Just six weeks after closing the basement door on Stranger Things, Caleb McLaughlin is back with GOAT, his biggest movie to date. 

The 24-year-old voices the title character in Sony Pictures Animation’s latest film, furthering the highly impressive streak they’ve been on with the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse trilogy and the Oscar-nominated KPop Demon Hunters. The literal goat in question is Will Harris, whose dreams of playing professional roarball are dampened by his undersized frame. The game is a version of basketball in which robust animals play hoops within their unique biomes. One day, Will goes viral after embarrassing ROAR league MVP, Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), during a streetball challenge, prompting his favorite team, the Vineland Thorns, to sign him to a season-ending contract in a desperate attempt to juice ticket sales.

McLaughlin is no stranger to underdog stories that are produced by NBA greats. He previously played LeBron James’ best friend and former teammate, Dru Joyce III, in the James-produced Shooting Stars (2023), which chronicled the NBA superstar’s decorated high school basketball team in Akron, Ohio. The Tyree Dillihay-directed GOAT also counts James’ fellow NBA icon and Olympic teammate, Stephen Curry, as a producer and voice actor.

These fictional underdog stories remind McLaughlin of one of his own formative experiences where he and another child actor were accidentally double-booked to play the same role in a movie. McLaughlin was subsequently asked to serve as a dancer instead of an actor, and while he held his head up high in the moment, the emotion and humiliation he felt that day only fueled him going forward.

“I remember going to the bathroom and crying. I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to ever feel like this again. I’m not going to let it happen,’” McLaughlin tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of GOAT‘s Feb. 13 theatrical release. “There was growth in that moment. I got stronger and I got better because of that underdog situation.”

Of course, the tears he shed that day would soon be replaced by the elation of landing an integral role on what would become the most popular streaming series of all time in Stranger Things. McLaughlin recently joined co-stars Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo on SNL to poke fun at a viral fan theory that emerged following the Dec. 31 series finale. Dubbed “Conformity Gate,” fans speculated that the final episode’s 35-minute epilogue was really just an illusion created by the mind-controlling big bad, Vecna, paving the way for the real finale the following week. However, it was all a grand case of apophenia, as humans have a tendency to create patterns out of disparate points.

Initially, McLaughlin thought the theory was short-sighted. But he’s since come to the conclusion that Stranger Things fans were coping with the loss of the beloved show in the same way that the characters were coping with the loss of their dear friend, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), by adopting the far-fetched belief that there’s more to the story. In reality, McLaughlin — like his frequent scene partner, Sadie Sink — is convinced that “El” is dead and gone.

“At first, I thought the ‘Conformity Gate’ theory was dumb. I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things,’ but I was like, ‘Guys, it’s over. It’s been ten years,’” McLaughlin says. “I think people missed the concept of what the show is when they were like, ‘Oh, there’s going to be more.’ No, that’s just Mike’s imagination. That’s who he’s always been, even in season one. It’s all just storytelling.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, McLaughlin also discusses how he shot Stranger Things 5 without knowing that his co-star David Harbour was also a part of GOAT’s decorated voice cast.

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GOAT is your first project in a post-Stranger Things world. How are you feeling as you head into this new era?

I’m loving it. I appreciate my past, and it’s projected me to where I am today. So I’m really happy that I’m starting off the new year, and life after Stranger Things, with GOAT.

Will (Caleb McLaughlin) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Picture Animation’s Goat.

Sony Pictures

Did you record your goat character named Will during your downtime on Stranger Things 5?

Yeah, I filmed Stranger Things and recorded GOAT at the same time. I would go in to record whenever I had days off; I also went in during some weekends as well. The cool thing about doing animation and voiceovers is that it’s very flexible. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can get it done. [Vocal] booths pretty much anywhere. My last recording session was actually in London during the Stranger Things 5 press tour, so it took about two years to finish. 

Your Stranger Things castmate David Harbour also has a role in GOAT. Did you ever bump into each other at an Atlanta-area recording studio and realize you were castmates on two projects at the same time?

I actually didn’t even know he was cast as [Will’s rhinoceros teammate] Archie till the [middle] of 2025. We worked with each other on all of Stranger Things 5 without knowing we were both on another project at the same time. No one told me because of behind-the-scenes things and contracts and just wanting to keep the project under wraps. So he couldn’t really say anything while we were working together throughout 2024, and I also couldn’t tell anyone that I was doing GOAT.

Will (Caleb McLaughlin) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Picture Animation’s GOAT.

Sony Pictures

Do you perform your voiceover lines differently than you would in live-action? Are you supposed to add more inflection and whatnot? 

Most definitely. I’m used to expressing my character through my physicality and my facial expressions, but with this character, I had to hone in on his personality through his voice and his tone. So I had to compensate for what I usually do with my voice, and I knew that the animation was going to be able to deliver who the character is through the mannerisms they wanted for Will. But, as the actor, I had to make sure that every question and every statement is heard in a more exaggerated way than I’ve ever had to do on Stranger Things or anything else. 

Basketball has been a through-line in your career thus far. You played a basketball player in High Flying Bird, Shooting Stars, Stranger Things and now GOAT. You gravitated toward the arts when you were rather young, but did you ever have a chance to play organized ball? 

I played organized ball in my hometown before I started my acting career. But once it started, I was only able to partake in games with friends or even just by myself. Most of the time, I’d play by myself, but I still try to play when I can.

Will (Caleb McLaughlin) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s GOAT.

Sony Pictures

To be accurate, GOAT revolves around a variation of basketball called roarball. It’s played by animals within their specific ecosystems. Will has had a lifelong dream of playing professional roarball, and it’s scoffed at because he’s undersized, much like your character of Dru Joyce III in Shooting Stars. When was the last time you lived your own underdog story à la Will and Dru?

I have moments like that, and they always motivate me to get better at what I’m doing. I’m always trying to prove to myself that I can be better than I was before. But an underdog moment that sticks out to me is when I auditioned for this movie as a kid. It ultimately came out, but they ended up taking out the scene I auditioned for at the time. I went out for this kid who was getting a pretzel at this pretzel stand or whatever, and I ended up getting the role. The audition process involved the lines and dancing; you had to know how to dance. 

I then got the call that I landed the role. Let’s say the kid’s name was Gerald. I was eventually sitting in my dressing room, and then another kid walked into the same dressing room. It was a big dressing room. And I was like, “Oh, what are you doing here?” And he was like, “I got Gerald.” And I was like, “No, I’m Gerald.” The PA then came in and said, “Gerald?” And we both raised our hands. Then the PA was like, “Both of you guys can’t be Gerald.” So he looked at the call sheet and then he said to me, “Oh, he’s Gerald, and you’re … One second, I have to figure out what your role is. ” And I was like, “What the heck!?” 

I then sat there for hours while the other kid was filming, and then they finally called me in. The director was like, “I’m so sorry I had you sitting there. We’re going to figure out how to put you in.” And then he was like, “Actually, I know what we need to do. Do the thing. Dance.” And I was like, “Whoa!” So I ended up dancing and pop-locking, but that was all I was called in to do.

Afterwards, I remember going to the bathroom and crying and being like, “No, I came here for acting. I didn’t want to just dance.” Dancing is a part of my upbringing and my art. But I wanted to be an actor, and I felt like my acting was being put on the back burner. So I did feel like an underdog at that moment, and I said to myself, “I don’t want to ever feel like this again. I’m not going to let it happen.” There was growth in that moment. I got stronger and I got better because of that underdog situation.

I honestly didn’t know until recently that you’re quite the dancer and acrobat. You actually remind me of Tom Holland in that you both can do these crazy spins and flips on flat ground. (They both performed on Lip Sync Battle as well.) Were you ever able to incorporate that skill during stunts on the show? 

Not at all, actually. I wouldn’t say I did anything on the show where I was really utilizing that [acrobatic] skillI. I did some stunts in season one. I did the stunt where Eleven throws Lucas back with her powers. We also rode bikes, and I did a fighting scene in season four. Then there’s the scene where I’m running through the hospital with Sadie [Sink]. There was so much development in Lucas from previous seasons, and the challenge of the final season was to bring all of those past experiences into his current mindset.

LeBron James produced Shooting Stars since it was based on his high school basketball team. Stephen Curry is a producer and voice actor on GOAT. Are you going to plead the Fifth if I ask you who the GOAT is between the two of them? 

(Laughs.) I love both of them. LeBron is the greatest of all time, and the stats show it, right? Stephen Curry is a different player. He is actually in a lane unto himself. LeBron, you compare him to Jordan and Kobe. You can compare Steph to all the greatest point guards of all time, but Steph is in a lane of his own. He changed the game. He’s brought a new perspective to the game that no one has ever seen. He’s created his own timeline in his own multiverse. He broke the timeline of what it means to be a basketball player. 

I personally enjoy watching both of them, but Stephen Curry was someone I leaned toward growing up. I love his playing style because I’m not the tallest guy on the court. I’m average height. But LeBron can play all five positions, and no one else can do that. Steph can’t do that, but Steph is whom I relate to the most. [Writer’s Note: McLaughlin’s character was partially inspired by Kobe Bryant during his high school days.]

Who’s your GOAT in the entertainment industry? 

It changes because depending on where I’m at in my life, but Donald Glover is probably my GOAT right now. He can do everything: acting, music, writing, directing. He can do it all, and no one else has been able to do it at his level. So it’s very admirable and inspiring.

You got to work on SNL recently. What caught your attention about their process behind the scenes?

What surprised me the most is how it feels like Broadway. It’s live and ongoing. There’s no stopping. If you mess up, you keep going. People don’t realize how smart you have to be to be funny in sketch comedy. The ideas are always changing, and these people work hard all week until the last second. They’ll even come up with concepts on the day, and it just reminded me of when I was performing on Broadway.

You, Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo had some fun with the “Conformity Gate” fan theory in front of the waterfalls. Was that a last-minute addition once that theory went viral? 

To be honest with you, I have no idea. Finn reached out and said, “Can you come in the day before the show?” And I was like, “Sure.” I was going to fly out to see his SNL episode regardless because he asked all of us to come and support him, but they asked me to fly out earlier so that I could be a part of the segment. So I was like, “Yeah, I’m down. Just let me know what I need to do. ” But I couldn’t even tell you what the timing of it was because I was told all of these things at the last minute.

What was your first reaction to that theory taking off?

At first, I thought the “Conformity Gate” theory was dumb. I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, “Oh, we want more Stranger Things,” but the show is done, guys. I was like, “Guys, it’s over. It’s been ten years. We were full-on kids and now we’re full-on adults, and we don’t need any more of us.” 

The Duffers, our wonderful, amazing creators, wanted to leave everybody with this level of optimism that the show has always given everyone. So if they left the show without that, we would have left Stranger Things without the true essence of what we’ve been representing forever. 

We started off season one playing Dungeons & Dragons, and we ended just like that. And Mike’s storytelling and writing ability [that’s rooted in D&D] is how the show should have ended. I think people missed the concept of what the show is when they were like “Oh, there’s going to be more.” No, that’s just Mike’s imagination. That’s who he’s always been, even in season one. It’s all just storytelling. 

Sadie Sink believes that Eleven is dead and that Mike just created a story as a coping mechanism. It sounds like you’re of the same mind as her and that you don’t think El is living in some Icelandic cave.

Yeah, she’s gone. I’m so sorry. I think she evaporated.

Sadie Sink’s Max and Caleb McLaughlin’s Lucas in Stranger Things 5.

Courtesy of Netflix

You played a teenager for a decade, but you were still growing up in between seasons. Are you glad that you can now be a 24-year-old and not have to worry about whether you look 17 anymore? 

I mean, I will continue to play younger roles for as long as I look young. Right now, I do look pretty mature and older because of my hair style and how I’m presenting myself. But I’ve never had a problem with playing younger. I also had the freedom to be myself when I wasn’t filming. So it’s not something where I was like, “Oh, I’m so happy this is all over.” It was my childhood. It was like my high school and college experience. But all good things must come to an end, and it’s amazing the journey that I went through with these guys. I’ll never regret it. I’d do it all over again if I could.

I think some of the fans would’ve cryogenically frozen you and your castmates between seasons if they could have. 

I know! (Laughs.)

I just always found the aging critique to be odd since it’s a show that asks you to believe in demogorgons and a mind flayer. Suspending disbelief about adolescent aging should be easy compared to that.

Thank you for saying that. It’s so interesting because Joe Keery was older in season one than we were in season five. We weren’t even his age by the time we finished the show. He’s 33 now, and he played a teenager for how long? There’s a lot of people that are 30 and still play 17. So people just got so caught up in how young we looked in season one and didn’t realize that people age [off-camera]. 

Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin and Finn Wolfhard in Stranger Things season one.

Everett Collection

Your Stranger Things director-producer Shawn Levy now has the keys to the MCU and Star Wars. How much campaigning did you guys do around him? 

Deadpool & Wolverine was done by the time he came on set [in 2024], so we all saw the finishing touches. 

But you knew he was doing Star Wars?

Yeah, but I’m not that person. Unless he brings it up, I’m not going to talk about it. I might say, “Hey, how’s it going filming Star Wars?” But I’m not a person that really asks many questions depending on the scenario. I’m sorry, but I also haven’t watched Star Wars, so I didn’t really have much to ask.

What do you mean you haven’t watched Star Wars? 

(Laughs.) I know. I’ve only watched the one with John Boyega.

He made three of them, so The Force Awakens? 

Yeah, I only saw the first one. I haven’t seen all of them. So I didn’t even know what to ask Shawn, but I did ask a lot about Deadpool because I love Marvel.

Are you not into space fantasy? 

No, I just haven’t gotten around to a lot of classic movies yet. My very first time watching The Lord of the Rings was last year, and I’m not proud of this. This is not a flex. I also dislike it when people are like, “Oh, I’ve never seen that,” so I’m not trying to be that person. But I really just haven’t got around to Star Wars, and I’m getting around to it.

Were movies not a big part of your household? 

I have a big family that loves movies, but we’re not movie buffs. We still love watching movies and going to see a movie together as a family. The classics just weren’t forced upon us. They were never like, “You have to see this. ” My parents introduced me to Roots, Crooklyn and The Matrix. My dad introduced me to a lot of action films; he loves Ip Man. So we just had our own vibe.

Your future is wide open now. If you could green light something for yourself, what would you choose? 

I would just love to be in Marvel. I need to call Shawn up and say, “Hey, man, please put a good word in for me.”

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GOAT opens Feb. 13 in movie theaters.