Is Caleb McLaughlin becoming the GOAT?

For many of us, navigating our twenties is a time of self-discovery; a period less about responsibility than possibility. The abundance of avenues to explore, both professionally and personally, can feel overwhelming, but Caleb McLaughlin knows exactly what he wants. “Right now, I think my quest in life is just finding out who I am,” the 24-year-old actor tells me as he dials in on Zoom from LA. It’s a life-step not unsurprising for a man who has spent the entirety of his adolescence as part of one of the biggest shows of the century. With the finale of Stranger Things hitting our screens just over a month ago, the reality of not heading back to Hawkins hasn’t quite sunk in for McLaughlin. “It’s been a part of my life for so long,” he ponders, reminding me that he started playing Lucas at age 13. “I think after maybe like two years, I’ll understand that I’m not on the show,” he laughs. It’s a chapter of McLaughlin’s life he looks back on with great affection. He speaks earnestly about his day-to-day on the show, the people he’s met and what the experience has taught him. “It’s molded me into the person I am today,” he says. 

When we discuss life post Stranger Things, McLaughlin confirms that his focus remains on acting. But after finding success in his career so young, he is also ready for the ‘extracurricular’ adventures coming his way. “[Acting is] my career and something that I love expressing through creatively, because the work that I do is an extension of myself,” he says. “But it’s also: what countries haven’t I visited that I want to go see? What food haven’t I tried? People I haven’t met. Personalities that I didn’t know I would love so much. So I think I’m on that quest.” McLaughlin’s zest for life is clear as we speak. He is endlessly positive, whether we’re discussing looking backwards or moving forwards, and he is genuinely excited for the opportunities set to appear as Stranger Things’s red lights fade.

One such venture is McLaughlin’s latest film, GOAT, a new animation from Sony Pictures that follows the story of a young goat named Will who dreams of becoming a pro ‘roarballer’. It’s a project the New Yorker has been attached to for the past two years, having first been approached by director Tyree Dillihay and producer Michelle Raimo Kouaye with the concept art for the character and world he would inhabit. His love for Sony’s previous features, animation and basketball were all elements that drew McLaughlin to the project, but there was one singular factor that sealed his name on the dotted line. “They said Stephen Curry would be producing it,” he tells me. The film is loosely based on the four-time NBA champion’s life and upbringing. “I was sold,” he laughs. 

‘Roarball’, a sport inspired by basketball, is a high-intensity, full-contact game only played by the biggest and strongest animals; a stature not shared by the driven, but little goat. When Will gets his once-in-a-lifetime shot to make it in the big leagues, his teammates constantly doubt his abilities, but the determined kid is ready to prove that “smalls can ball”. It’s a classic underdog (or, rather, undergoat) tale and Will is a hero viewers can root for while on the road to achieving his dreams. I ask McLaughlin about the popularity of these stories: the small kid making it big, overcoming obstacles and proving those who don’t believe him wrong. Why do we love them? The actor’s answer is simple. Relatability. “We all feel like underdogs in our lives,” he explains. “There’s always someone that underestimates us and doesn’t believe we can do something. With this story, it’s about having a ‘GOAT’ mindset; that strong mindset, that beast, that dog, the animal within us.” 

Will, McLaughlin tells me, is all ambition. He’s a character who “doesn’t allow other noise”, won’t be governed by anyone else’s opinions and certainly won’t let others define who he is. It’s the attribute McLaughlin most connected to within the character: the drive to be better than himself. To be great. “It’s not about being better than anyone else,” the actor explains. “It’s about proving to himself that he can do anything he wants.” I see parallels with McLaughlin’s desire to discern who he is and figure out what he wants. But there’s another shared characteristic, too; one that takes me by surprise. Cleanliness. “There’s a line where Will sees a TV in the bathroom and he goes, ‘There’s a TV in the bathroom. It’s unsanitary, but it’s cool,” McLaughlin laughs. “That was a little improv moment we wrote to try and bring some of my personality in.” 

GOAT was the first time the actor has tried his hoof (sorry, hand) at voice acting. “It’s a different muscle, man,” McLaughlin laughs. “I didn’t realise how challenging it is, because I’m so used to working through my physicality.” Acting on the project alongside Stranger Things, the Sony animation may have seemed the less exerting of the two, but in reality left the actor just as exhausted. “I would lose my voice at the end of every session,” he tells me, “working on different inflections and ranges that I’ve never had to do before. I had to use more of my facial expressions to get certain sounds out.” And get out certain sounds he did; especially where the kid’s laugh is concerned. “I don’t have a signature laugh,” McLaughlin explains. “I have different variations of laughs depending on how funny the joke is. But I chose one of my laughs for Will, and I really feel like it works for him.” Like the actor’s penchant for cleanliness, Will’s laugh was a personal trait McLaughlin was proud to insert into his character and make “signature to his lore”. 

Far from the world of farmyard animals, McLaughlin’s post-Stranger–Things life includes carving out a space for himself in the fashion world. It’s not entirely unexpected. He’s already turned heads with his red-carpet outfits, the 2025 Met Gala marking a significant sartorial moment. Fashion is a subject the actor speaks about passionately, and he stresses the importance of a “fresh fit” in making himself feel good. But it’s not just about looking sharp. “It’s an extension of who you are,” he affirms. “How you feel, and your creativity.” That philosophy, perhaps, came through most clearly in his Stranger Things finale premiere look, where he sported a Wales Bonner military-inspired jacket. As he closed the script on Lucas, McLaughlin approached the styling in a way that would “body the spirit” of the character, embracing Lucas’s representation as a soldier in the final season of the show. “Stranger Things has so many different mythologies and gaming references,” McLaughlin explains. “In [Dungeons & Dragons], Lucas’s avatar is a knight, so I honed in on that.” 

At the mention of the game, I wonder if, having spent so much time playing a teenager, McLaughlin is looking to play characters around his own age. “I don’t want to limit myself to playing someone that I understand,” he explains. McLaughlin would rather stretch himself; step outside what he knows. There is one role, however, the actor already has his eye on. “I wanna be a superhero,” he smiles. Spending his free time practicing martial arts (“spinjitzu”, which he informs me is a complicated type of flipping in the air), it seems McLaughlin is ready to take on his own superhero story. Would he be keen to do his own stunts, I wonder? “I would love to do stunt work, not if, but when I do the superhero film,” he says through a sly grin.

But it’s not just the prospect of playing a superhero that McLaughlin is relishing since Stranger Things has wrapped. In all areas of life, his glass is half-full. And there’s one glass the actor is particularly fond of. “Life is exciting right now,” he says. “I mean, I woke up this morning and thought, ‘Ooh, I can’t wait to drink my green smoothie’.” He laughs. Beverages and beyond, McLaughlin’s current project is an eponymous one. “I’m excited to see who Caleb is, and what creative ideas and worlds I’ll tap into,” he reflects. “I’m excited to see where that goes.”