Stranger Things character Nancy Wheeler experienced a dramatic arc from an innocent popular high-school student to an intrepid reporter who moonlights as a monster hunter. However, the actor who portrays her, Natalia Dyer, has attracted unwanted advice about her looks from a nip-and-tuck TikTokker.
Fans of the smash Netflix series were taken aback after a TikTok by aesthetician Miranda Wilson provides an unsolicited hypothetical plastic surgery consultation for Dyer. The post opens with a seemingly complimentary preamble declaring, "First of all, she killed it in Stranger Things, and if you don't like Stranger Things, we cannot be friends." The line was followed by an assessment of the 27-year-old actor's face that fans found offensive over its comprehensiveness. Wilson went on to suggest a slimming procedure for Dyer's masseter muscles (attached to the jaw, aiding in chewing), chin filler (to give the head a "heart shape"), lip filler (for a stronger pout) and, the arguable pièce de résistance, botox to lift the brows.
Naturally, fans are not reacting well to the now-viral TikTok. The most potent and pithy reaction came from Twitter user "probablypersian," who empathizes with Dyer's dilemma, stating, "I could never be a celebrity because if someone made a video like this about me, I would get violent." Another reaction, responding to the aforementioned tweet, said, "She made her look like Scarlett Johansson."
It remains to be seen if Dyer will take the time to respond to the TikTok. The actor is actually a major outlier among her age group in that she only maintains a minimal presence on social media. Case in point, her Twitter account has not seen a tweet since 2016. Thus, while fans might find the plastic surgery suggestions offensive, Dyer is likely focused on other things, like, say, the trajectory of her character in Stranger Things' upcoming fifth and final season
As mentioned, Nancy Wheeler's role on Stranger Things was not initially empowering during the show's 2016 inaugural season, in which she was essentially arm candy for Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), fielding a relationship that would not endure. However, three whole seasons, many tragedies and character-defining monster battles later, she has become the fulcrum of an apparent love triangle with her ex and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). Yet, Dyer doesn't think Nancy is necessarily defined by the romantic trope. "For me and Nancy, it's just so much more gray than that and so much more realistic in relationships and how they evolve and how they change and not putting everything in a box," Dyer said in a recent interview.
The actor emphasizes the elevated stakes of the series at the end of Season 4, in which a disaster has destroyed Nancy's hometown of Hawkins, Indiana, turning it into a cracked tectonic portal to the Upside Down. "It's really hard to be like, 'Who's she gonna end up with?' And it's like, 'Well, in the world of our characters, the world is potentially gonna end and they just had this giant rift thing, and they just narrowly escaped death again. I don't know!' I don't know," she continued. "Who's to say who she's gonna end up with? It's a really funny thing, but I like that it interests people still."
Stranger Things Season 5 is in development for Netflix, with no official release date.
Source: TikTok via Twitter