Sadie Sink calls final Stranger Things filming ‘horrible’ and feels cast was ‘genuinely grieving’ during racy photoshoot.

Sadie Sink has admitted the last day of filming Stranger Things was ‘horrible’ and she felt like she was saying goodbye to her childhood.

The actress, 23, got her breakthrough role on the Netflix sci-fi series where she played Max Mayfield. 

The fifth and final season is currently airing, with the last episode scheduled to premiere on New Year’s Eve.

Speaking to Glamour magazine, Sadie told how she and the cast were ‘genuinely grieving’ when filming came to an end.

‘Oh, it was horrible. It was awful, just so emotional. It felt like we were genuinely grieving something, which we were because it’s a huge chapter of our lives,’ she said.

‘It’s bigger than even high school or college or the friends that you make there. It’s bigger than that because nothing else is like this. 

‘We’re so connected on so many levels, and then also have this really singular experience. 

‘I still have these people and everything, but we have to say goodbye to what brought us together. It was like saying goodbye to your childhood.’

Sadie admitted growing up in the public eye was ‘hard’ and she sometimes felt like she couldn’t complain about the pressures of it.   

‘It’s something that I’ve been able to think a lot about now. There’s more perspective on it,’ she said.

‘Looking back on my teenage years, growing up on the show, I was really protected by the people around me. 

‘And by myself too. I think I was super protective of who I was. It definitely was hard in all the ways you would expect it to be hard, but the biggest thing, looking back, was that when things were hard, when there would be certain pressures, or I’d be overwhelmed, I felt like I couldn’t talk about it because it was such an amazing thing that was happening. 

‘Of course it was, and I wouldn’t change anything, but sometimes you don’t feel like you can have any complaints or struggles, which I think is common for lots of people even if you’re not in this line of work.

‘I didn’t really have an outlet for that. Now I do. I know that I do need that and need to talk about these things. I look back and see how it shaped who I am now. 

‘When everything’s moving so fast and all these great, amazing things are happening, I don’t think anyone ever really stops to think, Okay, wait, how are you doing? Or, I didn’t at least.

‘ I was like, I’m fine. I’m great. I still am. But there’s already a lot of pressure as a teenage girl—growing up in front of a lot of people, of course that’s going to bring on a couple added things.’

Sadie also spoke about being a redhead in the interview, saying she plans on never dying her hair.

‘Anyone who has red hair knows the ups and downs of your relationship with it,’ she said. ‘Sometimes you’re like, Yes, I love my hair. It’s the best thing ever. 

‘And then sometimes you’re like, Oh my God, I hate it. I just want to change it. But no matter where you stand, what you hear your entire life as a redhead is to never dye your hair. ‘People pay so much money for that hair.’ 

‘So I never have, and I don’t think I will. I like the idea that my hair isn’t dyed. I don’t have any piercings or tattoos or anything…I like the idea of never doing anything.’