‘People wouldn’t stand in my line because I was black’: Stranger Things Star And Miles Morales Casting Frontrunner Caleb McLaughlin Breaks Silence On Racism From Fans
The eagerly anticipated fourth season of Stranger Things was released a few months back in May 2022. The narrative of the show takes up after the show’s third season which was released in 2019. The cast of the American science fiction horror drama series received a lot of praise and recognition for their work. However, it seems that one member of the cast did not receive the same treatment from fans. The actor, Caleb McLaughlin, who played Lucas Sinclair in the series revealed that fans were racist towards him.
Caleb McLaughlin opened up about facing racism
Since the Netflix series Stranger Things‘ release, Caleb McLaughlin has admitted to encountering racist fans. The actor spoke about his first-ever Comic-Con experience after the first season of the show. He told that he felt treated differently than his white costars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink, and Noah Schnapp. “It definitely took a toll on me as a younger kid. My very first Comic-Con, some people wouldn’t stand in my line because I was Black,” he said. In a video posted on Twitter by a spectator, the actor stated at the event that fans discriminated against him.
The actor tries to spread positivity and love as much as he can
On Sunday, Caleb McLaughlin stated in Belgium that while traveling abroad, “you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry.” The actor recalled when his parents said, “It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show,” while trying to console him. “Wow, that’s insane,” he thought to himself at the time.
However, Caleb McLaughlin decided to “spread positivity and love” instead of letting unpleasant experiences rule his time on the show. “Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved,” the actor addressed. “But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people that give hate to me.” Caleb McLaughlin said that he does not return hate to those who have shown him hate. Instead, the actor strives to spread love and positivity through his platform.
Casting director Carmen Cuba thinks Caleb McLaughlin is an amazing actor
Caleb McLaughlin was described as “fantastic” by Stranger Things casting director Carmen Cuba back in August. In a video interview for Vanity Fair the casting director recalled specifics of the show’s casting and audition process. Carmen Cuba stated in the video interview that “[Caleb is] somebody who’d been on Broadway, we knew he had experience, and he brought an energy that the other kids fed into.”
She continued to tell, “All of them together have a very distinct energy and personality that create this friend group, and we saw that immediately from his very first audition.” The casting director praised the young actor and talked about his positive personality.
Source: People
