'Stranger Things' Star Shares Wild Story About Older Woman Having Crush On Him
"Stranger Things" star Gaten Matarazzo had an all-time weird interaction with an older female fan of the show.
The fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series is currently in production, and will likely return at some point in 2025. It's hard to believe the first season premiered in 2016 when Matarazzo was just 13-years-old.
In fact, the entire cast was very young and many are now in their 20s and some are in their 30s. No longer high school and middle school characters like in the show.
However, Gaten's very young age wasn't a problem for one older fan during an interaction. She made it clear she liked him even when he was barely a teenager.
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Gaten Matarazzo explains weird interaction with female fan. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)
Gaten Matarazzo explains bizarre interaction with female fan
"I did one very recently — and this is not very funny, but the reactions around it were quite funny — where this woman in her 40s said straight up, ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you were 13.' And I was like, ‘That’s upsetting.’ I’m sure she just meant, ‘Aw, this kid’s cute,'" Matarazzo, who is currently 21, said on the Monday episode of the "Inside of You" podcast when asked about awkward interactions, according to Us Weekly.
Well, it turns out the woman might not have been so innocent. How do we know? He claims she doubled down by making it crystal clear she was aware of the age difference.
"She was like, ‘I’m aware of the age difference.’ And then I was like, ‘Alright.’ And her daughter was with her, and her daughter goes, ‘Mom, what the f*ck?’ I swear to God," Matarazzo further explained.
He guessed the daughter's age was also about 13.
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Gaten Matarazzo had a strange interaction with an older female fan. She claimed to have a crush on him since he was 13. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Two points to make. First, if you ever find yourself an older person telling someone how you had a crush on them when they were 13, I suggest you stop, go outside and touch some grass. It's beyond weird to tell that to anyone in any context unless you were middle school sweethearts or something I suppose.
It's significantly weirder to tell it to a person you don't know when you're in your 40s. Don't even try to convince me it's not strange. The initial comment could perhaps have been written off, but once she doubled down, it entered cringe territory.
Second, and perhaps a little controversial, can you imagine the reaction if the sexes were reversed? There would have been no grace or joking nature when it came to the first part. If a grown dude in his 40s walks up to a 21-year-old woman and tells her he's had a crush on her since she was 13, it's a curtain call for him. That's a reputation destroyer on the spot.
I'm physically uncomfortable even thinking about it.
Fortunately, it seems like Gaten got out of the situation without it turning into a big deal. Definitely still strange. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.