Are the 'Stranger Things' kids all grown up? Here's how they're dealing with the spotlight

We’ve been calling the young stars of “Stranger Things” “kids” for the past three years, but ...

Does a “kid” become one of Time magazine’s most influential people? Does a “kid” have millions of social media followers paying attention to their every post? Does a “kid” help shape their TV character?

Going into Season 3, the goriest and perhaps best of the Netflix series, many of the show’s 14-to-17-year-old lead actors – Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp – juggled much of the above while in real life becoming international celebrities, fashion plates and lightning rods for controversy.

It’s a lot of pressure for a kid to be under.

“We’re definitely considered kids and always will be, since I started (on the show) when I was 14,” says Sink, 17, by phone while getting her nails done for the show’s premiere June 28. Sink, who plays Maxine, the new-to-town skateboarder and most recent "Stranger Things" friend group member, donned a custom Prada outfit for the event and has had a stylist since Season 2, when she joined the show.

Here's some of what the cast has had to contend with since the 2016 debut of "Stranger Things."

Social media stardom

Sink was quietly on Instagram for several years, but since she has starred on "Stranger Things," her follower count has grown to almost 5 million people.

“Once I had lots of followers, that was really intimidating,” she says. “I didn’t have too many followers before. Maybe a few Broadway fans.” (Sink was on Broadway as an alternate for “Annie” in 2012, and starred in “The Audience” in 2015.) She preferred flying under the radar.

“I was definitely more into it (social media) before ‘Stranger Things’ rather than after,” she says, noting that sometimes she even gets nervous when middle-school-age girls want to take photos with her, because she prefers her anonymity.

“It’s healthy to stay off (Instagram now),” says Sink, who deletes the app from her phone every now and then.

And it’s easy to see why.

Fifteen-year-old Brown, aka show breakout Eleven and the aforementioned “influential” Time celebrity, has seen backlash after critics deemed her Instagram photos "too mature." (Her account has more than 19 million followers.) Brown even had to shut down one of her Twitter accounts after she was falsely credited with saying offensive things and became the target of homophobic memes. (Brown is an outspoken LGBTQ advocate.)

Matarazzo, who plays science-loving nerd Dustin, faced his own social media headache after Netflix announced that he’d host "Prank Encounters," a show that pranks people on the first day of their jobs. After backlash, the teen posted an Instagram video to his 9 million followers to “clear up confusion” about his show, promising that the "over-the-top" pranks happened only for one-day jobs.

“I feel like the only reason I’m on social media now is because I was on social media before the show,” Matarazzo says. “It’s almost like a responsibility now, rather than just doing what I want.”

McLaughlin, 17, who plays the slingshot-pro Lucas (and Max's new boyfriend), has found being a celebrity has its pitfalls. “Not everything is good," he told People recently. "Some things are great. I think most of the things are great, but of course, the pressure and just being out there all the time – I’m just glad I have my parents to keep me grounded and be by my side when I’m stressed.”

Acting their age

Matarazzo, 16, has been open about his rare disease, cleidocranial dysplasia, which is referenced on “Stranger Things” and affects the development of his bones and teeth, making him appear young and talk with a lisp.

But his co-stars say that in reality, the introspective star comes off much older.

“Gaten’s really 45,” his 27-year-old onscreen bestie Joe Keery (Steve) jokes.

Wolfhard, who plays group ringleader and Eleven's love interest Mike, jokes in his Twitter profile that he is “32 years young!” Really, he’s also 16.

And when it comes to Brown, “she’s so emotionally mature,” says co-star Dacre Montgomery (Billy).

Fourteen-year-old Schnapp, who plays the monster-possessed Will, says their aging is getting obvious. "It’s crazy now — like, Caleb has a beard. Everyone’s tall. We’ve grown up so much," he told The New York Times.

On set, everyone is a professional

“When we first cast the show, we were auditioning hundreds of kids – and it was instantly clear to everyone that these kids were special,” show creators Matt and Ross Duffer say by email. “They were all very authentic and unique – we felt we hadn’t seen kids quite like this on TV before.”

Many of the actors already had experience. Sink, McClaughlin and Matarazzo had been on Broadway. Brown appeared on TV shows including “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” and “Intruders.” Schnapp was in “Bridge of Spies” and voiced Charlie Brown in “The Peanuts Movie.”

This season, though, "they’ve certainly become more confident,” say the Duffers. “At this point, we trust them completely with their characters.”

And they can speak up. When it came to Sink’s character, she didn’t like how Season 2 ended with a rivalry between the girls.

“I wanted to see that friendship between El and Max. I didn’t want them to put the two girls against each other,” says Sink, who's close friends with Brown in real life. In Season 3, the two characters become inseparable, supportive pals.

On set, the young actors were encouraged to go beyond the script.

Maya Hawke (Robin) says Matazzaro and Keery were "amazing improvisers," riffing about being allergic to Tic Tacs, getting punched in the face and learning life lessons in an ice cream shop – some of which made it into the final cut.

The off-the-cuff banter “resulted in some of the season’s funniest exchanges,” the Duffers say.

And other projects are calling

Outside "Stranger Things," the young stars are continuing to act in major projects. Brown is starring in the "Godzilla" franchise and Wolfhard is a lead in the "It" movies.

Matarazzo is set to voice a camel in the animated film "Hump" and plans to return to the stage soon. “I don’t see how I could be any more satisfied than I am right now as an actor," he says.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Stranger Things': Here's how the young stars deal with the spotlight