Sadie: What has playing Max this season taught me about grief? Um … 

Lucas: I don't want a letter. I'm right here. 

Max: It's like he only sees the darkness in us. So, I'll just run to the light. 

Sadie: What's so great about being on Stranger Things is that Matt and Ross do such a great job of, like, having our characters grow with us, the actors. So when we first met Max in Season 2, she was the new kid. She was pretty closed off. 

Max: Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max. 

Sadie: And then it takes a lot to break through those walls. Hi, Max. 

Dustin: I'm Dustin, and this is …

Lucas: Lucas.

[Max] Yeah, I know. The stalkers. 

Lucas: Uh, n-no … Actually … We weren't stalking you. 

Dustin: No, we — we were just concerned because, you know, you're new and all. 

Sadie: And then in Season 3, we kind of got to break those walls down.

[laughing]

Sadie: She has friends, she feels like she has, like, a … I don't know, solid group of people, and she's well-settled into Hawkins. And then, of course, you know, it's Hawkins, so things are never gonna stay like that.

[grunting]

Max: Billy? Billy. Billy, Billy, get up, please. Billy, get up, please, please.

Billy: I'm sorry.

Max: Billy … Billy. Billy. Billy, wake up. Billy, get up. Please, Billy … [sobs] Billy! 

Sadie: In Season 4, she kind of, like, reverts back to those old ways and kind of closes herself off again while she kind of silently deals with, you know, the grief.

[woman] Max, I can only help you if you're truthful, if you open up to me. 

Max: Yeah. I know. I'm — I'm being open. I'm being open. 

Sadie: You get kind of like a few glimpses in Season 2, maybe, of, like, her more vulnerable side, but in Season 4, you really dive into it.

Max: What is this?

Lucas: A ticket to the game. I know you never wanna go to any of my games, but this one is kind of a big deal. 

Max: A big deal? Lucas, you really care about this? 

Lucas: Yeah, I-I do. Maybe you should find something you care about too. 

Max: What the hell is that supposed to mean? 

Sadie: With Max, she feels an immense amount of … Obviously, she's grieving, but she's also feeling really guilty. Nobody knows that, but, of course, Vecna does.

[sobbing]

Billy: You know, I think there's a part of you, buried somewhere deep, that wanted me to die that day. That was maybe even relieved.

[Sadie] And he can sense her weakness, and, I don't know, psychologically just attacks Hawkins' most vulnerable teenagers. 

Robin: Vecna's curse. 

Max: Chrissy's headache started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days. I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so … looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow. 

Sadie: Her journey with grieving Billy and the guilt she feels along with it, I feel like you're constantly, like, peeling back layer after layer. You think you know a little bit about what's going on there, and then, you know, she starts to open up even more. It was really … not fun, but just like interesting to kind of, like, dive into that side of her. 

Max: "I just …" "I stood there and I watched." "For a while, I tried to be happy." "Normal." "But I …" "I think that maybe a part of me died that day too." "And I haven't told anyone this." “I … I just can't.” [shaky breath] "But I had to tell you." "Before it's too late." 

Sadie: One of the great things about working on a TV show is you're constantly going back to the same character. And for Max, it's been really cool. I feel like each season, you kind of see a different side of her. I think Max is consistently a really strong and independent character, and always sarcastic as ever.

[laughs] 

Sadie: I think she is fiercely loyal. That's always, like, remained the same, um, no matter what's going on in Hawkins.

[dramatic electronic music playing]

[music fading] 

Sadie: Whoo! [chuckles]