Charlie Heaton shares that his son is 'just getting into' Stranger Things

Charlie Heaton said his son is finally discovering the show that made him a household name.

While speaking with People at the Industry season 4 premiere in New York City on Thursday, January 8, the Stranger Things actor shared that his 11-year-old son, Archie, has recently begun watching the hit Netflix series.

“He has just started getting into it,” Heaton, 31, toldPeople. “He got to come to set last year and that was really cool.”

Heaton welcomed Archie in 2014 with his former Comanechi bandmate, Akiko Matsuura.

The two later went their separate ways, and Heaton has largely kept his son out of the public eye ever since.

For longtime fans of Stranger Things, the show has chronicled the coming-of-age journey of its young cast since its 2016 debut.

For Heaton — who has portrayed Jonathan Byers from the beginning — that sense of growing up has unfolded off-screen as well, shaped by early fatherhood.

Ahead of the show’s fifth-season premiere, Heaton opens up about becoming a parent at a young age while speaking with Wonderland Magazine in November 2025.

“Being a young father, you have to grow up very fast,” he said, adding, “You have to learn ethical priorities, too, and you’ve got to look after somebody.”

He adds that while parenthood brings joy, it also comes with sacrifice — particularly time spent apart due to work.

“You want to give them good experiences and a lot of love,” he explained. “The hard part obviously is distance.”

Despite his global fame, Heaton has remained notably private about his personal life. He does not share photos of Archie on social media and rarely discusses him publicly.

That same discretion has extended to his romantic relationships. Heaton and Stranger Things costar Natalia Dyer famously kept their real-life relationship private for months before confirming it publicly.