Donegal actress Amybeth McNulty cast in upcoming season of ‘Stranger Things’

If you recognise Stranger Things newcomer Amybeth McNulty, that’s probably because you spotted her in another popular Netflix programme. Yes, the former Anne with an E star has joined the cast as a recurring character for the fourth season of the sci-fi horror series. How cool?!

Hailing from Letterkenny in Donegal, the up and coming actress has signed on to play Vickie – a “cool, fast-talking band nerd who catches the eye of one of our beloved heroes” according to Netflix. Thoroughly delighted to be welcomed on board, McNulty said that it was “an honour to join the team”, later adding that she’s very much “looking forward” to everyone meeting her character very soon. 

Saying that they are also “most excited” about McNulty’s addition to the cast, series co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer told viewers that Vickie will play a “big role in events to come”. Big fans of Anne of Green Gables themselves, the brothers said that they wanted to work with McNulty ever since seeing her in the show

“Ross and I, we’re big horror/sci-fi fans, but, yes we also love other things. We love Anne of Green Gables, we read the books when we were kids, we loved the miniseries. That’s why we had Hopper reading to his daughter, to El, Anne of Green Gables. We also are big fans of Anne with an E and we loved Amybeth McNulty’s portrayal of Anne, and so we’ve been dying to work with her ever since and she is our perfect Vickie.”

all aboard! the Duffer Brothers are here with special news that they want to personally share with you. @stranger_things #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/TVheNMqgUl

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) June 9, 2021

Announcing some of the other new faces set to feature in the upcoming series, Stranger Things shared the roll call over on Twitter. Queen of the South star Regina Ting Cheng will take on the character of Ms Kelly, a popular guidance counsellor who “cares deeply for her students”, particularly those struggling the most. Grace Van Dien (of The Village fame) will step into Chrissy’s shoes, the head cheerleader at Hawkins High and the most popular girl at school (obvs). What people don’t know though is that a “dark secret” lies just beneath her picture-perfect surface. And finally, Myles Truitt joins the line-up as Patrick, a Hawkins basketball star who “has friends, talent and a good life… until shocking events send his life spiralling out of control”. Way to reel is in with that one. 

Almost two years since the last episodes were released, Netflix finally shared a teaser for the fourth series last month. Teasing the next stage in Eleven’s story (played by the uber-talented Millie Bobby Brown), the clip shows a group of children “playing” in a room in the Hawkins facility from which Eleven originally escaped. A clock ticks ominously as laughter rings out ominously in the background. The camera then cuts to Dr Martin Breener who can be seen striding through the cold, sterile hallways before his voice rings out and he asks “Eleven, are you listening?” 

Eleven, are you listening? pic.twitter.com/rnPHzYt65d

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) May 6, 2021

Currently in production in Atlanta, the entire main ensemble from season three is set to reprise their roles. David Harbour (who plays Sheriff Hopper on the show) told Jimmy Kimmel that the hope is to wrap filming by late August. First announcing that there would be a fourth season way back in September 2019, filming has had to be delayed several times due to the pandemic. No official release date has been announced for the new episodes just yet but it’s unlikely to be ready before the year is out, so here’s hoping for an early 2022 premiere.

The good news is that you can stream seasons one, two and three of Stranger Things on Netflix in the meantime.

Feature image courtesy of Netflix