The star has revealed that his medical condition, cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) which affects his bone and teeth growth has made it difficult for him to land primo roles.
“It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t been getting roles, because of my lisp, and the teeth situation, and my height,” Matarazzo explained on a new episode of The Doctors.
“That affected pretty much everything. I would go three times a week for auditions all the time and get constant ‘no.’”
But when he auditioned for his role on the Netflix series, his condition was actually a benefit to him as it made him stand out from the rest.
“It really started out when I was stretching in the audition room,” Matarazzo says. “I was just [stretches] and they were like ‘Wait, wait, wait what did you just do?’ and I said, ‘What? I’m stretching’ and they said ‘No, do it again’s and they said ‘Why do you do that? Your shoulders are touching.’ … So I started explaining what it was and how I had a condition from birth that affects my teeth and everything. That’s why I was missing teeth in the first season, and I still have my appliance in right now.”
We're so glad the casting peeps took a chonce on Gaten 'coz tbh Stranger Things wouldn't be the same without him!