‘Stranger Things’ Star Gaten Matarazzo Once Met A “Woman In Her 40s” Who Confessed That She’s Had A Crush On Him Since He Was 13: “I Was Like, ‘That’s Upsetting’”

Gaten Matarazzo has had some moments with fans at conventions that have been “a little uncomfortable,” and this one certainly stuck out as memorable.

On Tuesday’s (May 28) episode of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, the 21-year-old Stranger Things star dished on meeting a mom who claimed she’s had a crush on him since he was a startlingly young age.

“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,'” he shared. “And I was like, ‘That’s upsetting.’ I’m sure she just meant, ‘Aw, this kid’s cute.'”

Earlier on in the podcast, Matarazzo said he was 12 when he booked Stranger Things, and 13 by the time Season 1 debuted in July 2016. When it came to his interaction with his admiring older fan, things got — in the name of his hit Netflix show — stranger, as he told host Michael Rosenbaum that the woman “doubled down.”

“Like, ‘I’m aware of the age difference.’ And then I was like, ‘Alright,’” he recalled. “And her daughter was with her, and her daughter goes, ‘Mom, what the fuck?’ I swear to God, this girl must have been like 13.”

Later on, Matarazzo revealed that he’s even “had a few butt grabs” from fans over the course of his career.

Nonetheless, in other more exciting and less uncomfy news, Stranger Things finally kicked off production on its fifth and final season as of Jan. 8, per Netflix’s Tudum. According to the streamer, co-creator Ross Duffer has been posting pics on his Instagram to satiate fans’ anticipation as they await further details on Season 5.

Series star David Harbour teased on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast in August 2023 that he was “excited to wrap [the show] up in a bold, amazing way.” While he hadn’t read the script at the time, he claimed he knew “where [they] net out,” noting that “it’s very, very moving.”

Stranger Things Seasons 1-4 are streaming on Netflix.