Stranger Things star pushed for this character to be gay after filming began
Stranger Things actress Maya Hawke attends “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” premiere in Los Angeles (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
*This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things 3*
Actress Maya Hawke, who plays Robin in the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, has revealed that she advocated for her character to be a lesbian after filming began.
Robin became the first LGBT+ character in the hit show, coming out as a lesbian to her ‘Scoops Ahoy’ colleague Steve Harrington in episode seven.
In a scene that cleverly defies genre expectations, Robin reveals she didn’t actually have a crush on Steve in high school, but on the girl who couldn’t stop staring at him in class.
Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hawke said the Duffer Brothers initially planned for Robin and Steve’s character arcs to end in a romantic relationship — but she had other ideas.
I’m really, really happy with the way that it went.
“Throughout filming, we started to feel like she and Steve shouldn’t get together, and that she’s gay,” the 21-year-old actress said.
“Even when I go back and watch earlier episodes, it just seems like the most obvious decision ever.
“The Duffer Brothers and I, and [director] Shawn Levy, had a lot of conversations throughout shooting and it wasn’t really until we were shooting episode four and five, I think, that we made the final decision.
“It was a collaborative conversation, and I’m really, really happy with the way that it went.”
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington (L), Maya Hawke as Robin and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in Netflix fantasy horror ‘Stranger Things’ (Netflix)
Viewers were delighted with the plot’s change of direction and took to Twitter to share their support.
“I’m genuinely so happy stranger things gave us this lesbian icon,” one user wrote. “Robin is beautiful, smart, funny, one of the coolest characters and she’s a lesbian. it’s a win for the gays.”
Another tweeted: “Stranger Things having an official gay character makes me so happy finally some good f**king representation! And the way she just came out to Steve like that thinking he won’t be her friend anymore and he’s just like ma’am your taste in girls is S**T, everything I ever wanted.”
Hawke, who is the daughter of Hollywood actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, added that she hoped her character’s sexuality would encourage greater tolerance of LGBT+ people.
“If I can hope for anything it’s that maybe some people fell in love with Robin and that helped them fall in love with girls who love girls and boys who love boys,” she concluded.
