Cara Buono, best known to fans as Karen Wheeler on Stranger Things, has offered a peek into the making of the show’s fifth and final season by sharing behind-the-scenes moments from the set.
Taking to Instagram, the actor posted a series of candid photos from the hospital sequence, filmed after her character’s intense confrontation with a Demogorgon while trying to save her daughter Holly from being dragged into the Upside Down. The images capture Buono alongside Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Finn Wolfhard, executive producer Shawn Levy, and creators Matt and Ross Duffer.
Captioning the post with her signature wit, Buono wrote, “I flirted with the problem. She survived it. We don’t bond over brunch in this town. Some BTS from days in the hospital with people I love.”
Stranger Things blends horror, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and coming-of-age drama, set against the backdrop of 1980s America. The story unfolds in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where the arrival of Eleven—a young girl with psychokinetic powers—tears open a gateway between the real world and a dark alternate dimension known as the Upside Down, linked to secret government experiments.
The series boasts an expansive ensemble cast, including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Linda Hamilton, and more.
Known for its mix of investigative drama, supernatural horror, and youthful wonder, the show is steeped in references to 1980s pop culture, as well as inspirations drawn from Cold War-era experiments and conspiracy theories.
Outside of Stranger Things, Buono’s filmography includes roles in Hulk, Let Me In, A Good Marriage, Paper Towns, All Saints, Monsters and Men, and She Came from the Woods.