‘Stranger Things’ Star Sadie Sink Says First Kiss Was ‘Nerve-Wracking’

• W Magazine published its 2023 Best Performances Portfolio on Monday. 
• Sadie Sink spoke about her first kiss during the interview, calling the experience “awkward.” 
• The “Stranger Things” showrunners faced backlash in 2017 over the unscripted kiss and the actors’ ages. 

Sadie Sink reflected on her first-ever kiss that took place on the set of “Stranger Things,” calling the experience “awkward” and “nerve-wracking.”

Sink, 20, appeared in W Magazine’s 2023 Best Performances Portfolio this week when she recalled her and Caleb McLaughlin’s first kiss. The kiss between their characters, Max Mayfield and Lucas Sinclair, generated controversy with some fans after it appeared in season 2 of the Netflix series. McLaughlin was 16 at the time, while Sink was 15. 

“We were both awkward, but it was also funny because all our friends were there and all these extras and lights and music,” Sink said of the experience. “It was nerve-wracking at the time, but I look back now and can laugh about it.”

A November 2017 IndieWire article reported that Sink said the kiss was unscripted during a conversation with the showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer on “Beyond Stranger Things.” Sink said she wasn’t told the kiss was happening until she arrived on set. 

“I get there, the first day of [filming the] Snow Ball…one of you, I think it was you, Ross, you say, ‘Ooh, Sadie, you ready for the kiss?’ I’m like, ‘What! No! That’s not in the script…that’s not happening.’ So the whole day I was like stressed out,” Sink said during “Beyond Stranger Things,” according to the outlet. 

Ross added: “You reacted so strongly to this — I was just joking — and you were so freaked out that I was like, ‘Well, I gotta make her do it now.'”

After fans questioned the remarks on social media, Sink told The Wrap she never “objected” to the kiss. 

“I always felt comfortable and the Duffer Brothers, they do the best job,” Sink told The Wrap. “And always create a comfortable space. And if I felt uncomfortable with anything, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Sink, who also stars alongside Brendan Fraser in “The Whale,” told W Magazine that she’s “excited” about the upcoming final season of “Stranger Things.” 

“I think it’s ending at the exact right time — but it’ll be emotional,” Sink said.