Caleb McLaughlin: the actor who plays Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things
Actors · Caleb McLaughlin · Lucas Sinclair
Caleb McLaughlin played Simba on Broadway before being Lucas Sinclair, the ranger with the slingshot who becomes, in season 4, the bravest character in the group. Portrait of an actor who grew up in Hawkins and spoke without hedging about what that implied.
The essentials
- Born: October 13, 2001, Carmel, New York State
- Role: Lucas Sinclair, seasons 1 to 5
- Before: young Simba in The Lion King on Broadway
- On film: Concrete Cowboy, Shooting Stars, The Book of Clarence
Contents
Caleb McLaughlin: The Lion King before Hawkins
Caleb McLaughlin grows up north of New York and joins Broadway at eleven, in the role of young Simba in The Lion King, which he holds for more than a year. He shoots a few series episodes (Law & Order, Forever) and auditions for season 1 at thirteen. Lucas Sinclair is, in the script, the group's skeptic: the one who doubts Eleven, who wants to go to the police, who keeps his feet on the ground.
The actor gives him a stubborn loyalty and a real sense of a fight: Lucas is the only one in the group who fights physically every season, from the slingshot against the Demogorgon to his fists against Jason Carver.
The group's T-shirt, ranger version.
In the shopLucas Sinclair tank top36,90 €See the product
Lucas, from ranger to hero
The character long stayed in the background, and Caleb McLaughlin said so publicly. Season 4 changes everything: Lucas joins the basketball team, finds himself caught between his old friends and his new teammates, and ends up facing Jason in the Creel house while Max dies in his arms. Season 5 finds him at Max's bedside for eighteen months, faithful without hope.
His scenes with Sadie Sink, and with Priah Ferguson, his little sister Erica on screen, are among the most appreciated of the last seasons.
What he said about the fansIn 2022, at a convention, Caleb McLaughlin said he had faced racism from part of the audience as early as Season 1: fans who refused to stand in line for him, comments about Lucas. He said he understood it at thirteen, and chose to talk about it for the kids who live the same thing.
Concrete Cowboy and Shooting Stars
| Year | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The New Edition Story (miniseries) | Young Ricky Bell |
| 2020 | Concrete Cowboy | Cole, opposite Idris Elba |
| 2023 | Shooting Stars | Dru Joyce III, LeBron James's teammate and friend |
| 2024 | The Book of Clarence | Dirty Zeke, in Jeymes Samuel's film |
Concrete Cowboy, with Idris Elba, about the Black horsemen of Philadelphia, is his first major film role. In Shooting Stars, about LeBron James's high-school years, he plays Dru Joyce III, his teammate and friend, which required months of basketball training. The next film, The Book of Clarence, places him in a biblical fresco shot in Italy, and The Deliverance, in 2024, in a horror film with Andra Day and Glenn Close.
After Hawkins
Caleb McLaughlin is the one in the group who has most clearly chosen cinema: two leading roles in three years, a biblical film, a horror film. Lucas Sinclair, for his part, will remain the character who changed the most without ever betraying what he was: the boy who doubted Eleven in 1983 and who, in 1987, no longer doubts anything when it comes to his friends.
Markers
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Birth in Carmel, New York |
| 2012 | Simba in The Lion King on Broadway |
| 2015 | Lucas's casting |
| 2017 | Season 2: the slingshot, Max |
| 2020 | Concrete Cowboy |
| 2022 | Season 4; he talks about fans' racism |
| 2023 | Shooting Stars |
| 2025 | End of the show |
The Lucas figure, bandana included.
In the shopLego Lucas Sinclair mini figure14,90 €See the product
What you know less about him
Caleb McLaughlin has a younger sister, Caitlyn, an actress as well. Before Broadway, he sang as a child in an opera, Lost in the Stars, in Cooperstown, and trained at the Harlem School of the Arts with Aubrey Lynch, a former Lion King producer, which explains his turn as young Simba. In 2018, he received an award for outstanding performance by a youth actor at the NAACP Image Awards, and in 2020 he appeared on Forbes magazine's list of thirty personalities under thirty.
He also runs campaigns on social media, #EmbraceYourFace and #BeYourBiggestFan, about self-esteem: “feeling good about yourself is healthy; it always starts with you before you go toward other people.”
Lucas in 1987: the anchor
The last season makes Lucas the most constant character in the group. For nineteen months, he has watched over Max in a coma and played her song through the headphones. He is the one who has the idea, remembering Billy's sauna, of using the tower's electricity to revive a Demogorgon; the one who talks Erica into helping with the Turnbow trap; the one who notes that November 6 is the anniversary of Will's disappearance.
And it is in his arms that Max wakes, in episode 7: she tells him he was the emotional anchor that let her find her body again. In the epilogue, Mike predicts they will finally go to the movies together, as promised. Caleb McLaughlin played Lucas from thirteen to twenty-three.
What he said about racism, and why it matters
Caleb McLaughlin is the only Black actor in the group's main cast, and he has spoken plainly about what that implied. From his first convention, he has said, some people refused to line up at his table because he was Black; abroad, “you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry.” He said it was hard to explain, and that it affected him a lot when he was younger.
He chose to talk about it for the children who live the same thing. Lucas, in the show, also takes rejection: Billy's in 1984, his basketball teammates' in 1986. The character and the actor meet on that point, and it is one of the reasons Lucas became, over the seasons, the bravest of the group.
Five Lucas scenes to rewatch
-
The slingshot, 1983
Lucas shoots the Demogorgon in the classroom, just before Eleven steps in.
-
Facing Billy, 1984
Billy slams him against a shelf; Steve steps in, Max finishes the job.
-
The sauna, 1985
The idea of heat against the creature inside Billy, which will serve again in 1987.
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The Creel house, 1986
The fight against Jason while Max dies in his arms.
-
Max's waking, 1987
She opens her eyes in his arms and tells him he was her anchor.
A detour through the shop before the next match.
In the shopChibi Lucas Sinclair running keychain12,90 €See the product
TakeawayBorn in 2001, Simba on Broadway at eleven. Lucas Sinclair in all five seasons, from the slingshot to basketball. He has spoken publicly about racism from some fans. On film: Concrete Cowboy, Shooting Stars, The Book of Clarence.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Lucas in Stranger Things?
Caleb McLaughlin, American actor born in 2001, former Simba in The Lion King on Broadway, across the five seasons.
In which films does Caleb McLaughlin act?
Concrete Cowboy (2020), Shooting Stars (2023), in which he plays Dru Joyce III, LeBron James's friend, The Book of Clarence (2024), and The Deliverance (2024).
Does Caleb McLaughlin know how to play basketball?
He trained for months for Shooting Stars, which served the game scenes in Season 4.
Are Lucas and Max together in the show?
They get together in Season 2, break up in Season 4, and Lucas watches over Max, in a coma, through Season 5.
Does Caleb McLaughlin have siblings?
A younger sister, Caitlyn, who is also an actress.
What award did Caleb McLaughlin receive?
The award for outstanding performance by a youth actor at the NAACP Image Awards in 2018, and a place on the Forbes list of thirty under thirty in 2020.