Stranger Things' Gaten Matarazzo Takes a Lie Detector Test

I breathe from my diaphragm.

So I'm scared that it's gonna like affect something.

You'll be fine.

[clicking]

[Interviewer] Is your name Gaten Matarazzo?

Yes.

[Interviewer] Are you 16 years old?

I am.

[Interviewer] Do you play the character

Dustin in Stranger Things?

I do.

[Interviewer] Are we all calibrated?

[Lou] Yup.

Ready to go.

[Interviewer] Then let's get started.

Okay.

[Interviewer] First thing we'll talk about,

Stranger Things.

When you first read the script

did you think the show would be as big as it is?

No, I hoped, obviously.

But we, not a lot of us had like

the greatest amount of hopes for it really blowing up.

Just because it was a very small production.

And it was before like a lot

of Netflix shows were even coming out.

So this, only a couple really, I think,

Orange is the New Black was a big one at the time.

And it was like, oh, what if it's one of those?

What if it's one of those?

And we're like oh, come on guys.

Let's take it back a notch.

[Interviewer] Do you ever get

stopped by fans when you leave your house?

Someone did come to my house once.

I was watching a movie with my girlfriend

and all of sudden I heard a knock on the door.

I thought it was like, I didn't know if it was like

my brother coming home from school or something.

I opened up the door and there are these

two little kids, and I'm like, oh Girl Scout cookies, yes.

And I was so excited.

They're like, are you Gaten?

I was like, yeah.

I didn't know if there was gonna be a letter or something.

They're like, can we get a picture?

And I was like.

And all of sudden I find out the next day

that they went to my grandma's house

and she invited them in for like coffee.

'Cause that's just my grandma.

It's hilarious.

I don't know, I don't know if like

they had mutual friends or something.

I don't know how they figured it out.

But like my grandma invited them in.

Which is like something you should never do.

But they were great people.

[Interviewer] Do you get a lot of fan mail?

Yeah.

I get a lot of fan letters.

I can't always read them though,

'cause I mean there's a lot of, they just pile in.

Like there's not always a lot of places to put them.

There's like a part of my room that's just like

a bunch of like letters and like paintings and stuff.

I look like a sociopath that's like in love with myself

because there's like a bunch of paintings like of me

that are like next to my bed on my dresser.

And it freaks me out when I'm looking at 'em.

But a lot of them are so great.

I just wanna keep 'em because they're so talented.

And people put so much time and effort into them.

But a lot of times it's hard to read all of them

or keep all of them.

[Interviewer] Have you ever met

someone who has a tattoo of you?

Yes, I have.

I've seen pictures of people with my face on their...

I've actually signed someone's arm before.

And they came back the next day

and they had tattooed it to themselves.

[Interviewer] Does that freak you out?

A little bit.

Yeah.

[Interviewer] Feeling excited for the new season?

Yeah.

[Interviewer] Will one summer really change everything?

In ways.

[Interviewer] Does Netflix train you how to answer

when people ask you for spoilers?

Actually, yeah.

They send in like a guideline before press junkets,

and they say what you can say, what you can't say.

To let you know exactly how to handle certain situations.

But I mean we've done it for a while,

so I feel like we're pretty good at it.

[Interviewer] So, can you give me some spoilers?

No.

[Interviewer] Does one of the main characters

die this season?

Yes.

[Interviewer] Will this character, Will,

ever catch a break?

Yes.

[Interviewer] Lou?

Do you know what's gonna happen in the final season?

No.

I know that they have certain things planned.

I don't know what, they don't usually like to express that.

[Interviewer] Do you know any spoilers

for other Netflix shows?

No.

No I don't.

[Interviewer] Does Netflix punish you

if you spoil Stranger Things?

I don't know.

'Cause I haven't done it yet.

I sure hope not.

[Interviewer] Do you ever read fan theories

about the show on Reddit?

Ah yeah, sometimes I do.

Sometimes they're cool, sometimes they're accurate,

and sometimes they're just lame.

[laughing]

[Interviewer] Do you mind if I read you a couple?

Please.

[Interviewer] Do you think it's possible that Will

has psychic powers that can open the gates

to the Upside Down?

Maybe, that'd be really cool.

He's got something going on.

[Interviewer] Have you ever pondered the idea

that Hopper might actually be Eleven's dad?

No.

I've never really liked that theory.

There's a lot of people that think that,

but it just doesn't make any sense.

I mean you look back to his daughter

looks nothing like Millie.

And the age doesn't match up with the time,

with how much he's aged from that point.

And it just wouldn't make any sense.

I think it'd be far-fetched.

And Eleven would recognize him.

[Interviewer] If you could, would you bring back Barb

from the Upside Down?

I wouldn't.

Simply because I think her death

was essential in demonstrating that nobody was safe.

Even the most innocent, likable, relatable character

couldn't be saved from what's going on.

And I think that really resonated with audiences.

And I think that's why they want her to come back,

'cause they liked her so much,

and because she didn't deserve it,

and it wasn't fair.

That's why she died.

[Interviewer] Sam?

Do you think the Upside Down

is actually an alternate universe?

Yeah.

That's interesting though.

There's a lot of theories that it might be from the future.

[Interviewer] Do you think the Upside Down

could be part of the multiverse?

What do you mean?

[Interviewer] Like maybe it's part

of the Marvel multiverse?

Oh, something like that.

Um.

I don't know about that.

I think that they wanna keep it within

the Stranger Things universe, as a whole.

But...

[Interviewer] But maybe?

That'd be interesting to think about.

I think it's definitely a lot closer to home

than we might believe, or maybe even a lot further.

I think there's a lot more about it we don't know.

And I'm really excited to see where they take it

to see if we can learn more about it.

[Interviewer] Do you think it's possible

that Riverdale is the Upside Down?

And that's why Barb's there?

[laughing]

I don't think so, no.

But that'd be, that's interesting to think about.

[Interviewer] Did you like your character's makeover

at the end of season two?

I wouldn't personally dress up that way.

But I think it was very fun.

And it actually didn't take that long to do.

But it was very fun getting to dress up like that

and I enjoyed it a lot.

[Interviewer] So you'd never worn

that hairstyle in regular life?

I've never, well I mean I have, technically,

during the shoots.

But I wouldn't use it as a stylistic choice, no.

[Interviewer] Lou?

That one was largely deceptive.

What?

Oh goodness.

[Interviewer] Who would you say is a better mom,

Joyce Byers or Steve Harrington?

Probably Joyce.

She never stops trying, she never stops

wanting what's best for her kids.

And she doesn't care if she puts herself in harm for that.

And Steve's a very good protector,

but it seems like he's always the one, in a way,

he seems to bring them towards the trouble.

Even though like he should probably keep them back.

I feel like every time, I mean, of course

he never really wants to bring them there.

But when he's there like he helps them out in that sense.

But I think Joyce would die for any of the kids.

I think Steve might too, now.

But before, maybe not.

[Interviewer] Do you ship Hopper and Joyce?

I do, yeah.

I think that's a really cool.

I think it's an interesting plot line.

I think that would be really cool

if they went further with that.

I do.

[Interviewer] Season three comes out

July fourth, seven four.

Seven plus four is 11.

Oh my. [laughing]

[Interviewer] Coincidence?

Most likely.

[Interviewer] Let's move on

to your co-stars.

You and the other Stranger Things cast

seem to get along very well.

Very well.

[Interviewer] Do you all have a group chat?

Um...

We have several I guess.

I think there's some depending on like what's going on.

'Cause sometimes there are press junkets that happen

where there's just three of us so we have a group chat.

And then there's group chats with all of us, or.

We don't really use it a lot.

Especially when we're in Atlanta

'cause we see each other for like 10 hours a day every day.

We don't really need to text.

[Interviewer] Is there any one person who texts too much?

No, actually.

We don't text each other a lot.

I think we should.

[Interviewer] Is there a collab in the works

between your band and Finn Wolfhard's.

In my mind there is.

That'd be really cool, I'd like that.

And even if it wasn't, even if we didn't make

like music together, at least like a show together

would be a lot fun, I think that would be great.

[Interviewer] Do you know who would win

in a battle of the bands?

I'm gonna say them right now

just because they have more original music

and they all play instruments.

Really? And...

Yeah that's probably like the only reason.

I'm gonna say them now, but who knows.

'Cause I mean we're still making our stuff.

So we gotta like establish our sound first I think.

[Interviewer] But someday?

Someday.

Someday.

[Interviewer] Someday.

Would you say that this man, Joe Keery,

is more a heartthrob than this man, Dacre Montgomery?

Hm, no I wouldn't.

For some reason I just feel like,

I don't know why, but for some reason like

every one of the female friends that I have

have asked me about Dacre before.

[laughing] I would-- [laughing]

[Interviewer] How do they stack up

against this guy, Noah Centineo?

My girlfriend's in love with him.

She tells me all the time.

I don't know.

His name comes up more with that topic

so I'm gonna say him.

[Interviewer] Can you tell the difference

between the two Duffer brothers?

I can.

And I know exactly how I can.

Matt always has, Matt has this gray streak

in the front of his hair.

It's natural, he doesn't know why he has it,

and he's always had it.

That's how I told them apart to begin with.

But eventually like you just start to like

decipher certain things, I don't even think

you even realize what they are.

And like eventually it's just like,

it's not even a question anymore.

At first sometimes I'd mix them up.

Especially when it was like night shoots.

[Interviewer] So you're sure you can tell them apart?

Not as sure when they were kids.

Have you seen pictures when they were like students?

Probably not.

But now, definitely.

[Interviewer] Which one is this?

Uh, that's Ross.

[Interviewer] I believe that's Matt.

No way.

That's not Matt.

That's not Matt, it's Ross.

Is that Matt?

Oh sorry buddy.

[Interviewer] Does the cast

ever go out to Karaoke together?

They did karaoke for the season two wrap party.

And I couldn't attend.

I had to get outta there really quick.

I was upset about that.

But I've never gone to do Karaoke with them before,

I'd like to though.

[Interviewer] So you've done karaoke on your own?

I have done karaoke on my own.

[Interviewer] You have a go-to song?

[sighing] I think it depends.

I'm a musical theater guy,

so sometimes I'll sing that and usually people

don't really care about music in musical theater.

'Cause it's in no way fun to listen to at karaoke.

But, it's fun.

[Interviewer] Who would win a karaoke-off,

you or Millie Bobby Brown?

I don't know.

I might say her.

She's like much more upbeat and energetic

about the whole thing, so I think like she might like

be a little bit more comfortable doing it.

Whenever I do it I actually go to try and sing

as best as I can, and that's not what karaoke's for.

Is to have fun.

But I have something to prove.

I don't, it's karaoke.

[Interviewer] What about a rap battle?

Oh she'd totally win.

For sure she'd totally win.

I can't rap to save my life.

[Interviewer] What about you versus this person,

Caleb McLaughlin?

Hm.

It's hard to say actually.

In Karaoke we're still saying?

[Interviewer] Yeah.

I don't know, I think I might take him.

I think I might take him on karaoke.

But we have to actually have an official battle to see.

[Interviewer] Sounds like the gauntlet's been thrown.

I think so, I think so.

I'm excited now.

[Interviewer] Okay.

Let's talk about your life.

So you've been auditioning since you were seven years old?

That's right.

[Interviewer] Did you know at seven

that you wanted to be an actor?

Not particularly.

I think it wasn't until I was about nine

when I first actually got my first role

that I realized, it was like, oh yeah,

this is what I wanna do.

[Interviewer] Have you ever bombed an audition?

Oh yeah, for sure.

It's actually funny, one of the auditions

that I bombed I actually got the role for.

It's funny.

I messed up on the script like three times.

I went out of the room crying.

I was nine.

And I actually got the role.

It's the first one I ever got.

[Interviewer] Is it true you played Gavroche

in Les Miserables?

That's true, yeah.

[Interviewer] Did you know that

Nick Jonas also played that role?

I did, I think Nick and Joe both played the part.

[Interviewer] Do you think your death scene

was better than his?

Actually I've never seen his death scene.

Oh wait, no that's not true.

I have.

I think that the way the scene in my production

was choreographed was way cooler.

I'm gonna say it beats Nick's.

Nothing to do with performance,

but the way it was set up was really cool.

[Interviewer] Do you think you make

a convincing dying face?

Yeah, I think the key is to just relax

every one of your muscles and just,

it's not just about not moving.

'Cause when you think not moving you tense up.

And when you tense up it's unconvincing.

So I think the key is to just relax,

almost like you're sleeping with your eyes open.

[Interviewer] Can you give us a sample?

I'll give you a sample.

You just kinda tense up and,

okay my head rolls back naturally, so.

[Interviewer] How's he doing, Lou?

He's dead.

[laughing] He's dead, his heart stopped.

Let's move on. Okay.

[Interviewer] Do you have an older sister

and a younger brother? I do.

[Interviewer] Do you feel like you get

less attention as the middle child?

Uh, not necessarily.

Simply because of the line of work I'm in.

Not, I don't get less attention from,

or more attention from my parents obviously,

they treat us both, all three of us equally.

[Interviewer] Would you say you need

to be the center of attention?

No, I don't like being the center of attention actually.

[Interviewer] But you're an actor?

I am.

I think the reason I act is simply

just because it's so easy and so satisfying

to get lost in somebody else.

But I think that those who go into

the acting field to get attention

are not gonna make it far.

I think if you're in it for the right reasons

and you do it because of your passion, you do it

because you love it, you're gonna do fine.

[Interviewer] Lou?

He is being truthful.

I'm so proud of that, yeah, nice.

I'm glad that I didn't like get nervous for the reason.

[Interviewer] Do you think your parents

have a favorite child?

Probably.

It's definitely not me.

[Interviewer] Do you still have to chores?

Um, there isn't much chores.

We need to do chores.

And like we get yelled at for not taking out the trash

and doing the dishes, we need to.

I scoop out the litter box more than

my brother and my sister do.

We have three cats, so there needs to be a lot of scooping.

And so I feel like I'm the one who scoops it the most.

[Interviewer] That's a lot of scooping.

Just saying.

100% true.

Yeah it is.

[Interviewer] You told Jimmy Fallon

that a fire alarm once made you cry?

It's true.

I actually have a story about that.

I found out quite recently that,

well my girlfriend is a grade younger than me,

or she was in second or first grade,

she pulled the fire alarm.

And I was like, oh that's funny.

I cried in second grade about the fire alarm ringing

and I fell outta my chair.

She was like, wait, when was this?

And we figured out that she was the one

who pulled the fire alarm that made me cry.

[Interviewer] Do you cry a lot?

It depends on the situation.

I think I'm good at sharing my emotions.

And I think what helps is sometimes like

I'll just cry at night, just 'cause you need to cry.

I think everybody needs to cry.

If you don't like a lot of stuff gets bottled up.

There's nothing to be ashamed about it.

I'm not ashamed of it.

[Interviewer] Can you cry on command?

It's hard, but I've done it before.

And it's weird because usually when I know

I have to cry I can't.

But it's the times when I don't need to,

or when I don't necessarily think I'm going to,

when it happens.

[Interviewer] So Joe Keery told Glamour that you're

one of the brightest young people he's ever met.

That's very nice of him.

[Interviewer] Would you agree with that statement?

I don't know.

I think, I know many people that I believe

are smarter than me.

I know many people that have achieved

many greater things than me.

I think I do pretty well in school.

And I think I love learning, I love knowledge,

and I like obtaining knowledge.

But I think smart's just different.

I think brains and being smart is different than knowledge.

But I really appreciate him saying that.

[Interviewer] How we doing?

Good, this is a very truthful person.

[Interviewer] All right, next category.

Let's talk about pop culture.

So, you have almost nine million followers on Instagram.

I do.

[Interviewer] If acting doesn't work out,

are you considering a career as an Instagram model?

No.

[Interviewer] Do you have a Finstagram?

I do have a Finstagram.

I do.

It's usually for my friends.

I haven't posted on it in like a year, I think.

It's been a while, I usually use it just so I can like

post like random stuff that I see a lot.

It's just funny.

[Interviewer] Do you have the app that let's you know

when someone unfollows you?

No, I don't care.

You don't have to follow me if you don't want to.

I guess sometimes people like,

sometimes I don't post for like a month and half,

and then when I do post it'll be for some like

something for my band coming up.

And so there's nothing really interesting going on.

So I get why somebody would unfollow me.

[Interviewer] Have you ever used Facetune

on any of your photos?

What's that?

[Interviewer] So you don't know?

Oh like, Photoshop?

No.

I usually don't like to.

There might've been something like for like,

well I mean, there's photos of me that've been photoshopped.

For like promotion for Stranger Things and stuff.

Like enhancers for like to make the quality look cooler.

But I wouldn't do that personally.

There's a running joke that I post

like terrible, like awful quality pictures.

Of myself and of everything else.

Like I'll like look up like a image offline,

and I'll like screenshot it and then post it.

And like that'll be my picture.

Like Gaten, come on.

You can do better than this.

[Interviewer] You definitely do better than that.

Would you consider yourself to be part of Gen Z?

Gen Z?

Yeah.

I'm not a Millennial, I think by definition

I'm not a Millennial.

Aren't they like after 2000?

Or 2001?

I'm 2002, so I think I'm like the first Gen Z.

[Interviewer] Gen Z's are said to spend at least

three hours a day online.

Wow.

[Interviewer] Are you part of that group?

Depends on the day.

Usually when I'm sick, or like sometimes on like

rainy day weekends I'll spend a lot of time

on YouTube or Netflix, and I'll like binge watch something.

But if it's like social media and like stuff like that, no.

At most I'm on like five minutes like every couple of days.

[Interviewer] Do you dab?

Wait, dab?

Like the dance move?

Not to be cool.

If I ever do it's a spoof or a parody of the dab.

[Interviewer] Is lit part of your everyday vocabulary?

Oh god no.

It is when I'm joking around.

But nothing to be serious.

I don't actually use the term lit

as a way of describing a fun time.

[Interviewer] Be honest, do you floss everyday?

My teeth?

No.

Oh the dance, no.

I have done it, I've done it before.

'Cause I'm actually pretty good at it.

I don't like to.

Oh you're gonna make me floss?

[laughing]

[Interviewer] I don't know if Lou

would be happy about that.

You into video games?

I am, I am into video games.

[Interviewer] Do you ever play

online multiplayers like Fortnite?

I don't, I'm terrible at it.

I like Call of Duty campaigns and stuff.

I love RPGs like Skyrim, I love Spider Man.

Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead two is sick.

I always keep going back and forth

between Red Dead two and Spider Man.

Like they're two of my favorite games.

[Interviewer] Is there anyone who if you saw them

in real life you would fan out over them?

Oh I fan out over some people.

I got pretty nervous when I met Mark Hamill.

[Interviewer] Understandable.

That was pretty, that's respectable,

he was great, such a nice guy.

[Interviewer] You turned 16 years old this year, right?

Yes, I'm turning, I turned 16 last year.

I'm turning 17 this September.

[Interviewer] Did you know you're

legally allowed to quit school at 16?

Are you?

[Interviewer] Have you considered it.

Nah.

I wanna finish.

I've started senioritis,

and I'm just finishing my junior year.

So I'm probably gonna be sick of it.

But next year all my classes are all fine, so.

[Interviewer] Do you see yourself going through

a rebellious stage at any time?

I don't know.

I feel like if I were gonna have a rebellious stage

I woulda had it by now.

Um, I might just, I feel like sometimes

I might feel like I'm growing up a little too fast,

or I might wanna grow up a little too fast.

There are things that I just wanna stop being a kid for now.

But I realize that I just need to accept what I have now,

and know that once it's gone, I'm not getting it back.

So I gotta see the positive in it.

'Cause then if I see the positive,

when I don't have it I'm gonna miss it.

[Interviewer] Would you consider getting a face piercing?

God no.

[Interviewer] What about a tattoo?

Yeah, I'm gonna get a tattoo.

There's a tattoo that my sister has.

It's an upside down triangle that represents

my brother, me, and her.

And so each corner represents us.

And then a different design of their preference.

In the middle she has flowers.

And I wanna get one on like the back of my shoulder

or something, just something small

'cause I still have to do shows and acting and stuff.

But with our zodiacs on it.

And my brother's gonna get one as well.

[Interviewer] Do you know what you'd do if you really

wanted to make your parents mad?

[sighing]

I'm trying to think.

I'm, there's probably a bunch.

I do stuff that I don't intentionally mean to make them mad

and I get them mad.

Sometimes like I forget my place a lot,

and so sometimes like when they tell me to do something,

or I'll do it, or like when they get mad at me

about something I'll start to yell back

and that's not okay at all.

And then they'll freak out about it.

And then I'll realize, I'm like,

I shouldn't yell at my parents ever.

That's a terrible thing to do.

Oh god.

I'll regret it later, and then i'll apologize.

And it'll be good.

And then eventually like something will happen again.

That's just how it works.

[Interviewer] How's he doing, Lou?

He's being truthful,

he's absolutely pissed off his parents.

[laughing] Yeah.

Love you, Dad.

[Interviewer] Final question.

Okay.

[Interviewer] At any point during this interview

did you lie and we didn't catch you?

I don't think so, no.

[Interviewer] You're an open book.

I'm an open book.

I just found out that I'm an open book.

I don't lie a lot apparently.