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Stranger Things’ Regina Ting Chen Talks Counselor Kelly, What Made It Feel Like the '80s
Jan 12, 2026
Regina Ting Chen (Counselor Kelly in Stranger Things Season 4) shares how she landed the role, how the character shifted during auditions, and what it felt like stepping onto a set packed with 1980s detail. She also talks about being brought back as a recurring reporter in the MCU for continuity, plus her work on The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
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Hi, my name is Regina Tening Chen and I
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played Counselor Kelly in Stranger
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Things season 4.
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You have appeared as a reporter in
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several MCU films and unrelated projects
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like The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do
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It. How did you come to be associated
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with that role? Um, I got an audition
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and I did a good job and they booked me.
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That's the most boring answer ever.
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[laughter]
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No, but I uh Oh, as far as the MCU, the
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the thing about MCU films is that they,
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you know, continuity is really big. So,
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it's important even as like a New York
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reporter there, they call me back
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because it makes sense like you would
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see the same people. And I think that's
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just such a like it comes down to even
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like my character that their attention
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to detail they stay consistent with. How
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did your involvement with Stranger
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Things begin and what were those early
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days like? Well, it begun with if we
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really go back is getting to read for
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the role. And it's funny because for
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counselor Kelly, my first version of the
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audition was more of what you would
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think uh a counselor would be like. Uh
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empathetic, softer, kind, caring. Not
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that counselors should not be that way,
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but uh the version that they wanted was
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one that's a little quirkier and
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relatable in like kind of a nutty way.
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So, that was really exciting because
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that's my personality. I was really
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excited to kind of bring more of my
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flavor into the character. And then just
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joining the set was incredible because
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again, talk about MCU's attention to
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detail. Stranger Things is like unreal
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how they built the set. Um, it was at
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the school for my scenes. And even like
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all the extras, they're so excited and
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make everything come to life. There was
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uh in the beginning of the scene, the
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first thing that I'm in, I'm outside
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like directing the kids uh into the gym,
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>> and I needed like three different
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eyelines to kind of help move the scene
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along. And
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I don't know why I did this. I asked who
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wants to be my three eyelines. Everyone
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raised their hands and I'm like, "No,
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now I'm the jerk who has to pick three
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out of like a hundred people." But I I
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was like, "You, you you just stay
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consistent and we'll shoot it." And
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they're like, "Oh." But no, they were
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all really excited. So yeah, it was just
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there wasn't like a what were the early
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days like and what was it later. It was
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all a grand experience. How is being
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involved in Netflix most watched series
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affected your life personally and
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professionally? Well, um
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it's been
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kind of magical uh and
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>> awkward in a way cuz I'm kind of a weird
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I'm kind of nutty. So, how excited
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people get, I'm like, "Oh my god, this
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is like a lot." Um, in an exciting way,
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I'm like,
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I can't believe how much traction uh my
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character has gotten and the amazing fan
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theories, first of all, and everybody be
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asking me what's up. People I know,
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people I don't know, people I stopped
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talking to, I'm I'm kidding. I'm
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kidding. But it's been
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it I was never going to get this. So the
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fact that it's here in my life has been
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such a gift and
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I I'm just so grateful that I have it
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and professionally it's great cuz also
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like just in my career having worked on
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the show productions know people know
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that I can do it and I can do a lot. Not
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everything but a lot. Okay. What was
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your first costume fitting for Stranger
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Things like? Did it immediately lock you
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into the 1980s? Yes.
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I think I had 30 different outfits. It
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was so much fun cuz I was like trying on
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all these things. Some of the outfits
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even look like those cups they used to
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have like the blue purple cups that you
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would find at the mall. Um just the
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coloring, the themes. It was so fun. Um
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and I wish I could have worn more
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outfits, but I'm lucky I even got to do
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two. So it's it was super great. And
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yes, it did lock me into the 1980s
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immediately because got shoulder pads
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and I got like broad shoulders anyway.
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So, I felt like I had a cape sometimes.
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>> Maybe in another spin-off I could be a
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superhero in it.
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>> How did you get into the8s mindset? Did
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you reference any movies, photos, music,
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or realworld details?
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Well, I was kind of around in the '8s
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very briefly, but it wasn't hard to get
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into the mindset when the set is already
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so detailed. It's like I didn't have to
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do any work. I just felt like I was a
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part of it. I think anyone who's a kid
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during that time or not a kid, you just
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kind of drop into it and then go with
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the flow. Hopefully that makes sense. So
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the fact that everything was so 80s, I
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just kind of like went with it. I mean,
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some of it was already familiar, but the
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rest was just the the hair, the outfit,
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all the people,
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it didn't take any work. I didn't have
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to reference anything. I was just jumped
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in and ta I'm here in the 80s. It's like
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magic. Oh, that's all the questions.
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Thank you.