Francesca Reale makes one of the strongest impressions as one of the many newcomers to Stranger Things season three, playing Billy’s swimming pool co-worker Heather and finding herself at the centre of one of the season’s most terrifying sequences. But it turns out that Reale at first had very little idea of who she would be playing on the show.
Speaking to Metro Online, Reale said that she only knew the bare minimum about her character during her audition.
“I knew that it was for Stranger Things,” she revealed. “Ultimately the information I got for the role was the same as everyone else when it was announced. I knew she was a lifeguard at the community pool and… that’s literally all I knew.”
She also revealed that she wasn’t allowed to audition using actual Stranger Things scripts in order to protect the show’s secrets, and instead had to read for producers the opening scene of Wes Craven’s Scream.
“The most famous scene in the whole movie,” she explained, “which is the most frustrating thing because it’s the scene where Drew Barrymore is talking on the phone to the serial killer and talking about their favourite scary movie.”
Stranger Things season 3 is available to stream on Netflix now.
