Secret’s out! Charlie Heaton revealed in a new GQ interview why he and Stranger Things costar Natalia Dyer were cagey about their relationship for so long.
As Heaton, 26, explained to the magazine, he and Dyer, 25, weren’t trying to be elusive about their romance. They just didn’t want it to interfere with their work on the hit Netflix series. “We didn’t really know what the relationship was,” he said.
Stranger Things co-creator Matt Duffer, however, knew the score. “That first audition, we did a chemistry read with [Heaton and] Natalia, and sparks were flying,” Duffer told GQ.
Heaton and Dyer sparked relationship rumors in January 2017 when they were spotted together at Los Angeles International Airport. That November, they were seen holding hands in Paris and kissing in London, and they went red-carpet official at a Christmas event in London the following month.
Dyer commented on her on- and offscreen beau in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in January 2018. “He’s alright, I guess,” she quipped. “He doesn’t mess up our scenes too much! No, he’s great. He’s talented, like everybody in the cast. They’re all super, just great to work with.”
The actress elaborated on her and Heaton’s working relationship in an Us interview that March. “He’s great,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun. We goof off a lot. The whole cast does. We’re all very close so we always have a great time on and off [set]. Sometimes it’s even hard to stop laughing, stop goofing off. It’s been really lovely!”
And in January 2019, an onlooker told Us that Dyer appeared to make Heaton starstruck at the Hollywood premiere of her film Velvet Buzzsaw. “He seemed so proud to be on her arm for the night,” the eyewitness said. “They were adorable and very affectionate on the red carpet. While she was doing photos, he was just staring at her in awe.”
On Stranger Things, Heaton plays Jonathan Byers, a teenage outcast and aspiring photographer. Jonathan becomes the boyfriend of Dyer’s character, Nancy Wheeler, whose journalistic curiosity puts them both in danger in season 3. Netflix renewed the sci-fi drama for a fourth season in September 2019, but a release date has not yet been announced.
