Caleb Reginald McLaughlin[1] (born October 13, 2001)
is an American actor. He gained international recognition for playing Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–present). McLaughlin began his career playing Young Simba in the Broadway musical The Lion King, followed by small roles in television. After his breakthrough with Stranger Things, he appeared in the drama films High Flying Bird (2019) and Concrete Cowboy (2020), the latter his first lead role in a feature film. His work also includes the miniseries The New Edition Story (2017) and several television voice acting roles.
McLaughlin's first acting role was as a child in the opera Lost in the Stars in Cooperstown, New York, at the Glimmerglass Opera House. His first starring role was on Broadway as Young Simba in The Lion King musical (2012–14). He then went on to have guest-starring roles in television series such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Unforgettable, Forever, What Would You Do?, and Shades of Blue. In 2016, McLaughlin's breakthrough role came with his portrayal of Lucas Sinclair in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–present). In 2017, he was a nominee for the BET YoungStars Award, and in 2018 he won Outstanding Performance by a Youth at the NAACP Image Awards.[4] In 2020, McLaughlin made his feature film debut in Concrete Cowboy, along with costars Idris Elba and Jharrel Jerome.[5][6] The movie received mixed reviews. In December 2020, McLaughlin was included as an honoree in Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2021 list in the field of Hollywood and Entertainment.[7] On January 8, 2024, it was announced that McLaughlin was set to feature in a biopic about British-American rap artist 21 Savage, alongside Donald Glover and Savage himself; McLaughlin was expected to play a younger version of 21 Savage.[8] On January 24, Savage revealed that the biopic's announcement was actually a "parody", though he noted that "it could be [a real movie] one day".[9]
Advocacy
McLaughlin has spearheaded the social media campaigns #EmbraceYourFace and #BeYourBiggestFan, promoting healthy body image, positivity and self-esteem.[4] McLaughlin has stated: "Feeling good about yourself is healthy. It always starts with you first, before it goes to anyone else... You have to learn to love and appreciate yourself and take that time to do it."[4] In 2020, McLaughlin also encouraged people to vote in the 2020 US presidential election, posting a video on his official Instagram account with links to the non-profit organization Vote.org.[10]
McLaughlin has opened up about the microaggressions he experienced as the only black actor in the main cast of Stranger Things, stating "My very first Comic-Con, some people didn't stand in my line because I was black...Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes it's hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot."[11][12]
