Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5 volume 1.
A few weeks ago, actor Nell Fisher rang in her 14th year with a night of karaoke. Now she has even more to celebrate with the premiere of Stranger Things, her biggest acting project to date, in which she plays the re-cast Holly Wheeler, now a focal point in the final season of the Netflix hit.
Fisher, who lives in North London, describes herself as “always a performer.” Growing up, she and her younger sister put on shows for their parents. “We would be met with some very fake smiles,” she tells Teen Vogue. “I've always loved being center stage.”
The daughter of a diplomat, Fisher spent her early years living “all over the place,” in South Africa, New Zealand, and now London. That lifestyle suits her acting career well; she spent a year in Atlanta filming Stranger Things, and getting advice from her older castmates. The main words of wisdom imparted by the show's cast of breakout child stars, now in their 20s: Just be a kid.
Below, Nell Fisher opens up about what went into playing Holly Wheeler, younger sister of Mike and Nancy, how her character evolves by the end of Stranger Things 5, and the memories she’ll cherish from the experience.
Nell Fisher: I had done one thing before, a kind of micro-budget Kiwi film that I thought was just a fluke. But during lockdown, New Zealand, where I was living at the time, was a COVID haven, so all the big studios sent their work over to New Zealand. I got a part in Evil Dead Rise, which is this awesome horror film where I just spent three months head to toe in fake blood. That was kind of when I realized this was something I really wanted to do, and it all sort of snowballed from there.
NF: Actually, I hadn't been allowed to watch it before I got the audition, because my mom thought it would be too scary for me. I think what she meant was that she knew that if I was watching it, she would have to watch it, too, and it was too scary for her. But I hadn't watched it before, so as soon as I got the audition, I was like, “Oh, you can't stop me from watching it now that I'm auditioning for it.” I started it and I just didn't stop. I mean, it's such an amazing series.
NF: I had a self-tape kind of first round, then I did a Zoom call with the Duffers, which is really nice. I kind of got to meet them, and they explained Holly and her part this season. Then after that, I flew to New York for a final-round in-person audition with Sadie [Sink], which was super awesome. Going in, I was ridiculously nervous. But we sort of just hit it off from the get-go.
NF: Holly, I really love her as a character because she's always been there. She's always been on the sidelines of the Upside Down. She's always known that something is wrong in Hawkins, but she's never really come face to face [with] it until now. So I think this season is really cool for her; she really gets thrown in on all the action.
NF: Watching them back, they're completely beautiful. Working with Sadie was such a joy, because as an actor, she's so incredibly giving. She gives so much in a scene, which just makes it a dream to work alongside her, because basically acting is you're just responding to the other people. She's such an amazing human.
NF: So, I have this one scene — I think it's in three, or maybe it's in two — where I'm dancing around the house to Tiffany's “I Think We're Alone Now,” and I wasn't given any instruction for that. None. They were like, “All right, we're just going to play the soundtrack and you're just going to dance along to it.” Of everything, of all the scenes I had filmed, that was the one that made me the most nervous. But it ended up being a lot of fun.
NF: I mean, that was probably the highlight of my year. It was so incredible being able to do all that kind of action and the stunts. And working with Cara, she is so incredible. Her moment in episode two where she — oh my gosh, every time I watch it, I cry. We really got along so well, it was kind of like mother and daughter. They're just really special memories.
NF: Yeah, a little bit. Holly's got a really sweet relationship with her older siblings. I wonder what she thinks they've been doing all these years when they've been off gallivanting on their little adventures. But I think, definitely, she really looks up to them, admires them, and wants to be like them. This is a sweet scene where Mike and Holly are really connecting.
NF: I think you've got it spot-on. It is kind of like a coming-of-age for her, and she starts out very much scared, crying, screaming. But even towards the end of volume one, and definitely towards the end of the season, she is really becoming her own person. It was definitely part of my process. Because we didn't shoot in chronological order, having to think, Oh, this is in episode four, where I've just come from this. It did take a bit of time just to get my head around the series of events.
NF: Yeah, they were all so helpful. But I think one of the best pieces of advice they gave me was to just be a kid. I think lots of them, they grew up in this crazy world, where they were in the spotlight and they were on all the time. Just being able to say, “Actually, no, I'm not taking photos or signing autographs now,” I'm just out with my friends or my family and I'm being a 13-year-old.
NF: School, school, school, school, school. No, so I would get onto set, I would be chop-chopped into costume. It would be like, “Okay, we've got to be on set in five minutes,” and then I'd get on set, and then I'd do two hours of school. I would then do some filming, and then, when they'd be flipping a lens or changing the shot, I'd go do some school. So I'd be bawling my eyes out [for a scene], then learning how to count in Russian, [back] to bawling my eyes out again, which was pretty funny.
NF: Yeah, I take Russian. We were given the choice in year seven, so sixth grade, between Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, and German. And me and my friend figured out that it was the most statistically probable that we would be together if we both put Russian. We did end up together, but we were learning Russian.
NF: Jake and I, we were kind of the two new kids on the block. We had a really nice relationship on set. But also off set, we would go for dinner with him and his family. He's such a wonderful guy, and he's so amazing in this season.
NF: I adored working with Jamie. I never really saw him as this scary monster figure he plays because, before we started filming, I went out to Atlanta for a week to do a costume fitting, etc., and in the middle of a fitting, Jamie knocked on the door and said, “Hey, I just want to say hi to Nell, but I'll wait until she's finished.” He ended up waiting for, like, 45 minutes when he was ready to go home at the end of his day, just to say hi to me and that he was really looking forward to meeting me, which started off what ended up being a really nice connection.
NF: I'm a massive nerd. I take Russian, as you know. I also take Greek, Ancient Greek, and Latin. I love my school. I also do rock climbing, like bouldering. I did that a lot in Atlanta because there was a wall right near where I lived.
NF: I hadn't, but I actually have started. And my little Holly the Heroic figurine, I got to take her home; I got to keep her, which was really sweet. I've started playing D & D with a couple of my friends, and it's so much fun. It's nothing like any game I've played before, because you just get to make it all up.
NF: I think I really feel like an actor now. I've done movies and TV shows before, but I always slightly felt like someone who had just stumbled onto a film set. But now I feel like I belong here, and I'm here to stay.
