Winona Ryder Gets Candid About Saying Goodbye to ‘Stranger Things’

Actress Winona Ryder, 54, got candid about saying goodbye to the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, which premiered in 2016.

During the November 20 episode of Hot Ones, hosted by Sean Evans, Ryder shared her thoughts about Stranger Things ending after its fifth and final season, which premieres on November 26. In the interview, Evans implored Ryder, who has played Joyce Byers since the show’s first season, to “describe the emotions [on her] final day of shooting” the series.

“Are the feelings closer to that of a party or a funeral?” asked Evans.

Ryder responded that her younger co-stars have been on the show “half of their lives” and suggested they were emotional about the series ending. Ryder, who started working in the entertainment industry when she was a child, explained she knew how it felt finishing a project during her teenage years. She explained she was never sure if she would see her co-stars again.

“Back when I was a young teenager and really thinking, ‘God, am I ever going to see this person again?’ And I remember explaining to a couple [of co-stars], ‘Well, our friendship isn’t over.’ But it does feel like that,” said Ryder in the interview.

Ryder also shared that she once tried to stay in touch with the crew from the 1987 film, Square Dance.

“I remember on the movie that I did with Jason Robards, I wrote like the entire crew birthday cards for like years afterwards,” said Ryder. “And some of them I didn’t hear back from. And so sometimes it’s like a slow realization like, ‘Oh I thought we were really good friends.'”

‘Stranger Things’ Stars Opened up About the Last Day of Shooting the Series

Several Stranger Things stars have opened up about the show’s final filming day. For instance, Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler, said the entire day “felt like a dream” in a June 2025 interview on the Zach Sang Show. The 22-year-old said he came to the realization that “this is the last time I’m going to see all these people in the same room, at the same time together.”

Millie Bobby Brown, 21, also said that she cried during her last day of filming as her Stranger Things character, Eleven, in a March 2025 interview with the Associated Press. She clarified that she “look[s] back on that day now, honestly, with happiness.”

“It was really emotional to say goodbye to everyone, our crew members, people who raised us,” said Brown in the interview.

In addition, Gaten Matarazzo, 23, who plays Dustin Henderson, said the final day on set felt “like a graduation” in a November 2025 episode ofJesse Tyler Ferguson‘s podcast,Dinner’s On Me.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.