Stranger Things Actress Thought About Retiring Before Landing Role

An actress in Stranger Things Season 5 nearly retired before filming began, but she immediately set that plan aside when she was cast in the Netflix series. Linda Hamilton, who plays antagonist Dr. Kay in the latest season of the supernatural show, had thoughts about ending her illustrious acting career due to a debilitating injury she was still dealing with in 2023. At the time, the 69-year-old actress, known for her portrayal of Sara Connor in The Terminator franchise and her role in Resident Alien, believed she wouldn’t be able to act to the best of her ability. But the opportunity to appear on Stranger Things made her think twice.

Linda Hamilton considered retirement due to injury

Hamilton revealed that she was “limping” several months before her agent got the call about her being on Stranger Things Season 5. In fact, the creators asked for her specifically.

“I was thinking very much of retirement around that time ’cause my hip. I was limping,” she shared with Entertainment Weekly. In an earlier interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress explained that her hip “was hurting for a couple of years” and that she was “just so tired of being tough.” It was a matter of being consistent and professional as an actor, as she wanted “to be able to make plans and make sure I can be there.”

Her persistent pain made her doubt accepting any physically demanding roles. “Unless you want a character that’s limping… I just said, ‘I can’t do my best work or be sure that I’m gonna be fit for work every day. I gotta stop.’”

But then she heard that the Stranger Things team called her agent three months later, and at that point, “there has been no further discussion about retirement.”

“They said, ‘Is Linda Hamilton available from June to June?’” Hamilton recalled. “And he went, ‘Yes!’ — without even asking, because that’s how excited we were and he was.”

As revealed in a prior report, the actress then booked a meeting with creators Matt and Ross Duffer on Zoom. She says the brothers “could not have been kinder” on the call.

Fans who have watched the first part of Stranger Things Season 5 will note that Dr. Kay — the ruthless, no-nonsense government scientist who’s continuing the research of Dr. Martin Brenner (or “Papa” as Eleven calls him) — does not look like she is injured. Hamilton shared that she needed to have a clear plan when it came to recovering from her injury and being the best she could be during the filming for the show, which took a full year to complete.

“A whole calendar year of trying to stay ahead of the curve in terms of when they might need me and what demands were going to be physically,” she said. “We call it PT [Physical Therapy], but really I went to the gym three times a week to stay mobile and ready. It was also very necessary. I’m just older.”

That said, at 69, Hamilton believes the action scenes she shot for Stranger Things could be the last ones she does in her career. “I’m thinking those might be my last stunt rehearsals — I think I might be done with that. I could actually say I’m done with that and see what happens. But I worked really hard to stay fit and ready and able. And now, what a relief that I got through it. And she didn’t limp, the character!”

Despite her age and her injury, the demand for Hamilton to appear in shows has only increased ever since she thought about leaving show business. “I’ve hardly ever worked back-to-back. I haven’t worked this much since I started to talk about retirement. Now, I’m working all the time.”

The second volume of Stranger Things Season 5 consisting of three episodes will drop on Christmas. The series finale is slated to release on New Year’s Eve.