- Gaten Matarazzo recounted an uncomfortable fan interaction at a recent convention.
- The actor said a woman in her 40s told him she had a "crush" on him when he was 13 years old.
"Stranger Things" star Gaten Matarazzo recalled an "uncomfortable" interaction with a fan at a convention, saying that a mother told him that she liked him as a child in front of her own daughter.
Matarazzo appeared on the "Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum" podcast on Tuesday, chatting with the host about "Stranger Things" and his career. During a segment on the podcast, Rosenbaum asked a question submitted by one of his listeners: Did Matarazzo have any funny convention stories?
"I did one very, very recently where — this is not very funny, but the reactions around it were quite funny — where this like, woman in her 40s like said straight up, 'I've had a crush on you since you were 13,'" Matarazzo recounted. "I was like, 'That's upsetting.'"
Matarazzo told Rosenbaum that he assumed that the woman just meant that he was cute as a kid. However, he said, that wasn't the case.
"Then she doubled down. 'I'm aware of the age difference.' Then I was like, 'All right,'" he said. "Her daughter was with her. And her daughter goes, 'Mom, what the fuck?'"
The actor guessed that the woman's daughter was likely around 13 years old. He kept his composure, thanking the two for attending. But to make matters worse, his own mother was sitting next to him during the entire incident.
"That was the funniest reaction I've ever heard," he said. "That's embarrassing as hell for that girl."
That wasn't the only unfortunate interaction Matarazzo has had at a convention — he and Rosenbaum both commiserated about the occasional fan "butt grabs" during photo opportunities as well.
Matarazzo was 13 years old when he started filming "Stranger Things" season one, which has since become one of Netflix's most-watched shows of all time. Since then, he's returned to Broadway, where he started his career, and done other projects like the film "Honor Society."
And while the show has provided him financial security over the years — despite the odd implications of being his family's breadwinner as a teenager — he's at peace with it ending. And given what his costars like Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour have said, he's not the only one.
"I'm very okay with understanding that 'Stranger Things' will beyond very likely be the biggest thing I will ever do, and will most likely be the thing I'm remembered for," Matarazzo said.
"I am so cool with that. As long as it facilitates happiness going forward, security, and more work," he said. "What the hell else could I ask for?"