"The Lord of the Rings" actor Sean Astin has been tapped to play Winona Ryder's boyfriend in "Stranger Things" Season 2. It seems that the shape of the coming hit series is becoming a little clearer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Astin will play a kind-hearted former nerd Bob Newby in "Stranger Things" Season 2. He went to high school with Joyce Byers ("Show Me a Hero" actress Winona Ryder) and Jim Hooper ("Suicide Squad" actor David Harbour) and now manages the local Hawkins Radio Shack.
Astin will also be expected to be the new boyfriend of Byers in "Stranger Things" Season 2. Joining him is "Red Oaks" actor Paul Reiser, who will play a Department of Energy muckety muck Dr. Owens. His character is tasked with containing the events of the previous year, when a murderous being from another dimension came through to our own, kidnapping young Will Byers ("The Peanuts Movie" actor Noah Schnapp), Variety reported.
"Teenland" actress Linnea Berthelsen is also added to the cast of "Stranger Things" Season 2. She will play a Danish newcomer Roman who is an emotionally damaged young woman when she suffered a big loss as a kid. Her character is not a Hawkins resident but is connected to all the spooky stuff that happened at the Department of Energy lab during Season 1.
The trio joins fellow new "Stranger Things" actors Sadie Sink (Max) and Dacre Montgomery (Billy). They join a cast that includes new series regular "Chicago Fire" actor Joe Kerry (Steve Harrington) and breakout star Millie Bobby Brown (aka Eleven), "Supernatural" actor Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), "The Blacklist" alum Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), "Blue Bloods" alum Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), "Hannah Montana" actress Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), "As You Are" actor Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), "Half the Perfect World" actress Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and "The Dark Knight Rises" actor Matthew Modine (Martin Brenner).
Astin's credits include "The Goonies," "Rudy," and "Lord of the Rings." Reiser is currently seen on Amazon's "Red Oaks" and is best known for the 1990s sitcom "Mad About You." Berthelsen grew up in Denmark and appeared on local TV series "Exitium" and "The Desert."
"Stranger Things" Season 2 is currently in production for a 2017 debut.
Watch the video about Sean Austin, Paul Reiser, and Linnea Berthelsen joining the cast of "Stranger Things" Season 2: