In its so-far four-season run, Stranger Things has repeatedly pulled off many impressive feats, enough to earn its place as one the biggest television shows of all time. Among its significant wins in storytelling and world-building, the hit series also earns points for character development and evolution, and very few characters on the show have seen as remarkable a development as Nancy Wheeler.
Played by Natalia Dyer, Nancy Wheeler is introduced as a shy girl, timid even, who primarily cares about her popularity and Steve Harrington. It would be unfair to present this as the entirety of who Nancy was at the time as the character came with an appreciated nuance, but by the end of Season 1, we begin to see Nancy move away from her shy persona towards the gun-toting badass persona that has been solidified by the end of Season 4's run. What's interesting about Nancy's evolution is how the character never loses her quiet presence, staying true to who fans were introduced to at the start of the series, but growing into whom she needed to be to survive.
Speaking to Collider's Perri Nemiroff, when asked about the biggest difference between the earlier version of the character and who she is not, Dyer Stated:
I mean the guns, the clothes, the perm. There is an essence of her that I think is carried through really nicely, that kind of ties these two ends of the spectrum together pretty well, which is like this sort of intuition, gut, instinct to follow her own brain and her own path. I think she was a lot more concerned with appearances and school and success and achieving in her small understanding of her small town. I think she always was very ambitious, but I just think her ideas of what that means and what that can be have shifted wildly, and she's really kind of stepped into this totally new, exciting, brave, powerful side of herself. It's fun, it's fun play.
The actress also discussed defining moments for her character, situations that made her realize Nancy's braveness, and just what the character was truly capable of. She added,
It's interesting, whenever she sort of blatantly throws herself into danger, I think, because there [was] something about her initially, at least, that felt maybe a little more timid, and a little more played by the rules. I think things like Season One, even going into the tree, the first time she got a gun, and a lot of times in this season, where every time she's just kind of like, "I don't care about necessarily me, or, the fact that I'm not thinking about it as much as I'm trying to figure this out, or get to the bottom of it or stop something". It says a lot that she's just very kind of focused. She's not perfect, and I think she makes a lot of mistakes.
Looking back on Nancy’s journey from Season 1 to Season 4, the actress also discussed Nancy’s use of logic and focus to combat everything they have been through, which putting it mildly, has been a lot. She added, “I think Nancy really does compartmentalize a lot of emotions… her sort of coping mechanism is just logic and focus and fight and just not accepting that as a reality, not letting herself crumple into her feelings... She’s pretty tough, I think, with herself and her emotions.”
The actress was also quick to add that there are "caveats of pros and cons" to Nancy's selflessness that inform the character. Nancy's growth as a fierce defender with a sharp investigative mind has been a delight to watch unfold. As such, it will be exciting to see where Season 5 will take her character next.
No word yet on Season 5's release date but stay tuned to Collider for more information about the series.
Check out the full interview with Dyer below: