Stranger Things‘ Gaten Matarazzo reveals how filming Eddie Munson’s season 4 death was a difficult process, as he struggled to find the right emotional performance for the moment. Matarazo has been a mainstay of Netflix’s celebrated sci-fi series since it first aired in 2016, playing Hawkins teen Dustin Henderson as he and his friends find themselves caught up in conspiracies involving superpowers, monsters, and other dimensions. In Stranger Things season 4, Dustin finds himself befriending Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson, the metalhead leader of the high school’s D&D club who finds himself blamed for a series of unexplainable murders.

While Stranger Things season 5 is currently filming, Matarazzo looks back at season 4’s production during a FanExpo Dallas panel with co-stars Quinn and Caleb MacLaughlin where he reveals a pivotal scene left him struggling to match Quinn’s performance. Praising Munson’s inclusion into the latest season and Quinn’s acting skill, Matarazzo admits he struggled to deliver an emotional reaction to Eddie’s death due to exhaustion. However, a later filming moment helped him find the energy he needed and return to reshoot Eddie’s final scene. Check out Matarazzo’s recollection below:

I think that’s kind of the main goal of that character initially was to have that arc and have that – it’s such a cool outlet for the plot to take off for that Scooby-Doo gang, the Hawkins gang, to have a really cool tunnel through everything that was going on. I think it was such a unique way to go about them figuring out about Vecna and Henry in general… So cool. Joe’s an incredible actor. I think he improv-ed “I love you, man.” I think that was just him, and his coverage was so good. We filmed that twice because I absolutely despised the first time we filmed that. He was so good and I just wasn’t centering. It was outside at 5:00 AM, we’d already done a whole day of filming, and we were just drained and I just didn’t, just wasn’t there.

I didn’t feel right. And then we did the scene with his uncle in the gym at the school and then that went through and that felt a lot better. And then Matt and Ross [Duffer] were like, great, we want to find that and put that in the scene with Joe. And Joe was kind enough to go back to that space and do it on a sound stage. And I think that’s very much needed, not just for Eddie and the end of him, but also everything that’s going to come up for Dustin going forward. That’s obviously something that isn’t let go easily. Yeah.

Dustin Will Carry Eddie’s Legacy In Stranger Things Season 5

Will Eddie Return For The Final Season?

While both Dustin, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), and even Erica Sinclair (Pria Furguson) strike quick friendships with Eddie in Stranger Things‘ season 4’s opening episode, Dustin maintains the strongest bond with the fan-favorite newcomer. Never losing faith in Eddie even as his friends show some skepticism, Dustin is the driving force in proving Eddie’s innocence, asking others to aid him and growing their party. Ultimately, he joins Eddie in a desperate mission to halt the merging of two worlds in Stranger Things season 4’s finale, witnessing his true bravery and staying by his side in his final moments.

As such, while Quinn has been coy about potentially returning for Stranger Things season 5, Dustin is seemingly set to carry his legacy into the final few stories. Though Eddie is still branded a murderer and subject to his grave being defaced, unknown individuals in Hawkins High still celebrate his Hellfire Club with pride in their lockers, and Dustin still wears his tattered shirt as he takes care of his friend’s final resting place. Furthermore, Matarazzo revealed ahead of filming that he hoped season 5 would tackle’ Dustin’s response to the loss on a deeper level.

With Eddie becoming Stranger Things season 4’s breakout character, his loss hit viewers just as hard as it hit Dustin, but nevertheless, the moment would have been lessened without Matarazzo and Quinn’s heartwrenching performances. The care and extra effort in perfectly capturing the loss by Matarazzo is seen clearly on-screen. And with the star giving his best to capture Dustin’s grief, viewers will be left eager to see him close Dustin’s story in season 5.