The 25-year-old actress -- who plays Scoops Ahoy employee Robin Buckley, a season 3 addition, in the show -- recently appeared on Penn Badgley 's Podcrushed podcast and opened up about season 5 (aka the final installment ) of the hit Netflix drama.
“We're making, basically, eight movies," Hawke told the Gossip Girl and You star."The episodes are very long."
Of course, the show is no stranger to long episodes. The fourth season's nine chapters -- which were released in 2022 in two parts -- ranged in length from 64 minutes (episode 3) to 144 minutes (episode 9).
The mega-popular, 12-time Emmy Award-winning series is created and produced byMatt and Ross Duffer (aka the Duffer Bros.), who Hawke says have put their heart and soul into each segment, especially the last. That is part of the reason it takes so long to make one season, she explained.
"Our showrunners, Matt and Ross, take a lot of responsibility," Hawke shared, referencing the three-year gap between season 4's release and the expected arrival of season 5. "They have an amazing team of writers, but they're very involved."
She continued, "It takes a long time to write each season, and it takes a long time to shoot them."
Speaking of shooting, the final season is currently in production down in Atlanta, Georgia, after a long pause due to the consecutive 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes , which significantly delayed season 5. The cast finally reported for filming in January and is still shooting as of early July.
In June, ET spoke with Hawke -- the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman -- at the premiere of her new Disney-Pixar film, Inside Out 2 , where she opened up about the bittersweet ending of the show that put her on the map and effectively launched her career.
"It's already starting to be heartbreaking, you know? I mean, it's the end of a really long journey," Hawke said of filming Stranger Things ' final season. "Longer for some of my castmates, even, than for me. So it's really sentimental."
She added, "But as a late addition cast member, I feel like it's my job to be here to facilitate their feelings and just be grateful and excited to have been a part of it at all."
The Duffer Bros. Netflix series premiered in July 2016, and has captivated millions of fans with each new season. After the highly anticipated fourth season hit the streaming platform in May and July 2022, it became the most streamed show of the year with 52 billion minutes watched, trumping out longtime fan favorites like Gilmore Girls , Grey's Anatomy and NCIS .
Stranger Things follows a group of teen friends in the 1980s as they investigate and live through a series of supernatural events in their hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. The horror-drama also stars Millie Bobby Brown,Gaten Matarazzo,Finn Wolfhard,Caleb McLaughlin,Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery.
While Netflix has seemingly confirmed that the entire cast will return for the fifth season, ET has independently vetted that Jamie Campbell Bower -- the 35-year-old actor who playsHenry Creel/Vecna -- will reprise his role as the big bad in the final chapter.
"I'll tell you this, I came from Atlanta," Bower told ET at the June premiere of Horizon: An American Saga .
Meanwhile, Joseph Quinn -- who played fan-favorite character Eddie Munson in season 4 -- recently shared with ET that despite his character's untimely but wildly heroic (and rockstar) death, he would absolutely be down to make one final appearance.
According to Quinn, the "chances are high" that he would return to the set and give the fans one final performance. "I love those guys! I'd love to say hello," the actor -- who is currently booked and busy with A Quiet Place: Day One , Marvel's Fantastic Four and Gladiator II -- shared.
Even if his character isn't revived, Quinn, 31, shared that he is fully confident in the Duffer Bros., the cast and the crew.
Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in 'Stranger Things'
Netflix
"I'm sure they're gonna deliver it in a pretty epic way," Quinn added. "I have no doubts."
Stranger Things season 5 premieres on Netflix in 2025.
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