The child star said the incident was ‘upsetting’.
Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo has described being disturbed by a meeting with a 40-year-old fan who revealed the she had a crush on him when he was a child.
Matarazzo, now 21, rose to fame with his portrayal of Dustin Henderson in the much-loved Netflix franchise when it first aired in 2016.
Alongside co-stars Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard, who were similarly in their early teens when the series became a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Speaking on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, the Connecticut-born actor opened up about some of his strange fan encounters.
“Funny is a way to say it,” he began. “There are some that are a little uncomfortable, like I remember I did one recently where this is not funny, but the reactions around it were quite funny, where this woman in her 40s said straight up, she goes, ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you were 13,’ and I was like, ‘That’s upsetting’.”
“I’m sure she just meant, like, ‘Aw this kid’s cute’, But then she doubled down, saying ‘I’m aware of the age difference’.”
He recalled how even the woman’s daughter, who was there at the time, was shocked, and said: “What the f**k?’ while he was stood near his own mum.
“I look over to my mother, and my mother was right there, my mother was sitting next to me, that was insane.”
Gaten added that he’s also had a few ‘butt-grabs’ over the years, saying: “If someone’s grabbing your tush, you should be able to be like, ‘Hey, f**k off’.”
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Ahead of the release of the fifth and final season, he opened up to podcast host Michael Rosenbaum about the impact the show has had on his private life: “With this show it is quite clear and I am very well aware — and would like my professional team — to understand that I am very OK with Stranger Things being very likely the biggest thing I will ever do.
“And it will most likely be the thing I am remembered for even if I consistently work after this.”
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