The first episodes of Stranger Things 4 do give us what we need to move forward with a solid understanding of how the events of Stranger Things 3 impacted the main characters, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t additional layers to it. While we may not hear or see that added information on screen, it’s material that could be informing performances, and that certainly was the case for Sadie Sink while playing Max.
The end of Stranger Things 3 was a rough one for Max. She managed to survive the Mind Flayer encounter at the mall, but her stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) did not. When we reunite with the character in Season 4, Max is struggling with her home life, distant from her friends, and carrying around an extreme amount of grief and regret connected to Billy’s death, making her a prime target for Vecna.
During a recent episode of Collider Ladies Night, we recapped Sink’s journey in the industry from her earliest acting ambitions to delivering what I believe is an Emmy nomination-worthy performance in Strange Things 4. Along the way, we dug into Max’s headspace at the beginning of the new season, including the additional character work Sink put into pinpointing exactly what happened to Max between Seasons 3 and 4. Here’s how she put it:
“I thought about that a lot before going into shooting just because I was a little, not confused, but I just wanted to explore it a little bit more because you see at the end of Season 3, it’s like Billy has died and then there’s a scene where she’s singing with Lucas and making fun of Dustin and I think when I read that I was like, ‘Huh. Is she just not affected by his death at all?’ And then to see where we left off in Season 3 and then to jump into Season 4 where she’s in this deep state of isolation and depression, I was wondering, ‘Okay, how do we get to that point, to here?’ And I think what I feel like happened is it was just a gradual kind of — she was coming to terms with everything that happened and it all settled in. And also just the domino effect that his death had on her living situation and her family and what her life looked like combined with just the guilt settling, and the grief as well. So yeah, I think I definitely tried to get that timeline together. As well as the breakup between her and Lucas! How did that happen? How did that come about?”
Given that Sink essentially handed me a follow-up question, that’s exactly what had to be asked next; what are the specifics of Max and Lucas’ (Caleb McLaughlin) breakup?
“I feel like it’s pretty straightforward. I think the two characters are just in such different places. Lucas is actively moving on and trying to find the new him and wanting happiness and something new and exciting and to be cool, and Max is not ready to do that. She doesn’t want to do it. She has no interest in that whatsoever. But I think the main thing is Lucas is someone who cares so much for Max and for everyone, but for Max specifically, and he sees Max in a way that I don’t think anyone else ever has seen her, and that terrifies her. So probably there was a point where he was trying to pry or something. He could tell that something was wrong, and she didn’t want any part of it so he had no part of it, I guess!”
Eager to hear more from Sink on her experience playing Max in Stranger Things? You’re in luck because there’s loads more from where this came from! You can listen to our full conversation in podcast form below: