‘Stranger Things’ Cara Buono reveals daughter’s theory shocked Duffers

Cara Buono, Stranger Things’ Karen Wheeler, says her daughter gave a surprising theory on set that stunned the Duffer Brothers.

Buono, who has played the mother of Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Holly (Nell Fisher) since season 1 of the hit Netflix series, has always brought her daughter Esmé along.

The girl, now 13, has grown up with the cast members, including Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin.

"My daughter has been coming to set since she was 3,” Buono said, “and she always had really interesting theories about things that were happening on set.”

The actress recalled that at the end of Season 4, when those tiny white, snow-like flakes fell from the sky, Esmé told the creators that “she thought they were bits of bone from the various people who were killed in the Upside Down.”

"This was at age 10,” Buono said.

Ross and Matt Duffer responded with “whoa” in unison.

"She wants to be a writer," Buono said of her daughter. "So she's just honing her skills now, her imagination."

Esmé didn’t quite make it into the writers’ room ahead of the show’s fifth and final season, but she did land her first on-screen moment in the latest instalment.

“She got to do a bit of background work, which was so much fun, she even tried on some of my wigs,” Buono shares. “There was one day when we were both filming different scenes, both in full ’80s looks, and it felt surreal. Really special.”

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