Stranger Things: Tales from 85 stars Brooklyn Davey Norstedt & Braxton Quinney on entering Hawkins, recording sessions, plus season two teases.
The Stranger Things universe has officially expanded into a breathtaking new medium, and it is everything fans didn’t know they needed. Stranger Things: Tales from 85 delivers a beautifully animated, nostalgic, yet surprisingly thrilling return to Hawkins, taking us back to a time when our favorite characters were younger, navigating the chaotic waters of middle school alongside supernatural horrors.
Mama’s Geeky spoke with the incredibly talented voice actors behind two of the show’s most iconic leads: Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, who breathes new life into the powerful Eleven, and Braxton Quinney, who perfectly embodies the hilarious and lovable Dustin. In this exclusive conversation, the duo pulls back the curtain on their three-year recording process, the relief of not having to perfectly impersonate the live-action cast, and the pure joy of seeing the final animation for the very first time on the big screen.
They also dive into how they connected with their characters, the brilliant addition of the new weapon-crafting character Nikki, and drop some highly anticipated hints about what is already brewing for the upcoming second season.
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt & Braxton Quinney Talk Stranger Things: Tales From 85
Tessa Smith: What was your reaction when you were first told that you landed these Stranger Things legendary roles?
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt: Oh, my gosh. Well, originally auditioning for this, I had no idea it was for Stranger Things and for Eleven. So when they got me on the call, they were like, “We want to book you for this role.” And they told me for the role of the code name, they told me, which was Janet. We want to book you for Janet. But then they were like, “Actually, welcome to the Stranger Things universe. This is Eleven in the Stranger Things animated series.” And I was like, “What?” No, I was sobbing. I was a mess. And I am also a huge longtime fan of the series. And Eleven’s always been my favorite character. So it like it was truly a dream come true for me.
Braxton Quinney: For my audition process too, it wasn’t, I didn’t know that I was going in for Stranger Things when I first got it. I got a couple sides, a couple dummy scripts where they were like, “Hey, just pick whichever one you want.” I tend to go to the more comedic stuff. So I was like, “Okay, we’ll do this one.” And I just sent it in, didn’t hear anything back. And then they were like, “Hey, you want to record a scratch for us? Just do an episode so we can test some stuff out.” And I was like, “Absolutely.” That’s when I figured out I was for Stranger Things. And I was like, “Oh my God, this is crazy.”
Tessa Smith: One of the best parts of the show is that you didn’t try to copy the live-action voices. How did you approach making these characters your own?
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt: Yeah, I totally agree with that. I mean, I didn’t want to sound like a robot. Just I wanted to focus on who Eleven is at her core and at her heart. And that’s what all of the kids did. Because I mean, the truth is, we aren’t the original live action actors. So we aren’t going to sound like them. But the core of who these characters are, it’s still them at their heart. So that’s what I tried to focus on in the performance is just everything Eleven has gone through and knowing who she is and bringing that to the character.
Braxton Quinney: One of the first-ish recordings that I had with him [Eric Robles] was really nice because he was like, “Hey, we cast you for a reason. You sound like him, but we don’t need you to be 100% identical to him.” And I was like, “That takes a lot of stress off of me, knowing that this is such a huge project that millions of people have seen.” …It is nice knowing that I don’t have to sound identical to him. But I will say, I never really even thought of it either, that I sounded anything like Gaten or anything like that. So it did change my perspective on it a little bit.
Tessa Smith: Braxton, Dustin has such a distinct energy. How did you relate to him, especially starting this while you were still so young?
Braxton Quinney: I will say that the whole process of it, I think one of the advantages I had is I did start off a little bit younger. I started recording while I was in middle school. So getting to connect a lot of the middle school relationships that I had day to day. And then I’d go after school and go into the booth. And I’m like, “Wow, okay.” A lot of the stuff I just did, just related right back into the booth with everything else. So I was like, “This is great.” Getting to kind of use some of my real life experiences in the booth with how Dustin and the gang kind of play off of each other, I guess, in the scripts and stuff like that.
Tessa Smith: The show introduces Nikki into the gang seamlessly. What do you both think she brings to the dynamic?
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt: I’m really grateful that the show is now out and we can know more about her character and what’s going on with her and how she fits into the group and what she brings to the group. I mean, she really does just bring this whole new, fresh element that, honestly, I think was needed in the series, especially introducing it to a new generation. One of the things we’ve talked about is what she brings to Will and their relationship and how she, you know, she thinks zombie boy, that’s such a cool nickname and he’s so awesome. And it kind of helps him come to a new perspective about all of that. And I really appreciate that. And I also enjoy Eleven and Nikki’s interactions. At the end when Eleven gets to have like her first little birthday party with Nikki, with a little Twinkie, I thought that was so sweet.
Braxton Quinney: I do say she is one of the bigger characters in this because in Tales of 85, if you don’t have Nikki playing as big of a part as she does in that, the whole fight scene at the end, a lot of the fights with the monsters, I don’t think a ton of the kids would get through. I think with Nikki’s addition, I think it expands more on how a lot of these kids fight against some of the monsters, especially the final, I think it’s episode 10, the final fight scene. I mean, it’s animated great, but the scene, like the writing and the storytelling for that, I do think is also extremely good because if you don’t have Nikki in that scene, I don’t think the kids are going to fully fight off that monster at the very end.
Tessa Smith: The season ends on a massive cliffhanger. What can you tease about Season 2? Have you started working on it yet?
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt: I’ve recorded season two. So you guys knew before we knew, I bet you that there was season two. Yes. I’m so glad it’s finally announced so we can talk about it because it was hard to keep that a secret. But yeah, we did know. And I mean, I since I’ve recorded it, I know everything that happens and I’m excited for fans to see this new adventure we’ve got cooking up. Personally, it I don’t know, I might like it better than season one. It’s really, really cool. It’s a really cool twist. I’m excited for you guys to see. I can’t say too much. But yeah, yeah, it’s I’m very excited for you guys to see. I think that you’ll enjoy it, especially coming out in the fall.
Braxton Quinney: It will be good. I say we’re wrapping up filming for that, but I will say it is something that Stranger Things fans will want to tune into. It’s a lot of fun stories, I will say. …They did do a really good job teasing at the very indices of what I know. Okay, okay. Can’t wait for this to come out, but it does expand more. And I’m really excited for other people to get to see that one as well.
To hear even more behind-the-scenes secrets – including Brooklyn’s emotional reaction to the live-action Season 5 finale and Braxton’s method acting with real Pop-Tarts in the recording booth – be sure to watch our full video interview.
You can stream the entire first season of Stranger Things: Tales from 85 on Netflix now.
