Exclusive: Natalia Dyer on Filming *That* Steamy 'Stranger Things 2' Scene
Turns out it was inspired by a famous '80s movie.

This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things 2.
Stranger Things is a show with its fair share of love triangles. Season 2 saw a budding Bob-Joyce-Hopper triangle that is (sadly) now defunct, and also brought us the Lucas-Max-Dustin kinda/sorta triangle. But the show's main triangle, it's OG-been-around-since-season-one-and-inspires-passionate-fan-ships triangle, is the Steve-Nancy-Jonathan one.
Jancy shippers were devastated when Nancy and Jonathan didn't end up together at the end of Season 1, but they got their moment in Season 2, courtesy of a steamy, will-they/won't-they kiss.
"It was fun to read and of course you think about what the fans think and want—and of course Jancy had been very much a thing," Natalia Dyer told MarieClaire.com of the scene, acknowledging that the pairing was a fan favorite. "And it was also just so fun working with Brett [Gelman] and having him there. That energy just made it so fun, and light, and silly, and goofy."
When chatting about the very teased-out moment (Nancy and Jonathan take turns leaving their respective rooms as if to initiate something, only to backtrack before the big kiss finally happens), Dyer also revealed that the Duffer Brothers based it on another famous '80s scene.
"I think the brothers based that whole thing on the Temple of Doom," she said, adding that they asked her and Charlie Heaton (who plays Jonathan) to watch the Indiana Jones scene for inspiration. "Having that in mind was also really fun."
The Duffer Brothers really do out-cool themselves at every turn, don't they?
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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