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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

Stranger Things was the breakout hit series of last year – and with a hotly anticipated second season in the works, now's the perfect time for its creators to look back on the show's genesis.

In a lengthy interview with The Guardian, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer spoke about how they met ("in the womb"), their influences and how casting Winona Ryder helped shape the series.

Early versions of the script had the character of Joyce (the mother of the missing Will) being much tougher and less nervous than she turned out in the end.

"She was a tough-talking Long Island mom – f**k this, f**k that, a lot of F-bombs – a very different character," says Matt. "So when we cast Winona, we were like, we have to Winonafy this.

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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

"She is so much more interesting than the character we had written. She's got this very unique energy about her."

He then compared Joyce to Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, before launching into an... interesting anecdote.

"Everyone thinks he's making a mountain out of mashed potatoes," he continued. "And I thought: I want to see Winona making a mountain out of mashed potatoes. That's gonna be a great scene."

preview for Stranger Things Season 2 trailer

From: Digital Spy