The new cast of the animated Stranger Things spin-off shares how they made iconic characters like Eleven and Dustin their own inside the recording booth.
Pictures courtesy of Netflix, actor’s agencies and Alamy
In 2016, Netflix launched one of the strongest fictional worlds in the streaming era, one that has not only lasted a decade but is being fleshed out further in an animated spin-off. Set between Stranger Things seasons two and three, Tales From ‘85 revamps the series with a bold art direction and an entirely new cast of core characters.
Finding younger talent capable of living up to household names like Millie Bobby Brown and Caleb McLaughlin is a tall order, but a batch of budding actors has been plucked to step into their shoes.
Stepping Into the Booth
Stepping into the role of Eleven is Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, who has been acting on camera since 2018 but stepped into the world of voiceover during the pandemic.
“Because of the pandemic, online classes became more prevalent, and there was an opportunity to take an online voiceover class,” Norstedt tells What’s On Netflix. “I absolutely fell in love with it, because it’s just you alone in a booth and you get to use your imagination even more than on camera work.”
Elisha EJ Williams, who has spent years working on shows for both Disney and Nickelodeon, was tasked to play Lucas. Williams’ journey into the industry came purely from passion:
“I got into VO from having the dream of playing a cartoon character and then simply going after it. The first door of opportunity came through the way of Disney, and with the help of my team, I learned new ways to say things and not just play a character, but become it.”
Embodying Dustin is Braxton Quinney, who got into voice acting after a theatre director told him that he’d be perfect for the job.
“I booked my first voiceover job around 9 years old and fell in love with going to the recording studio and stepping into the booth. To me, the cool thing about voice acting is that no one cares about what you look like, you can just go into the booth, shut the door and completely turn into the character you want to be.”
Benjamin Plessala, playing Will in Tales From ‘85, started work on-camera in monumental shows like Shameless and Big Little Lies, before transitioning into voiceover around the age of 12.
“It’s much more fun for me because I’ve always enjoyed animation and loved cartoons, so breaking into that world was really fortunate for me.”
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (L to R) Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven and Luca Diaz as Mike in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Connecting with the Characters
After landing the role, the next big task for the actors was to not only get into the shoes of their characters, but aim to bring something of themselves to their interpretation. Norstedt felt like she had a great handle on who Eleven was before starting work on the show.
“She’s so strong and persistent; she won’t give up willingly. I was always so inspired by her. She’s curious and determined, and always looking for answers. The first thing most people think of when they think of Eleven is the fact that she has powers. Learning more about this character outside of her powers has been very special for me. Because I studied her in such a detailed way, I learned so many little things about who she is at her core. Overall, working on the show just deepened my love and appreciation for Eleven. My favorite thing about her is how much she cares for others. She has the biggest heart, and she’s willing to risk anything to save not only those she loves, but anyone.”
In terms of her own performance, Norstedt wanted to show Eleven’s sweeter side: “I really wanted to bring out that softness and vulnerability to her. Even though she is so strong, she is such a sweetheart at her core. I wanted to really show the happy and excited parts of her. The parts where she is just living a normal life and learning who she is are few and far between, and those are very important to me.”
Plessala had a very strong and definitive view on Will that he looked to maintain through his performance: “He’s very gentle, he’s very caring. He cares about the crew and I think I see that myself.” Plessala was able to draw on past roles to get into Will’s mindset: “I did a show called Wylde Pak where I played Jack Wylde, and he loves to explore, he’s very curious, he loves to make things with his hands, he’s very energetic and I think Will is the same. The two characters are very similar in that sense.”
For Williams, Lucas’s character remained clear from before he began work on the show:
“I saw Lucas as a charismatic, smart, logical, protective and loyal kind of character. Knowing the type of show I was about to record and the character I knew I’d be portraying, I wanted to give myself no type of limitations for this role. My view on the character actually didn’t change at all, my respect for the character just increased. Not only because I’m playing the character, but because the writing really stands out so much. He’d say and do certain things that were just extremely admirable. I believe everyone needs a Lucas on their team.”
Bringing a unique spin to Lucas was simple for Williams: “Myself, that’s all I needed to bring. Me being trusted with a role this big is a huge deal on its own, so all there was left to bring was the authenticity of EJ Williams.”
Picture Credit: Netflix
Quinney felt a connection with Dustin from the original series:
“I loved his sense of humor and occasional sarcasm. He’s a team player and thinks outside of the box. He’s not the most popular kid in the school, but that’s one of the things I like about the show. The story focuses around an ordinary group of kids who just like being kids, but then turn out to be heroes. In the live action series, Dustin was a huge part of the group and was always up for an adventure. I think in this role, Dustin takes on more of a leadership position and is personally seeking out the adventures. I see him as the mastermind behind a lot of the activity. I wanted to show that Dustin always had something to say about any situation, but that he also had some softer moments too. I think the show digs into his character a little more especially since it is set in a specific timeframe of his life.
“I was in middle school when I first started recording for the show and it kind of put the storyline and characters into a different light because I was the same age as the characters,” continues Quinney. “Middle school can be tough and the relationships, even with your friends, can change day to day, even minute to minute. You might bicker about silly stuff and then be back to being best friends by the end of the school day. I think it was fun to see how Dustin navigated this period as I was also doing the same. While working on the show, it made me see Dustin more as a normal middle school kid and not just a character in a series.”
Directing the Upside Down
Helming Tales From ‘85 is Eric Robles, someone who has spent a long time in the animation industry as a character designer and producer. Directing voice talent is a new challenge, and the cast members recall a lot of helpful advice he was able to hand off.
“I think it was the first or second session when Eric told me to just ‘be Eleven’ and that might sound simple and obvious, but I truly needed those words,” explains Norstedt. “This was my first big project, so going into it, of course, I was nervous. I wanted to do a good job, and I didn’t want to let anyone down. But Eric telling me that really gave me permission to let go and not worry about any of that. It’s easy to overthink exactly what you’re doing and narrow in on the mechanics of it all. The truth is, and what I learned, is that they don’t need perfection, they need me to truly just be the character.”
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Benjamin Plessala as Will in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2026
Quinney adds, “He ended every session saying something encouraging and cheered me on the whole time which to this day has been super impactful. To get in the groove of the show and all the action, I would always stand up to record in the booth, take my shoes off and full body act out all the drama as I recorded. When Eric would give direction, he usually stood up and mimicked it out too, standing up and getting into all the action. He had such an amazing vision and really helped to talk it all out to me scene by scene as we recorded.”
Robles’ advice to Williams was succinct and effective: “Go wild. I was told that on the first day of recording and it reigns true in every single session.”
