Tristan Spohn dished the dirt on how much an actor with a minor role in the hit Netflix series can makeStranger Things is one of the biggest and most popular series that the world has ever seen, so you know its stars are getting paid handsomely for their performances.
The likes of Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Gaten Matarazzo have all earned big bucks from their roles in the hit Netflix show.
But have you ever wondered how much the minor characters take home for all of their hard work?
Well, wonder no more, as one Stranger Things extra who starred in the fourth season has revealed how much he made – and continues to make – from his small gig.
You might remember Tristan Spohn from his brief appearance as one of the test subjects at the lab in Hawkins.
The actor, from Dallas, Texas, took on the role of Two in Stranger Things and memorably bullied Eleven, who was strongest of the test subjects besides him.
Unfortunately for Spohn, his character was killed off and he met quite the grisly end after Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) tore through the lab before crushing his neck.
All in all, he appeared in five episodes of the fourth season – but to this day, he is still receiving residual payments for his part in the show.
The 25-year-old previously revealed he was paid around $15,000 upfront for each episode, and now, he’s crunched the numbers on on the continuing payments he is still receiving too.
In a video shared to YouTube on Saturday (28 December), Spohn dished the dirt on what goes on behind-the-scenes of a huge Netflix production like Stranger Things.
He explained that he had wrapped filming in March 2021 and had been earning ‘about $5,000 a week’ to star as Two, which he described as ‘crazy’.
Tristan Spohn played the role of Two in the fourth season of Stranger Things (Netflix)
“This was the most amount of money I’d ever been paid for anything, and I [was] not expecting any extra payment because that’s the industry standard for streaming shows,” he said. “I assumed I wouldn’t be any different.”
He explained that by January 2023, his season of Stranger Things had been out for around six months and fans were ‘loving’ it, seeing it smash streaming records.
Spohn recalled how he then received some mail which informed him he was receiving a residual payment amounting to $200 for his appearance in one of the episodes.
Actors receive this cash on the back of reruns and airings after the series initial release – such as every time it’s broadcast on telly or when someone buys the DVD.
However, Spohn admitted that he didn’t actually even appear in that episode – but still, he was still ‘pleasantly surprised’ when he received the cheque.
The actor then received another envelope in the post for ‘another episode he didn’t appear in’, which stated he had earned another $440, bringing his total to $640.
Explaining the reason why he still earned a wage despite not acting in the episodes, he said: “The reason I’m getting paid for episodes I didn’t appear in is because I technically do appear in them. In very small, blink-and-you’ll miss-it flashbacks…so I get a very small credit and residual pay for them.”
He revealed how much he has earned in residual payments since 2022 from his small role (YouTube/TristanSpohnAKASpiderman)
In total, the actor claims he received further payments totalling up to $2,382 for the episodes he did actually star in.
“Bringing the total now to $3,022. So that number’s looking a little bigger now,” Spohn said.
But the residual payments didn’t stop there, as he then revealed that he received ‘five additional cheques’ a year later in November 2023, worth a whopping $3,578, bringing his total up to $6,600.
So, we know he’s managed to stack away at least a few thousand pound away thanks to the residual payments – but how much has he been earning exactly since the series dropped in 2022?
Spohn’s said that the latest batch of residual cheques amounted to a whopping $5,466, bringing his grand total to $12,666.
“I’ve been making about $460 per month in passive income since the show released,” Spohn grinned. “But the crazy thing is that, technically because of how these are calculated, I’m making a similar amount in residuals per episode as Milly Bobby Brown, David Harbour and the rest of the main cast.
“And even though the show broke streaming records, we’re all earning similar amounts to the majority of other actors on different original Netflix shows, no matter how high the viewership is.”
According to Spohn, he would have earned even more each month if the changes brought in following the SAG-AFTRA strike were in force back in 2022.
“If this deal was in place when I first filmed season 4, I likely would have gotten an extra bonus payment of anywhere between $10,000 to $100,000, on top of these residuals. That would have been extremely nice, but I’m just so grateful and happy that I was in the show.”
The cast of Stranger Things are back together filming the fifth and final season much to the excitement of fans.
Netflix revealed production for the penultimate instalment of the beloved series has begun – but it seems it might have unintentionally let a major spoiler slip.
In a post on X, the streaming platform shared a snap of the main cast members reading through the script for the highly anticipated final season alongside the Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, who created the show.
The image was captioned: “THIS IS A CODE RED. Stranger Things 5 production has officially begun!”
And fans were delighted after seeing that the gang finally reuniting for filming – especially because there was quite a few cliffhangers in season four.
But while people were thrilled with the update on the Netflix hit series, it didn’t cloud their abilities as super sleuths.
And it appears that the presence of one cast member may have given the game away about their character’s storyline.
Netflix
Viewers will remember that the future of Sadie Sink‘s character, Max Mayfield, was left hanging in the balance at the end of the last season.
While wading through the fallout of the events of season three, she had to deal with her abusive stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) returning from being possessed before giving up his own life to save Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
Max was weighed down by a lot of guilt due to the tumultuous series of unfortunate events and struggled with PTSD from all the weird goings on.
On top of all that, she became the target of Hawkins serial killer Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).
A bit of a rollercoaster ride if I do say so myself.
Netflix
And Netflix fans were left wondering whether Max had survived all the heartbreak and being hunted down by a murderer – which will all obviously be explained in the upcoming season.
One wrote: “Max is alive!”
Another added: “Max is alive thank GOD.”
A third fan said: “SADIE SINK SPOTTED MAX MAYFIELD ALIVE.”
And a fourth wrote: “Oh my f**king god Sadie is there, Max is alive!”
During an interview on the Today show in January last year, Sadie kept tight lipped about the fate of her troubled character – but did reveal that she’d be joining the cast for season five.
Netflix
She said: “We know that it’s happening and that it’s the last season, so it’s going to be emotional, I’m sure.
“Spoiler-free, just with the way my character ended in season 4, I have no idea what is going to happen. But I’ll be there.”
The Duffer brothers had also previously revealed that they’d initially intended for Max to exit the show in the season four finale before having a change of plan.
While chatting with host Felicity Day on Stranger Things: Unlocked, they explained: “For a while that is what was going to happen.
“But we ended up in this… we wanted to end it with a little more of a question at the end of the season.”
Seems like they made the right call!
A star of the Netflix show Stranger Things has echoed a common complaint among fans ahead of the fifth and final season.
Stranger Things is coming to an end with the final showdown between Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Hawkins crew on the horizon, though we shouldn’t expect to see how it all ends for a while longer.
That hasn’t stopped Gaten Matarazzo from voicing a complaint that is common among many Stranger Things fans, as his time on the show winds down and he completes the final season’s worth of filming.
He’s played Dustin ever since the beginning of the show and has given his view on a hot topic at a fan convention.
If you’ve been watching Stranger Things you might have thought this as well, as Matarazzo suggested the show’s final season ‘should kill more people’.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
“This show would be so much better if the stakes were much higher, like at any moment, any of these kids can kick it,” he said at the convention according to CBR, before going on to say he felt like the main cast of Stranger Things were ‘all too safe’.
During the fourth season of the Netflix show there was some blood shed, but none of it from our core cast of characters.
Vecna might have torn Hawkins apart but those we’ve been with from the very beginning are still going strong.
Poor old Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) got Vecna’d early on in the season while the much-loved newcomer Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) played his final show near the end, but we didn’t lose our main cast members.
There were moments in season four where we thought one of the main cast was done for.
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Netflix
Max (Sadie Sink) got Vecna’d but was saved thanks to the music of Kate Bush while for a moment there we thought Steve (Joe Keery) was going to be torn to shreds by bat-things but he was able to survive with a little help from his friends.
Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers admitted that they had actually planned for Max to die in the season four finale, but instead we saw her in hospital after getting Vecna’d again.
Matarazzo isn’t the only cast member who reckons Stranger Things could do with a bit of a culling as Noah Schnapp and Millie Bobby Brown agreed the writers ‘need to start killing people off’.
Brown then said she wanted the Duffer Brothers to ‘kill me off’ and joked that they tried to kill off Hopper at the end of season three before bringing him back.
The show’s creators have said that season five is going to be ‘like season one on steroids’ with all the action taking place in Hawkins.
Featured Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images/Netflix
Topics: Stranger Things, TV and Film, Netflix, Celebrity
Joe Harker
Gaten Matarazzo suffers from rare condition which was written into Stranger Things
Gaten Matarazzo’s character Dustin brings it up in the very first episode of Stranger Things
At this point, the next season of Stranger Things seems like a distant dream. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s being worked on but a 2025 release when the last one came out in 2022 feels like forever.
But, at least with it being on Netflix we can still binge it and remember all the little details and big moments. Like how Gaten Matarazzo’s rare condition was written into the hit show.
Turning 22 on Sunday (8 September), the young star had a couple of credits to his name already but truly launched into international fame when he landed on our screens as Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things.
And in the very first episode all the way back in 2016 (yes, like I said, it’s been that long), his condition was brought up.
Defending himself against bullies by explaining his teeth are ‘coming in’, his character says: “It’s called cleidocranial dysplasia.”
Gaten Matarazzo spoke about his condition at his Stranger Things audition (Netflix)
Unlike the Upside Down, cleidocranial dysplasia is very real, and is actually a genetic disorder which affects the development of the bones and teeth.
Following his casting on the show, Matarazzo explained how the condition has impacted him in real life.
He told The Doctors in a 2018 interview that it was ‘one of the biggest reasons’ why he hadn’t been getting roles, but when he auditioned for Stranger Things he started explaining what it was, and later learned it would be incorporated.
“Once I got the part, they said they’re gonna incorporate that and use it in a realistic way,” he explained. “They asked me if it was okay if the kids in the show had bullied me because of it. I said it’s totally cool. It’s realistic.”
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2016, Matarazzo further explained the condition, saying: “It’s a condition where you are born without your collarbones; I don’t have any. It affects your facial growth, your skull growth, it affects your teeth. That’s why I don’t have any – these are fake – I have teeth but they’re all baby teeth.
“I just want to raise awareness for it and let people know that it’s not something that you should be afraid of showing.”
We’ve basically watched him grow up on our screens (Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Matarazzo was praised for his candour in the wake of his appearance, with one appreciative fan writing: “Woke up to Gaten Matarazzo raising awareness of cleidocranial dysplasia, I love this kid.”
Dr David A. Staffenberg previously told Self cleidocranial dysplasia is estimated to affect one in a million people, but noted the actual rate could be higher because the effects can be mild, and therefore more difficult to spot.
It can also impact a huge range of places on the body, ‘from the very top of the head all the way down literally to the bottom of the feet’.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix/Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Health, Stranger Things, TV and Film, Netflix
Jess Battison
Jonathan Ross show viewers think Millie Bobby Brown slipped up and revealed character’s fate in Stranger Things finale
There’s still a way to go until the new season will be here
It’s been nearly eight whole years since Stranger Things began.
Way back in 2016, when the show first landed on Netflix, the world was truly introduced to Millie Bobby Brown.
The star began playing Eleven when she was just 12-years-old and now, as filming for season five is finally underway, she’s 20.
Stranger Things season four premiered back in 2022 and it looks like we’ve got quite a wait for the next episodes – set to be the final – as Brown confirmed on Capital Radio this week.
And last night, the actor appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show alongside the likes of top lad Luke Littler, Brits winner Raye, comedian Rob Beckett, Liam Gallagher and John Squire.
She confessed that she hadn’t yet read the final few scripts but she does already know what happens to Eleven.
And some viewers reckon she might have slipped up despite having to swear secrecy on the character’s fate and the show’s plot.
One user wrote on X: “When Millie Bobby Brown said “I know how she, er, I know what happens to my character” about the Stranger Things final series ending, I bet the Netflix bosses were like nooooooooo!!!!”
And another highlighted Brown’s choice of words: “Millie Bobby Brown – ‘I know how my character,… like what happens to my character.’ On Jonathan Ross.
“‘How’ means dead.”
I mean, take from that what you will, but Brown seemed to have a little brief moment of panic as she tried to correct her wording.
ITV
Hey, she could have meant ‘how things turn out’ rather than ‘how she dies’…
The ending of Stranger Things is kept under tight wraps by Netflix but the stars on the show weren’t holding back in pushing her to reveal all.
But Brown insisted she ‘loves Netflix’ and ‘loves her job’ and ‘wants to be employed by them’ so she wasn’t going to give them any spoilers.
Earlier this week on Capital FM, the star revealed how she found out what would happen to Eleven.
“Well I haven’t read the end, I know what happens to my character because I kind of forced myself into the writers’ room,” she admitted.
“I messaged the directors and said ‘Can I come over and have a meeting with you’ and then I came over and there was a whiteboard.”
So it seems like the cast are being kept almost as in the dark as us.
Brown added: “I saw my ending and thought, ‘Oh’, and then I walked away very slowly.”
