Photographed by Pierre Toussaint Styled by Naomi Smith Words by Alexandra English
Ahead of the fifth and final season of Netflix’s megahit series 'Stranger Things', the actor reflects on the role that changed her life
is all grown up
For the uninitiated (or the forgetful — it has been three years since the season four finale after all), here’s a quick Stranger Things 101: set in the 1980s, the series stars Winona Ryder as the mother of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), a boy who goes missing at the same time that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a girl with psychokinetic abilities, escapes from a government-run laboratory. While Will’s friends search for him, they uncover a portal to the Upside Down (a carbon copy of their sleepy town, except it’s where all the monsters live). During the four seasons that follow, government conspiracies ensue, different monsters appear and more kids go missing. The show is one of Netflix’s most-watched series and immediately became a pop culture phenomenon.
Appearing in the first episode of season two, Sink plays the tomboyish Maxine ‘Max’ Mayfield, aka MadMax. She befriends the boys and Eleven, and becomes one of the kid army battling the bad guys. It doesn’t go particularly well for Max, who, at the end of season four, was left blind and in a coma after being attacked by a demon.
“Season four was quite the journey for Max, and you don’t really get a satisfying end for her,” Sink says. “She’s in this weird in-between state. But in season five, there’s more to her story — her battle is far from over. We’ve obviously spent a lot of time away from her, so it will be interesting to have her fill everybody in.”
Stranger Things almost didn’t happen for Sink. During her audition, she was told she was too old for the part (she would be the second-oldest kid), but she begged for the chance. After four callbacks and a lie about being able to rollerblade, she secured the role of Max.
This determination to perform was evident from a young age. Spending the first part of her childhood in the small town of Brenham, Texas, Sink grew up in a tight-knit, sports-obsessed household with three older brothers, a younger sister and their teacher parents, mum Lori and dad Casey. The Sink kids weren’t allowed to watch many movies: Hairspray and The Sound of Music were allowed, Grease was not (although Sink secretly watched it anyway). “We weren’t really allowed to listen to a lot of pop music, but our loophole was musical theatre songs,” she says mischievously. Sink and her brother Mitchell would recreate scenes from High School Musical and perform for the family. Seeing their love of performing, their mother put them both into acting, singing and dancing classes. “It became this outlet of expression for the two of us that was different from the sports we were raised on,” she says. “It gradually built over the years until you couldn’t get me back into softball.”
In 2012, when Sink was just 10, she was cast in a Broadway revival of the 1977 musical Annie, which ran until January 2014. The family moved to New Jersey to support her, swapping a six-hour commute for a 40-minute drive.
Despite performing multiple times a week, she still found time to make her television debut in 2013, taking on a guest role in The Americans. In 2015, she added another Broadway play to her repertoire, playing a young version of Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, created by The Crown’s Peter Morgan.
Sink had been homeschooled while she was on Broadway, but went back to high school to experience a ‘normal’ life with kids her own age. She didn’t give up acting, though. In 2016, when she was 14, she combined all of her family’s interests by making her film debut alongside Naomi Watts in the sports drama Chuck, inspired by heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, the underdog whose bout with Muhammad Ali inspired the 1976 film Rocky.
Wearing FENDI AND CARTIER. BEAUTY GIORGIO ARMANI
This story appears in the DECEMBER 2025 Issue of
“The training I had done at that point was just for theatre; I’d never taken a class on acting for the screen,” she says. “So the terms they were using, like when they’d say, ‘Rolling!’, I was like, What does that mean? Everything was just so foreign, and nobody explained it to me so I just had to pretend like I knew what I was doing.”
And then, the role that changed it all: Max. “I had very limited experience in film, but then Stranger Things came along and it just felt right,” she says. “It was the biggest thing I’d ever auditioned for but I just had this feeling like, This is going to happen.”
To say Sink immediately captivated Stranger Things fans would be an understatement, but the impression she made on the industry was even more impressive: Winona Ryder called her the next Meryl Streep, and luxury fashion brands jumped at the chance to work with her. Five months after Max first skateboarded into school on Stranger Things, Sink was making her modelling debut at Undercover’s fall 2018 show at Paris Fashion Week. A few months after that, she was walking for Miu Miu in a runway cast of actors and models including Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Chloë Sevigny and Uma Thurman. “I’ve always been very interested in fashion,” Sink says. “I remember being very young and sketching out dresses and [Mitchell] and I would play games where we would be like, ‘Okay, we’re designing a dress for Blah-Blah and she’s going here and you have to incorporate this colour,’” she recalls with a laugh. “To be able to mesh acting with fashion and work with brands I never dreamt I’d even get to wear or own has been super amazing.”
The partnerships kept coming — most recently, Sink fronted a campaign for Prada’s Re-Nylon, the brand’s regenerated nylon initiative, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. “It’s such an important conversation to have, and Prada has had so much impact [in the sustainability space],” she says. “That was an amazing campaign.”
Sadie Sink
Talent SADIE SINK
Editor Jessica Bailey
Fashion Director Naomi Smith
Photographer PHILIP GAY
WORDS ALEXANDRA ENGLISH
HAIR HALLEY BRISKER AT THE WALL GROUP
MAKEUP MARY WILES AT WALTER SCHUPFER MANAGEMENT
MANICURE AMI STREETS AT THE WALL GROUP
PRODUCTION 2DM MANAGEMENT AND ROBYN FAY-PERKINS PHILIP GAY IS REPRESENTED BY 2DM MANAGEMENT
Isabel Marant coat, price on application; Cartier rings, from top: $4450 each, and $2260. BEAUTY NOTE: Armani Beauty Vertigo Lift Mascara.
McQueen dress, $3375, and tights, $446; Celine shoes, $1650 (worn throughout); Cartier rings, on right hand: $4450 each (ring finger), and $4200, on left hand: $2260 each, and bracelets, from top: $8600, $21,000, and $12,700.
Imagine, if you will, this exact photoshoot, but with hundreds of cyclists from the Tour de France whizzing past: hordes of high-vis lycra flashing past Pierre Toussaint’s camera as Anna Robinson poses in front of Parisian monuments in the season’s
high fashion. It could have been amazing; more likely, it would have been a disaster. Thankfully, Robinson didn’t even realise the race was on until she’d gotten home and washed her face. “There were clues, but funnily enough I didn’t notice it,” she says with a laugh. “My housemate was like, ‘Oh, I was doing some organising for the Tour de France today,’ and I was like, ‘Wait, what?’
”This ability to zone out her surroundings is part of what makes 22-year-old Robinson “heavenly” to work with, says ELLE’s fashion director, Naomi Smith. And it turns out many of the international fashion houses agree — in little more than 12 months, Robinson has walked more than 40 fashion week runways for brands including Prada, Christian Dior, Hermès, Loewe, Gucci, Chanel and Alaïa, among others. For a girl who grew up outside Melbourne, with no real idea what the luxury fashion world involved, that’s a Very Big Deal.
I
LEFT Louis Vuitton skirt, $7500, bodysuit, $4250, and boots, price on application; Swarovski necklace, $500.
RIGHT Chanel dresses, $12,220, and $22,370 (worn underneath), and shoes, $4790.
McQueen dress, $12,348, and shoes, price on application; Swarovski earrings, $450, and rings, $189 (on left hand), and, $330.
Sadie Sink wears Erdem dress, $6070, and collar, price on application; Cartier rings, on right hand, from top: $2260 (also on left hand), and $4450 each.
Photographed by Philip Gay Styled by Naomi Smith Words by Alexandra English
might not have turned out like this. Sadie Sink’s transition from child actor to adult A-lister could have gone the way of countless others whose paths to stable stardom were derailed by an abundance of, well, everything except tender loving care.
When Sink appears on our Zoom call, it’s immediately clear she’ll follow in the calm and calculated footsteps of Emma Watson or Dakota Fanning before her — that is, she’s grounded, humble and clear about the direction in which she’s headed. There are no obvious signs of ego that would be warranted of someone her age and calibre — by which I mean a catalogue of work that includes collaborating with Taylor Swift, Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser and Naomi Watts; a slew of fashion week appearances and campaigns for brands such as Miu Miu, Prada and Armani Beauty; a bunch of awards and nominations; multiple stints on Broadway; and 24.7 million Instagram followers, despite not keeping the app on her phone.
Her ability to stay in the game is something she credits to beginning her career in theatre — that hyper-disciplined environment drilled into her an impressive work ethic from the age of eight — rather than being created by, churned around and spat out by the Disney machine. (She also credits her mum for still asking her to take out the trash, even when she’s been to the Golden Globes the night before.)
As we chat, Sink is all smiles, relaxed on a cream couch under colourful Matisse-like prints, that famous red hair falling in casual waves around her face. She’s in London working on the next Spider-Man, the details of which are currently top secret (“You’ll have to wait and see,” she says with a smirk). It’s a moment of in-between (or, maybe, upside-down?) for Sink: she’s already said goodbye to Stranger Things, the Netflix phenomenon that made her famous, but the final series hasn’t aired yet. Given how enthusiastic the show’s fandom is, it’s going to be an emotional and drawn-out farewell as the eight feature film-length episodes drop in three batches: four episodes on November 27, three episodes on Boxing Day, and the finale on New Year’s Day.
I
Miu Miu shirt, $2550; Cartier rings, on right hand, $2260, on left hand, from left: $4450, and $4750.
FRAGRANCE NOTE Armani Sì Passione eau de parfum Intense.
Prada top, $3020, and shoes, $1910; Zara jeans, $69.95; Cartier rings, clockwise from top: $2260, $4750, $4450, $4450, $2260, and $4200.
BEAUTY NOTE On eyes: Armani Beauty Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow in Bronze; on lips: Armani Beauty Lip Power Lipstick in Eccentrico.
Prada top, $3000, and shorts, $2800; stylist’s own stockings (worn throughout); Cartier bracelets, from top: $15,600, $16,700, and $15,600.
t’s to the credit of the Duffer brothers, the creators of Stranger Things, that Sink and the rest of the cast were able to explore projects outside of the hit series; it meant they weren’t siloed off from the rest of the industry from a young age and instead were able
to play and explore within it.
“It was so important [they let us do that] because anything I did outside of Stranger Things was helping me grow as an actor, and then I’d return to the next season and have a new skill set,” Sink says. “There was a certain year when it took a turn and I felt like, Oh, I can play characters outside of this genre, and it opened up my world and got me excited about different opportunities [after the show ends].”
She’s referring to 2021, between Stranger Things seasons three and four, when she starred in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama The Whale. Until that point, most of her side projects had involved playing kids in supernatural horrors. In The Whale, she played Ellie, the estranged, surly teenage daughter of a dangerously overweight teacher, Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his partner, the male student he left Ellie’s mother for. The film received a six-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and Sink received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actor/Actress. It was an early step on the path from child star to adult actor.
Sink has said working on The Whale was like a bootcamp that helped her prepare for Stranger Things season four, which was more emotionally demanding than previous seasons, particularly the “Dear Billy” episode where she delivers a monologue at her stepbrother’s grave before nearly being killed herself. She pulled everything she learnt from Ellie and channelled it into Max: vulnerability, fear, emotion. She won the Hollywood Critics Association Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series.
Meanwhile, Sink had unknowingly attracted Taylor Swift’s attention and had become the deal-breaking factor in whether Swift made a short film to accompany her breakup anthem “All Too Well”. Luckily, Sink — a card-carrying Swiftie — accepted the offer to play the singer opposite Dylan O’Brien, who, if rumours are to be believed, played Jake Gyllenhaal. Having to tap into love and heartbreak — without having yet experienced it for herself — was another step towards cultivating a career with longevity.
I
Fendi dress, price on application; Cartier bracelets (worn as necklaces), $15,600 each.
BEAUTY NOTE On skin: Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in Fair Peach; on cheeks: Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Glow Blush in Euphoric.
espite spending so much time away from playing Max, Sink has never found it difficult to step back into her shoes or, more specifically, her Sk8-Hi Vans. “Max is just second nature at this point,” she says. “Because I established her at such a
a young age, she doesn’t feel that different from me. She’s kind of like this core in me, so it’s super easy to go back to her season after season.”
And what about saying goodbye to her? “She’s such a huge part of me that I don’t think I can shrug her off. I could never say goodbye to her,” Sink says. “I don’t need to play Max to know her.”
Saying goodbye to the show and cast was the harder part. “My mum and I were just talking about it yesterday; we were going on a trip down memory lane and she showed me one of my favourite videos,” Sink says. “The boys are all in their Ghostbusters costumes and I’m in my Michael Myers [from Halloween] costume in the makeup trailer, and I think a Tears for Fears song is playing and we’re all dancing together — that was my first day of filming. I get so emotional watching that video because I remember feeling so nervous to be there, beyond being on a huge TV show but with a group of established friends who loved each other so much, worrying about Will I fit in?, and now I see that I did. It’s such a precious video.”
It’s a unique position to be in, growing up on-screen (Sink’s first-ever kiss was on set, with Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas), with hordes of fans who know very little, if anything at all, about you personally. For Sink, keeping parts of herself just for herself was intuitive. “When I was younger, I thought maybe I needed to be more open about who I was because there’s so much public interest,” she says. “But I was always resistant, and now I’m really grateful because I’d rather people see me as Max than Sadie. If I can leave myself out of it, then I’ve done my job.”
D
Celine dress, price on application; Cartier bracelets (worn as necklaces), $15,600 each, and rings, on right hand, from left: $4450 each, and $4200, and on left hand: $4750.
hile Sink was waiting for season five to drop, she returned to her first love: theatre. “Another thing I would do between seasons of Stranger Things was theatre workshops,” she says. “I’d been thinking of dipping my toes
back into theatre [after the series], so it was really helpful just being in that environment, even for a couple of days.”
When we speak, she’s not too long ago wrapped the Broadway play John Proctor is the Villain. Directed by Danya Taymor, the story is set in 2018 in a small Christian town in Georgia. Sink plays Shelby, one of a group of girls who are reading The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s 1953 play about the Salem witch trials. In their post-MeToo landscape, the girls realise they empathise more with the women who were condemned as witches than with the play’s protagonist, and begin to rail against the patriarchy. The role saw Sink become one of the youngest stars to earn a Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, and she’s now producing the film adaptation.
“Going back to Broadway was scary at first, but really formative for where I’m at in my career right now and how I approach acting as an adult,” she says. “I started in theatre, but this time just felt so different — it was all new people, new collaborators, there was nothing that felt like home. It was a little bit scary but also this beautiful blank slate that really taught me to think about, Okay, what do I need as an actor? How do I approach acting in general?, and take notice of that for the first time.”
For Sink’s first post-Stranger Things project to be a feminist play written and directed by women, starring women and with a majority female creative team, speaks volumes about which projects she’ll be drawn to as a career actor: ones that are considered, politically engaged and have something important to say. Sadie Sink is all grown up and doing just fine.
W
Christian Dior jacket, $27,000, skirt, $7700, briefs, $1500, and boots, $3600; Swarovski ring, $330.
stardom were derailed by an abundance of, well, everything except tender loving care.
When Sink appears on our Zoom call, it’s immediately clear she’ll follow in the calm and calculated footsteps of Emma Watson or Dakota Fanning before her — that is, she’s grounded, humble and clear about the direction in which she’s headed. There are no obvious signs of ego that would be warranted of someone her age and calibre — by which I mean a catalogue of work that includes collaborating with Taylor Swift, Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser and Naomi Watts; a slew of fashion week appearances and campaigns for brands such as Miu Miu, Prada and Armani Beauty; a bunch of awards and nominations; multiple stints on Broadway; and 24.7 million Instagram followers, despite not keeping the app on her phone.
Her ability to stay in the game is something she credits to beginning her career in theatre — that hyper-disciplined environment drilled into her an impressive work ethic from the age of eight — rather than being created by, churned around and spat out by the Disney machine. (She also credits her mum for still asking her to take out the trash, even when she’s been to the Golden Globes the night before.)
As we chat, Sink is all smiles, relaxed on a cream couch under colourful Matisse-like prints, that famous red hair falling in casual waves around her face. She’s in London working on the next Spider-Man, the details of which are currently top secret (“You’ll have to wait and see,” she says with a smirk). It’s a moment of in-between (or, maybe, upside-down?) for Sink: she’s already said goodbye to Stranger Things, the Netflix phenomenon that made her famous, but the final series hasn’t aired yet. Given how enthusiastic the show’s fandom is, it’s going to be an emotional and drawn-out farewell as the eight feature film-length episodes drop in three batches: four episodes on November 27, three episodes on Boxing Day, and the finale on New Year’s Day.
For the uninitiated (or the forgetful — it has been three years since the season four finale after all), here’s a quick Stranger Things 101: set in the 1980s, the series stars Winona Ryder as the mother of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), a boy who goes missing at the same time that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a girl with psychokinetic abilities, escapes from a government-run laboratory. While Will’s friends search for him, they uncover a portal to the Upside Down (a carbon copy of their sleepy town, except it’s where all the monsters live). During the four seasons that follow, government conspiracies ensue, different monsters appear and more kids go missing. The show is one of Netflix’s most-watched series and immediately became a pop culture phenomenon.
Appearing in the first episode of season two, Sink plays the tomboyish Maxine ‘Max’ Mayfield, aka MadMax. She befriends the boys and Eleven, and becomes one of the kid army battling the bad guys. It doesn’t go particularly well for Max, who, at the end of season four, was left blind and in a coma after being attacked by a demon.
“Season four was quite the journey for Max, and you don’t really get a satisfying end for her,” Sink says. “She’s in this weird in-between state. But in season five, there’s more to her story — her battle is far from over. We’ve obviously spent a lot of time away from her, so it will be interesting to have her fill everybody in.”
McQueen dress, $3375, and tights, $446; Celine shoes, $1650 (worn throughout); Cartier rings, on right hand: $4450 each (ring finger), and $4200, on left hand: $2260 each, and bracelets, from top: $8600, $21,000, and $12,700.
Stranger Things almost didn’t happen for Sink. During her audition, she was told she was too old for the part (she would be the second-oldest kid), but she begged for the chance. After four callbacks and a lie about being able to rollerblade, she secured the role of Max.
This determination to perform was evident from a young age. Spending the first part of her childhood in the small town of Brenham, Texas, Sink grew up in a tight-knit, sports-obsessed household with three older brothers, a younger sister and their teacher parents, mum Lori and dad Casey. The Sink kids weren’t allowed to watch many movies: Hairspray and The Sound of Music were allowed, Grease was not (although Sink secretly watched it anyway). “We weren’t really allowed to listen to a lot of pop music, but our loophole was musical theatre songs,” she says mischievously. Sink and her brother Mitchell would recreate scenes from High School Musical and perform for the family. Seeing their love of performing, their mother put them both into acting, singing and dancing classes. “It became this outlet of expression for the two of us that was different from the sports we were raised on,” she says. “It gradually built over the years until you couldn’t get me back into softball.”
Miu Miu shirt, $2550; Cartier rings, on right hand, $2260, on left hand, from left: $4450, and $4750.
FRAGRANCE NOTE Armani Sì Passione eau de parfum Intense.
In 2012, when Sink was just 10, she was cast in a Broadway revival of the 1977 musical Annie, which ran until January 2014. The family moved to New Jersey to support her, swapping a six-hour commute for a 40-minute drive.
Despite performing multiple times a week, she still found time to make her television debut in 2013, taking on a guest role in The Americans. In 2015, she added another Broadway play to her repertoire, playing a young version of Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, created by The Crown’s Peter Morgan.
Sink had been homeschooled while she was on Broadway, but went back to high school to experience a ‘normal’ life with kids her own age. She didn’t give up acting, though. In 2016, when she was 14, she combined all of her family’s interests by making her film debut alongside Naomi Watts in the sports drama Chuck, inspired by heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, the underdog whose bout with Muhammad Ali inspired the 1976 film Rocky.
Prada top, $3020, and shoes, $1910; Zara jeans, $69.95; Cartier rings, clockwise from top: $2260, $4750, $4450, $4450, $2260, and $4200.
BEAUTY NOTE On eyes: Armani Beauty Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow in Bronze; on lips: Armani Beauty Lip Power Lipstick in Eccentrico.
t might not have turned out like this. Sadie Sink’s transition from child actor to adult A-lister could have gone the way of countless others whose paths to stable
stardom were derailed by an abundance of, well, everything except tender loving care.
When Sink appears on our Zoom call, it’s immediately clear she’ll follow in the calm and calculated footsteps of Emma Watson or Dakota Fanning before her — that is, she’s grounded, humble and clear about the direction in which she’s headed. There are no obvious signs of ego that would be warranted of someone her age and calibre — by which I mean a catalogue of work that includes collaborating with Taylor Swift, Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser and Naomi Watts; a slew of fashion week appearances and campaigns for brands such as Miu Miu, Prada and Armani Beauty; a bunch of awards and nominations; multiple stints on Broadway; and 24.7 million Instagram followers, despite not keeping the app on her phone.
Her ability to stay in the game is something she credits to beginning her career in theatre — that hyper-disciplined environment drilled into her an impressive work ethic from the age of eight — rather than being created by, churned around and spat out by the Disney machine. (She also credits her mum for still asking her to take out the trash, even when she’s been to the Golden Globes the night before.)
As we chat, Sink is all smiles, relaxed on a cream couch under colourful Matisse-like prints, that famous red hair falling in casual waves around her face. She’s in London working on the next Spider-Man, the details of which are currently top secret (“You’ll have to wait and see,” she says with a smirk). It’s a moment of in-between (or, maybe, upside-down?) for Sink: she’s already said goodbye to Stranger Things, the Netflix phenomenon that made her famous, but the final series hasn’t aired yet. Given how enthusiastic the show’s fandom is, it’s going to be an emotional and drawn-out farewell as the eight feature film-length episodes drop in three batches: four episodes on November 27, three episodes on Boxing Day, and the finale on New Year’s Day.
I
Prada top, $3020, and shoes, $1910; Zara jeans, $69.95; Cartier rings, clockwise from top: $2260, $4750, $4450, $4450, $2260, and $4200.
BEAUTY NOTE On eyes: Armani Beauty Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow in Bronze; on lips: Armani Beauty Lip Power Lipstick in Eccentrico.
t’s to the credit of the Duffer brothers, the creators of Stranger Things, that Sink and the rest of the cast were able to explore projects outside of the hit series;
it meant they weren’t siloed off from the rest of the industry from a young age and instead were able to play and explore within it.
“It was so important [they let us do that] because anything I did outside of Stranger Things was helping me grow as an actor, and then I’d return to the next season and have a new skill set,” Sink says. “There was a certain year when it took a turn and I felt like, Oh, I can play characters outside of this genre, and it opened up my world and got me excited about different opportunities [after the show ends].”
She’s referring to 2021, between Stranger Things seasons three and four, when she starred in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama The Whale. Until that point, most of her side projects had involved playing kids in supernatural horrors. In The Whale, she played Ellie, the estranged, surly teenage daughter of a dangerously overweight teacher, Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his partner, the male student he left Ellie’s mother for. The film received a six-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and Sink received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actor/Actress. It was an early step on the path from child star to adult actor.
Sink has said working on The Whale was like a bootcamp that helped her prepare for Stranger Things season four, which was more emotionally demanding than previous seasons, particularly the “Dear Billy” episode where she delivers a monologue at her stepbrother’s grave before nearly being killed herself. She pulled everything she learnt from Ellie and channelled it into Max: vulnerability, fear, emotion. She won the Hollywood Critics Association Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series.
Meanwhile, Sink had unknowingly attracted Taylor Swift’s attention and had become the deal-breaking factor in whether Swift made a short film to accompany her breakup anthem “All Too Well”. Luckily, Sink — a card-carrying Swiftie — accepted the offer to play the singer opposite Dylan O’Brien, who, if rumours are to be believed, played Jake Gyllenhaal. Having to tap into love and heartbreak — without having yet experienced it for herself — was another step towards cultivating a career with longevity.
I
Isabel Marant coat, price on application; Cartier rings, from top: $4450 each, and $2260.
BEAUTY NOTE Armani Beauty Vertigo Lift Mascara.
t’s to the credit of the Duffer brothers, the creators of Stranger Things, that Sink and the rest of the cast were able to explore projects outside of the hit series;
it meant they weren’t siloed off from the rest of the industry from a young age and instead were able to play and explore within it.
“It was so important [they let us do that] because anything I did outside of Stranger Things was helping me grow as an actor, and then I’d return to the next season and have a new skill set,” Sink says. “There was a certain year when it took a turn and I felt like, Oh, I can play characters outside of this genre, and it opened up my world and got me excited about different opportunities [after the show ends].”
She’s referring to 2021, between Stranger Things seasons three and four, when she starred in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama The Whale. Until that point, most of her side projects had involved playing kids in supernatural horrors. In The Whale, she played Ellie, the estranged, surly teenage daughter of a dangerously overweight teacher, Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his partner, the male student he left Ellie’s mother for. The film received a six-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and Sink received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actor/Actress. It was an early step on the path from child star to adult actor.
Sink has said working on The Whale was like a bootcamp that helped her prepare for Stranger Things season four, which was more emotionally demanding than previous seasons, particularly the “Dear Billy” episode where she delivers a monologue at her stepbrother’s grave before nearly being killed herself. She pulled everything she learnt from Ellie and channelled it into Max: vulnerability, fear, emotion. She won the Hollywood Critics Association Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series.
Meanwhile, Sink had unknowingly attracted Taylor Swift’s attention and had become the deal-breaking factor in whether Swift made a short film to accompany her breakup anthem “All Too Well”. Luckily, Sink — a card-carrying Swiftie — accepted the offer to play the singer opposite Dylan O’Brien, who, if rumours are to be believed, played Jake Gyllenhaal. Having to tap into love and heartbreak — without having yet experienced it for herself — was another step towards cultivating a career with longevity.
I