Stranger Things in Czechia: from Prague’s portal to the “Upside Down” to actor with Czech roots
Prague has been pulled into the Stranger Things universe with new installations at the Albertov and Chodovská tram-stops. A looming Demogorgon and a symbolic portal to the “Upside Down” promote the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series.
But the Czech link goes beyond the marketing spectacle, as the new season features Luke Ellison Kokotek, a young American actor with Czech roots. He appears in the opening minutes of the season as eleven-year-old Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) in a flashback scene. The visual effects studio Weta FX blended Kokotek’s performance with digital effects to match Will’s look from Season 1, similar to techniques previously used for flashback scenes of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kokotek grew up in a family of actors, started performing at the age of three, and made his on-camera debut at five in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones.
The now-cult series Stranger Things is set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where a group of teenage friends battles monsters from an alternate dimension known as the “Upside Down.”
The Prague tram-stop installations are part of a global marketing campaign celebrating the show’s final season. Fans can already watch the first episodes on Netflix, with the ultimate conclusion arriving on New Year’s Eve (in Czechia on January 1 at 2 a.m.).
