Sadie Sink Says This Is the Greatest Gift 'Stranger Things' Gave Her

Actress Sadie Sink is opening up about her time playing Max Mayfield on the hit five-season Netflix series, Stranger Things.

During a July 2026 interview with Entertainment Tonight, promoting her upcoming film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Sink was implored to reveal “the biggest gift” she received from playing Max. Sink shared that she deeply values her friendships with her former Stranger Things co-stars, which include Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Maya Hawke, Finn Wolfhard, and Noah Schnapp.

“I mean, it brought me to a lot of my closest friends. It also just like was nice to go back every season and still be excited to play that character,” said Sink during the Entertainment Tonight interview. “And I’m going to miss her a lot. And it’s obviously kind of brought me more opportunities through the work I did on that show. Yeah, it’s a huge blessing.”

Sink also explained why she “can’t really say goodbye to” Max, despite the show ending in late 2025.

“We’re kind of the same person in a lot of ways just ’cause I was so young when I started playing her,” said Sink.

Sadie Sink Opened Up About Auditioning for Max Mayfield

In a November 2025 interview with Teen Vogue, Sink shared some details about her audition for Max, whom she began playing during the show’s second season, which premiered in 2017. She said that she wasn’t told Max’s name or which characters she was interacting with in her audition scene. She said, however, that she was able to guess she was supposed to be talking to Dustin (Matarazzo) and Lucas (McLaughlin).

Sink also shared that she based her performance for Max as someone she wanted to emulate at the time.

“I remember in the audition when I was like, ‘Okay, who is this Max character?’ It kind of came naturally because she was everything that I wished that I was, how cool she was and laidback and maybe sarcastic and sure of herself she was. So, I just kind of embodied that and had to get rid of, like, sweet little Sadie for a bit,” said the 24-year-old actress while speaking to Teen Vogue.