere. Now that Season 3 has garnered a warm response, these actors are once again keeping themselves busy, and we're here to see what exciting projects they've found themselves — both big and small scale — in during the interim between Season 3 and 4, the latter of which is expected to premiere in mid-to-late 2021 (though that's not confirmed yet). Let's take a look at what exciting projects are in-the-works for these talented stars.

Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven)

While everyone in the ensemble for Stranger Things have received major profile boost through their involvement on the show, it might be Millie Bobby Brown who garnered the most attention and acclaim for her work on the show. In the mysterious role of Eleven, a wayward teen with psychokinetic abilities, a murky backstory and a little understanding of the world around her, the actress has earned two Emmy nominations and been propelled to stardom. Most notably, the actress was seen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters earlier this summer, and Brown recently returned to reprise her role as Madison Russell in the big monster movie event, Godzilla Vs. Kong, which is slated to come out on March 13, 2020.

Furthermore, Millie Bobby Brown is currently filming the title role in the new mystery drama Enola Holmes, which is centered around the child sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. The upcoming film, which is directed by Fleabag helmer Harry Bradbeer, is also slated to come out sometime next year. Outside of these two forthcoming films, Millie Bobby Brown had been rumored to appear in Marvel's The Eternals, which is a claim that she has since shut down. It was also recently announced that Netflix will be distributing a new film produced and likely starring the actress titled A Time Lost. It's based on a story that was written by Millie Bobby Brown and her sister, Paige Brown. It's likely come out within a year.

Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler)

In addition to Stranger Things helping to turn Millie Bobby Brown into a potential future A-list star, Finn Wolfhard has similarly found himself as a performer on the rise thanks to his role in the show. He plays Mike Wheeler, an intelligent, good-natured young man who has a very close bond with his friends who finds his world shaken by the arrival of Eleven, whom he develops romantic feelings towards throughout the course of the series. The actor has notably been seen in IT and IT: Chapter Two in recent years, as well as Dog Days and this past weekend's The Goldfinch. He also lends his voice to the Netflix series, Carmen Sandiego, and he'll once again be seen (or, at least, heard) at the movies with the release of The Addams Family.

Outside of these films, Finn Wolfhard will also be seen in the dramatic horror film The Turning, which also stars Mackenzie Davis and The Florida Project's Brooklynn Prince, and that movie is set to come out on January 24th, 2020. Currently, though, the actor is filming one of his biggest roles to date in the new film, Ghostbusters 2020, which also stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and several more familiar faces. No doubt production on that movie will likely be taking up his time until production on Stranger Things Season 4 gets underway, and reports suggest that might be as early as this fall.

Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson)

Much like his fellow stars, Gaten Matarazzo has endeared himself to a lot of people through his work on Stranger Things. Playing the role of Dustin Henderson, a young boy with a lisp and cleidocranial dysplasia, the actor is often a scene stealer during his scenes, and it's clear that his profile has been on the rise since he first appeared on the show. Outside of his work on Stranger Things, he's likely best known for his commercials for Verizon.

Beyond that, however, Gaten Matarazzo spends his time in the rock band Work in Progress, and he also has different acting jobs that keep him busy. He recently provided his voice to the animated sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2, and he is also slated to provide his voice to the animated film, Hump. Additionally, Matarazzo is in the early stages of hosting and producing the hidden camera series, Prank Encounters, which earned some considerable backlash when the premise was first announced online. Netflix has defended its decision to go with the series, and it's expected to premiere next year.

Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair)

While Caleb McLaughlin hasn't earned as much of a career boost from Stranger Things as some of his fellow cast members, he has definitely made a great impression. In the role of Lucas Sinclair, he doesn't always get the most screen-time, but he always makes a good impression, proving himself to have a great chemistry with the other characters. Sure enough, there are filmmakers who have taken notice and casted the actor for some great parts.

Most recently, Caleb McLaughlin appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Netflix film, High Flying Bird, released earlier this year. And he's next slated to star in the drama Concrete Cowboy, which also stars Idris Elba. That film started filming this summer, and it should hopefully prove to be another standout role for the rising actor.

Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers)

Playing the role of Jonathan Byers, the paranoid outsider older brother of Will Byers, Charlie Heaton plays a quiet, reserved character with a stark look in his eyes that spells out any number of different things. Originally born in Britain, Heaton is both an actor and musician, and he certainly received more notice through his work on the streaming series. But he is the actor who has also found himself in a little bit of controversy outside of the show.

Specifically, Charlie Heaton was unable to attend the premiere of Stranger Things Season 2 when he was refused entry by customs, which found traces of cocaine in his luggage. He was put on a plane back to London, and he withdrew his application to enter America to avoid getting arrested. Besides that, however, Charlie Heaton is also slated to appear in the long-labored new X-Men spinoff movie, The New Mutants, which might come out one of these days. In addition to this role, he also recently filmed a role in the upcoming indie drama, The Souvenir: Part II, earlier this summer.

Joe Keery (Steve Harrington)

Although Joe Keery's role of Steve Harrington wasn't meant to be a main player during the first season, the character grew into a fan favorite as the show continued with its second and third seasons. At first, he's a popular kid who bullies Jonathan Byers, but he later befriends him and becomes a mainstay character throughout the series. Online, the actor has earned a great deal of attention, thanks in no small part to his wavy lush of brown hair.

As an actor, Joe Keery has played minor roles in bigger movies like Molly's Game and a memorable role in the indie horror comedy Slice. But the actor only has one movie lined up presently, Free Guy, with Ryan Reynolds, which reunites the rising actor with his Stranger Things director Shawn Levy. He is also a musician with the psychedelic rock band, Post Animal, and Keery has gotten more than a few people upset thanks to his brand new haircut.

Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler)

Similar to Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer was often a supporting player in the first season of Stranger Things, but her character, Nancy Wheeler, continued to play a bigger part in the future seasons. Notably, in Season 1, she's looking for her missing friend Barbara and eventually finds herself on the other side. Outside of her work on the show, Natalia Dyer has been working on a lot of independent films, including The Nearest Human Being, Yes, God, Yes, and After Darkness. She also played a role in the new Netflix horror-satire, Velvet Buzzsaw, which premiered this year.

Natalia Dyer is next slated to be seen in the drama Tuscaloosa, which doesn't have an official release date yet. She also has been dating her Stranger Things co-star, Charlie Heaton, since 2017. So as their characters have formed a relationship, so too have the actors behind the parts, which is fitting enough.

David Harbour (Jim Hopper)

As the chief of the Hawkins Police Department, Jim Hopper, David Harbour easily became one of the biggest (and most unexpected) breakout stars of the series. His charismatic, well-mustachioed role has grown in prominence throughout Stranger Things, and it earned the veteran character actor a few of his biggest roles to date. Most notably, he attempted to take over the reigns of the Hellboy series earlier this year, though the resulting film, simply titled Hellboy, was both a critical and commercial flop, which makes the likelihood of any future sequels seem highly unlikely. But there's no need to worry right now.

David Harbour recently lent his talents to the quirky, faux autobiographical special, Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein, which found the actor playing many variations of his on-screen family lineage. He also recently filmed a role in the upcoming action-drama Dhaka, which is expected to be released later this year, if not early next year. But most notably, Harbour is currently working on his newest big role, which is an appearance in the next Marvel movie, Black Widow, where he will play Alexei Shostakov, better known as Red Guardian. Certainly, Stranger Things paved the way there.

Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers)

Certainly when Stranger Things first premiered on Netflix, Winona Ryder was easily the biggest name on the show. The actress was given a platform to shine in the role of Joyce Byers, the deeply concerned mother of the missing Will Byers, and her captivating role helped to gain more audiences in the show's first season run. Sure enough, the actress was already a well-established talent, but this success helped to bring her back into the frame.

Since Stranger Things premiered, Winona Ryder was given a chance to reconnect with Keanu Reeves in the underrated anti-rom-com, Destination Wedding. The actress is also currently filming a role in the mini-series, The Plot Against America, which should also hopefully give her time to shine. While the show hasn't bolstered her profile as much as some of her co-stars, it helped to bring her back into the public's graces, and that's very good.

There are other noteworthy actors who have played a big role in Stranger Things, including Noah Schnapp, Matthew Modine, Sean Astin and, most recently, Maya Hawke. But when it comes to the original ensemble, it's clear that the majority of these talented performers have found their careers elevated considerably thanks to the continued success of this popular Netflix series. Let us know which actor you'd like to see more in the comments.