Gaten Matarazzo has opened up about his difficult first audition for Stranger Things, describing it as the “worst” experience of his career. The actor, who portrays Dustin Henderson in the hit Netflix series, recalled the moment during an appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast, Dinner’s on Me.
“It was terrible. It was the worst audition I’ve ever had in my life,” Matarazzo admitted. He explained that nerves caused him to forget his lines entirely. “I blanked on so many of [his] lines. I just had my script right in front of my face. And I just kept looking down and I kept looking up.”
He described the atmosphere in the room as painfully awkward. “And it was the weirdest pauses ever. And I was mortified afterwards, and I was like, ‘What?’”
Despite his embarrassment, Matarazzo was surprised to receive a callback shortly after. He said he questioned the casting team directly, asking, “Why [I got a callback]. They were like, ‘It just clicked. We knew we wanted you back after that one.’”
This was not the first time the actor has spoken about the difficult audition. In a previous interview with Esquire, he shared, “I nervous going into the audition, until [he] realized I did not know all the lines,” adding, “Then I started sweating.”
He recalled the moment he learned he had progressed: “I was in the car with [his] mom. I remember keeping my cool a lot better than she did. I remember I muted the phone because she started screaming. I was like, ‘Mom, oh my gosh, please!’”
Stranger Things Season Five, Vol. 1, is scheduled to premiere on November 26.
Source: The News