The first instalment of the final season has dropped, and Holly Wheeler is no longer the background character Stranger Things once fans knew. The baby sister of Mike and Nancy, the youngest Wheeler sibling has found herself in the spotlight for season five  – but there’s a new face bringing her to life this time round…
If you’re thinking Holly looks a little bit different to previous seasons, you’d be correct. While the character was previously played by twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, the role of Holly Wheeler has now been taken over by British actor Nell Fisher, 14. It’s a move that signals a big end for the final series (released over three episode blocks), which will see Hawkins fall under lockdown as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) hunts down Vecna.
But why exactly was Holly Wheeler recast, and who is Nell Fisher? Here’s what you need to know.
Why was Holly Wheeler recast in Stranger Things season five?
The decision to recast Holly Wheeler came from the show’s writers, The Duffer Brothers, who chose to age up the character in the show. In Stranger Things season 1, set in 1983, fans learn that Holly Wheeler is three-years old. While the timeline of the show would suggest that she’s now seven years old, season five’s episode four notes that Holly and her classmates are all aged between nine and 10 years old.
Having been the youngest Wheeler kid in Stranger Things season past, season five also sees Holly take on a much more substantial storyline. The second episode on Netflix is simply titled: ‘The Vanishing Of Holly Wheeler.’
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Understandably, this required an older, more experienced actor who was capable of carrying a bit more weight in the storyline. Holly experiences disturbing visions and starts communicating with an unseen presence, before she’s abducted by a Demogorgon and dragged into the world of the Upside Down – a move which sees her switch from background character to potential key player in saving Hawkins.
Revealing they needed a talented actor who also resembled the original twins, Matt and Ross Duffer admitted the recasting did make them ‘really nervous.’
Who originally played Holly Wheeler?
For the first four seasons of Stranger Things (from 2016 to 2022), the role of Holly was shared by identical twin sisters, Anniston and Tinsley Price. Born 4 August, 2012, the twins recently turned 13 years old.
The twins were just three years old when the first series of Stranger Things was filmed, when the character of Holly was said to be a toddler. They’d previously appeared in zombie TV show The Walking Dead when they were just 12 months old.
©Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Film Independent
Twins are often cast to play toddlers and young children on TV shows and films due to child labour laws. By casting twins, it helps to maximise the time they can shoot scenes with the ‘character’ on set, often swapping the child out. (Think the Olsen twins, who shared the role of Michelle Tanner on Full House.)
Now that the character of Holly is older and more vital to the storyline, it was time to replace the Price twins with one single actor.
Who is Nell Fisher, the new Holly Wheeler?
Nell is a London-born actor who, despite being just 14 years old, already has plenty of impressive credentials under her belt. She’s appeared in the likes of Evil Dead Rise, Bookworm, and the TV series My Life Is Murder.
Although she turned 14 earlier this month, reports online have said Nell would have actually been 12 years old during the bulk of Stranger Things season five filming that took place in 2024. The star recently look to social media to share a video honouring the Price twins’ Stranger Things performance. She wrote, ‘This kid. These girls. So lucky to take on this role. Annie. Tinsley. Nell. Holly.’ The Price twins replied, ‘Can’t wait to see where you take our girl, Holly. We know it’s going to be amazing!’
The Duffer Brothers have also shared insight into Holly’s character revamp, saying they drew on Nell’s own ‘extroverted’ personality as some inspiration. Reflecting on how our youngest Wheeler wasn’t much of a ‘character’ in seasons past, Ross explained, ‘She was just a little kid. Even season one, when we’re filming her, it was basically whatever one of the young twins would do, we would just try to capture it in real time. So we didn’t really have a voice for her.’
He added, ‘In the initial scripts, Holly was a little shyer and a little more withdrawn. And then as we found Nell, who’s such a character, we started infusing Nell’s personality into Holly.’
Charlotte Roberts is a news and entertainment writer at Grazia UK. She spends her days covering everything celebrity, culture, and entertainment.
