Caleb Laughlin is addressing the racism he has been facing within the massive Stranger Things fandom.
The 20-year-old actor has starred as Lucas in the hit Netflix show since the beginning. And in an appearance during the recent Heroes Comic Con Belgium, he spoke out about how his career has taken a different turn compared to that of his costars. He zeroed in on race being a factor, stating:
“Why am I the least favorite? [Have] the least amount of followers? I’m on the same show as everybody from Season 1.”
He added that fans did treat him in a different way that they did Finn Wolfhrad, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo in the first season. This, he confessed, “definitely took a toll on me as a younger kid.” He recalled:
“My very first Comic-Con, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me, ‘Oh I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven.’
Even now some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black. Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot.”
Caleb stated that all that he has had to deal with has inspired him to use his platform to share love and positivity:
“My parents had to be like, ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show…because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved.
But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people who give hate to me.”
