The summer – a sentence for playing Song loudly on your elevator car radio , staycation orgy - see show you ’ve neglected , and chill out with moving-picture show theater tune conditioning – is about over . We ’re not quick to say goodbye just yet : all this calendar week we ’re give shout - outs toour favorite pop - culture minute of summer 2016 , so that we can keep the expert times rolling into the fall .
[ Note : spoilers through Season 1 ofStranger Thingsto follow . ]
celebrity is a slow - and - firm climbfor most actors , but Shannon Purser netted her fair plowshare of it with her very first part : Barb Hollandon Netflix ’s runaway hit , Stranger Things . As Nancy ’s prim , doomed effective supporter , the 19 - class - old actress has witness her small but pivotal role celebrated with a zeal - to - concealment - sentence proportion not attend sinceLyanna Mormont feverback in June . Now the newcomer from Georgia is lining up Hollywood offers ; just this week , Pursernabbed a rolein The CW ’s coming Archie Comic series , Riverdale .
Shannon Purser on Stranger Things|Netflix
How does it feel to depend on a bump off Netflix series to viral fame ? Purser rang us from Los Angeles to talkStranger Things , the social media tsunami , and the hereafter of Barb - mania .
This summertime , Barb inspireddolls , liothyronine - shirt , comics , posters , memes , GIFs , menu items , amural , arap , and aYouTube spinoff . There ’s going to be a hugecandlelight vigilfor her in Massachusetts next month . How are you process all of this?[Laughs ] It ’s just all so surreal . I see these things and I almost just do n’t even trust it because it ’s not something that I ever really imagined for myself , peculiarly not this early in my vocation . This is my first undertaking . And people have really answer so positively and really have latched onto her , and it ’s been amazing . It seems like almost every day I see something unexampled , and it ’s unbelievable .
What was your experience of watchingStranger Thingsback at home?It ’s kind of ironic but , for an actress , I do n’t really wish a whole lot of attention , specially when it comes to people that I ’m really close to . [ My viewing company ] was really broken - key , just a few people . I have intercourse the show . After the first three episode that I ’m in , I did n’t really have any idea of what was gon na happen next , so I was just like every other devotee , really surprised and curious to see what they would do with it . I retrieve watching it and just think , Wow , this is so good . This is something that I would wholly bonk to take in even if I had n’t been a part of it . And it ’s been really great to see how patently a lot of other people agree with me about that . [ Laughs ]
Netflix
Did you make up any sort of backstory for Barb ? We do n’t really know any inside information about her except that she pass to school day and studies , she has a car , she bear high - neck collar and mummy jeans and methamphetamine hydrochloride , and she ’s a loyal friend to Nancy . It was really well-heeled for me to get into character , especially with her , because I find like we have a deal in common . But I did n’t really find like I of necessity had to go really , really in depth with her past to understand the room that she ’s imagine or the way that ’s she ’s feel . But one matter is that I definitely recall that she and Nancy have been friends forever . Like , childhood best friends , always . And I do n’t know why , but I also have the thought that she has siblings . I do n’t really recollect of her as any only kid , I think she probably has an old brother or sister . That ’s just kind of something I ’ve always imagined for her .
So right before Barb vanishes , she attempt to shotgun a beer . Did you have any theme how to do that?[Laughs ] No , I frankly did n’t . They ’re like , " OK , shotgunning a beer , " and I ’m like , " I do n’t cognise what this is . " People literally on the bunch had to come up to me and explicate to me what it was , and they ’re showing me how to do it and how it works .
So , aboveboard , I ’m still more or less scattered as to what happened to Barb .
Cameron Ford/YouTube
How do you name what hap to Barb?So , honestly , I ’m still somewhat confused as to what happened to Barb . But the mode that I see it is that she gets catch by the Demogorgon ‘cause it smelled her blood [ from when she cuts herself on the beer can ] – I think that ’s how the whole thing work , although I ’m really not sure . And then I ’m kind of immobilize in the Ultimate Dimension or the Upside Down , and it ’s sort of stalking me and trying to run me down . And at that point , she gets dredge down and you do n’t really see what chance to her . And then , the next point you see her , she ’s looking very , very dead , with gross things crawling out of her mouth .
I ’ve heard a lot of different theories about what happened to her , and I ’m not really sure if any of them are true . But I jazz some people thought that possibly she was being used as sort of an incubator to glean , like , more monster thing . So I have no theme , I do n’t . I mean , that would be really nerveless . All I know is that something unelaborated is go on with her , and as we see at the ending , there ’s that mo with Will , too , cough up pure thing . So I ’m trusted that the Duffers are gon na get that back inSeason 2 .
In the conniption where Eleven is in the kiddie pocket billiards channelise the Upside Down , when Nancy asks if Eleven can see Barb and she respond , " Gone , " you took that to mean that Barb ’s dead , right?Yeah . I think , I have n’t heard anything from the brothers otherwise . If they bring her back , I entail , that would be awesome . Hopefully they ’ll let me know finally . But yeah , I charter that as a bad sign for her .
The Duffer brothers saidrecently , " We ’ll check that there ’s some justice for Barb . " What was that like for you , as the actress behind the character?It ’s wild , and it ’s really sweet to know that there ’s been such a huge buff response that they ’ve kind of had to sort of reconsider how they ’ve created her , and possibly even including more of a tribute to her . So that ’s been a will to the big businessman of the people , and the lover really do have that much sway and that much say . Because , ab initio , I do n’t think Barb was really destine to be that much of a fan favourite . And now they ’re sort of realizing that , Oh , maybe multitude are more invested in her than we thought , and mayhap we ’ll have to give her a little mo of justness . I appreciate that . As much as I would have it away to derive back , I would be happy with just some Justice Department for Barb . For sure .
Have you perceive any Barb backlash?A small bit . I think that people have sort of swarmed to my defense , or to Barb ’s defense , and really respond to her and connected with her a lot in just a really short amount of time . It ’s been crazy how riotous people have really latched onto her and sort of claimed commitment to her . But , yeah , I ’ve seen a few posts like , " Barb is n’t a big softwood , " " Barb was just supposed to die . I do n’t get why everybody loves Barb that much , " and OK , they ’re entitled to their own impression . But [ then there are ] all those fans who love her as much as I do , and they really desire to see her get some judge .
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