[CLIP] Tina Turnbow: Smells like ass in here, dipshit. 

[CLIP] Derek Turnbow: Probably from all my farts.

Woman: [Off-screen] Disgusting. Mom wants you down for dinner. 

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): Mom can eat shit. [belches]

[Stranger Things theme song playing] 

[CLIP] Derek Turnbow: Monsters are coming and you’re all gonna die. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! 

Matt Duffer: One element early on, you know, we wanted to recapture some of the spirit of Season 1. So much of Season 1 revolved around kids. And the characters in our show now, the children in our show are no longer children. And so we felt we wanted to introduce that element back into the show. Derek started as kind of just a generic bully character. But, not unlike Steve in Season 1, we met an actor, Jake, who we felt was very special. He had to be in the show. 

Jake Connelly: Hi, my name is Jake Connelly. I am 4 feet and 11 inches tall. 

Matt Duffer: We knew he would be a perfect Derek, but he was so charming and hilarious to us that we started to gradually increase the size of his role throughout the season. 

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): I’m not Dipshit Derek today.

Woman: [Off-screen] You’re?

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): Delightful Derek. 

[CLIP] Joyce Byers: Remember, you’re not Dipshit Derek. You’re-- 

[CLIP] Derek Turnbow: Delightful Derek. 

Jake Connelly: I was a fan a couple of years back. Right when season two released, I started watching the show and I … I loved it. I fell in love with it from Episode 1. 

Kiki Kapral: Well, Jake, we wanted to let you know that you’re going to Hawkins, Indiana!

[all cheering] 

Kiki Kapral: You got it, congratulations! 

Dawn Gray: Congratulations!

Kiki Kapral: We’re so proud of you.

Interviewer: [Off-screen] Go back to the very beginning when you were first reading the scripts. What was going through your mind? 

Jake Connelly: Well, I remember, um, we got them when I was still back at home in Chicago, living my everyday life. My brother was going to someone’s bat mitzvah and I was sitting in the car reading a binder, just reading a whole script. And I was like, somebody would pay like a million dollars to get this, this early. You know, just hold it, like … We were driving away from a Maciano’s. No one knew, I’m just … I looked like I was scrapbooking. On the first day, I was very nervous coming in. I didn’t really know anyone, but most of the veteran cast members that’s been here since Season 1, Season 2, and all the crew members, really helped me sink into it. I’m just really glad that being a part of this big production, even though I’m going straight into the deep end, because I haven’t done anything really big before. Everyone has helped me so much. So I feel like I have been here since Season 1, and I’m not a newcomer.

Woman: [Off-screen] Derek? 

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): Don’t you know how to knock, phlegm wad? 

Woman: [Off-screen] Can I sleep in your room? I don’t want to sleep in the hide-a-bed with Fuller. If he has something to drink, he’ll wet the bed. 

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): I wouldn’t let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass. 

Jake Connelly: It is very fun, ’cause my mom can’t yell at me. I get the free swear pass, which is definitely a plus. I get to express myself. 

Jake Connelly (as Derek Turnbow): It’ll just be a matter of time before he does it again.