Central NY Actor Lands Role in Final Season of Stranger Things

nal season of “Stranger Things.” In the fourth episode of “Stranger Things 5,” he plays Alan Miller, the father of one of the kids in Hawkins, Indiana, as the military hunts down Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).

This particular episode, titled “The Sorcerer,” was part of the four new episodes released by Netflix just before Thanksgiving. These episodes quickly garnered 59.6 million views within the first five days of streaming, setting a new record for premiere-week viewership for an English-language Netflix series. The series finale is set to be released on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. ET, building the anticipation for what’s to come.

Austin Janowsky’s role in the show may extend beyond this episode, though the exact number of episodes he will appear in remains uncertain. Sharing the screen with him are Megan Hayes as his wife, “Mrs. Miller,” and newcomer Eden Stephens as their daughter, Debbie Miller.

Hailing from New Hartford Senior High School in 1989, close to the 1987 setting of “Stranger Things 5,” Janowsky proved to be a standout, being voted the most theatrical of his graduating class. Transitioning from a career in comic book art and graphic design, he has starred in various projects across film and television. These include appearances in Apple TV+’s “Bad Monkey,” AMC’s “G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South),” and Dorien Wilson’s “Church Folks.” Notable indie movie credits to his name include “The Christmas Ride” (2020) and “A New Year’s Ride” (2024).

Fans of the show can catch all seasons of “Stranger Things” on Netflix, with the fifth and final season currently streaming. The show, which premiered in 2016, revolves around a group of kids facing supernatural events and secret government experiments in 1980s Indiana. The stellar cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery (known as Djo), Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, and Maya Hawke.