Actress Maya Hawke, who plays Robin in the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, has revealed that she advocated for her character to be a lesbian after filming began.
Robin became the first LGBT+ character in the hit show, coming out as a lesbian to her ‘Scoops Ahoy’ colleague Steve Harrington in episode seven. In a scene that cleverly defies genre expectations, Robin reveals she didn’t actually have a crush on Steve in high school, but on the girl who couldn’t stop staring at him in class.
Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hawke said the Duffer Brothers initially planned for Robin and Steve’s character arcs to end in a romantic relationship — but she had other ideas. “Throughout filming, we started to feel like she and Steve shouldn’t get together, and that she’s gay,” the 21-year-old actress said.