Before he became best-known for playing Sam in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sean Astin was a beloved child star of the 80s, most especially for his role in The Goonies.
As any Stranger Things fan knows, The Goonies were a big inspiration behind the hit Netflix series, which fans are eagerly awaiting the return of next October.
We recently got a brand new trailer for the new season at San Diego Comic Con, where Screenrant found out more from producer/director Shawn Levy.
While we know that Barb, a fan favourite from season one, is indeed not returning, a new character will reportedly take a similar role.
According to Levy: “Sean Astin as Bob is going to be, I’m saying it, but he’s kind of going to be the Barb of Season 2. His part is substantially bigger. He’s in a lot of episodes. He is magnificent. And one thing the Duffers do really well is when they see what an actor is capable of, they write to that.
“They don’t make the actor play what’s on the page. They often change what’s on the page to exploit everything that’s unique about that actor. They did it with Steve Harrington last season and this season again and they did it big time with Sean Astin who as Bob I think is going to be a Barb level fan favorite.”
He also acknowledged the uniqueness that was Barb in the first place and that they’re not planning on replacing her: “Barb may have been lightning in the bottle. I don’t know. We are not with any character trying to create a new Barb. It’s a fruitless exercise.”
Not much is known about Astin’s character yet other than that he’s Winona Ryder’s character Joyce’s new boyfriend, and that was a high school contemporary of David Harbour’s Hopper and Joyce.
