If they can put Max in a wheelchair and get her out, why not do the same for Karen?
Yes, exactly.
Even if she had to be on a stretcher and lying down, you take her with you.
RIGHT. But she would have just started walking. She would have had some problems, but I think the adrenaline would have fueled her the whole way.
Tell me about the scene you had with Finn Wolfhard as Mike when she begs him to let her go, and he wants her to take it easy. Obviously, we don’t know if this is the last one-on-one scene you’ll have with him, but you’ve known Finn since he was a kid. How was this moment for you?
Well, it’s always been the other way around. Karen always comforted Mike and gave him advice throughout the series. Now he’s giving her advice, saying, “I’ll take care of it, Mom, and you need to listen to me.” And now I look up at him instead of looking down because he was so little when we started. It was very moving. I’m already a very nostalgic person, so while we were in the scenes, it wasn’t lost on me that this was a final scene in which we had this kind of emotional exchange. It was a challenge in the sense…it was that role reversal that happens when your child grows up and they end up taking care of you. He’s a really good actor, so it was nice to have that scene together as one of our last scenes.
Absolutely. Was there a moment or scene in previous seasons that seemed unimportant to you at the time, but now you look back and realize its importance?
Oh, that’s the connection between Holly and her becoming a bigger character, when Vecna comes to get Holly in season one, when we go to Joyce’s house. Vecna reaches out to her through the wall, and it connects. And then also, the scene in season three where Karen talks to Nancy about her job at the newspaper because Nancy is upset about being treated poorly. And Karen says, “You’ve always been a fighter. I don’t know where you got that from.” And Nancy responds, “I got it from you, Mom.” I was wondering if this was a bit of a foreshadowing for season five, I actually fight the Demogorgon at the end. I thought about that scene again and I think the Duffers are really smart about planting those seeds and connecting the dots.
