Entertainment TV Scripted TV Shows Sadie Sink 'Begged' to Play 'Stranger Things' ' Max When Casting Team Thought She Was Too 'Old' at 14 Sadie Sink was first cast in her role of Max Mayfield for season 2 of Stranger Things By Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld is a features writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since April 2022. Her work previously appeared in Newsweek. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 28, 2022 02:54PM EDT Photo: Netflix Talk about the Upside Down — there was almost a universe in which Sadie Sink did not play Stranger Things' Max Mayfield. The actress, now 20, recently revealed that the Netflix shows' casting team initially had reservations about her — specifically that she was too "old" for the part... at 14! So she had to fight to win the role of a lifetime. Explaining that the role of Max felt "right," she told Fashion magazine: "I just begged and pleaded with them to give me more material so I could show them something fresh." The producers answered her plea, the magazine said, and called her in for a chemistry read with Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin, and the next day she got the part. Stranger Things' Sadie Sink Reveals Which Taylor Swift Song Would Save Her from Vecna Sadie Sink on season two of Stranger Things. Netflix Earlier this year, roughly six years after she was cast in the role, Sink opened up to PEOPLE about saying goodbye to her teenage years. "It feels weird saying 20! There's no 'teen' in it anymore," she said. "Because I started so young, my childhood felt somewhat fast-tracked," she continued. "I think a lot of aspects of my life have been pretty adult, but I'm still playing a teenager. So I don't feel quite like an adult yet." Sadie Sink Feels 'More Comfortable' with Herself at 20 — But Not 'Quite Like an Adult Yet' Prior to landing the role on Strange Things, Sink had booked a few guest roles on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and The Americans. She opened up to Fashion about the unique experience of growing up in the spotlight like she and her costars have. "It's such a weird and specific situation that the Strangers Things cast and I are all in because the world knows who our characters are but we're still trying to figure out who we are as people," she said. "I think being in the industry accelerates you and you mature faster. But for the most part, it's just so fun because the cast is all going through it together." From left: Gaten Matarazzo Joe Keery, Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke in season four of Stranger Things. Courtesy of Netflix Maya Hawke and Sadie Sink Surprise Gaten Matarazzo at His First Performance of Dear Evan Hansen Following the release of season 4, part 2 of Stranger Things on July 1, the show's upcoming fifth season will be its last. The show's creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced the beginning of the end in February when they revealed that the "supersized" season 4 would be the penultimate season. "Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons," they wrote at the time. "It proved too large to tell in four, but – as you'll soon see for yourselves – we are now hurling toward our finale." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. Stranger Things season 4 is currently streaming on Netflix.