You’ll Be Glad to Know This STRANGER THINGS Star Has ‘Replenishing’ Faith

Published: January 12, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

STRANGER THINGS’ Caleb McLaughlin spent the summer in prayer and at church and practiced social media abstinence.

“I’ve always felt the connection with God in my spirit from, I can’t even remember the day it started,” said McLaughlin, who stars as Lucas Sinclair in STRANGER THINGS.

“It’s just always been a part of me, but it’s always a different level to me [now],” he continued in his Podcrushed interview. “Because I feel like sometimes you live your life, and you kind of like, get into the world a little bit, and then you kind of stop praying sometimes, and you’re like, ‘Alright, I’m praying before I go to sleep. All right, great.’ But then you have those moments like, wait, I need to pray and talk to God and ground [myself].”

He did that all summer, attended church with his family and deleted Instagram.

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“[I] just started grounding myself a little bit more and talking to God more, and it’s been really replenishing,” McLaughlin said.

In November, he told Square Mile, “I operate through the spirit instead of the flesh. When we get caught up in the human experience and the ego, we lose ourselves. I have a personal relationship with God. In the Bible, it talks about living through the spirit; not getting caught up in worldly desires.”

“If you rely on external things, you’ll never be satisfied. I rely on my spirit so that I can love and forgive others,” he continued.

Every night, he prays for his family, friends and the world.

“I don’t think about myself when I pray because prayer is needed for all. I grew up in the church. My father is a pastor,” he explained.

His family’s denomination is Baptist, but McLaughlin says he leans toward the “more spiritual.”

“I listen to gospel music a lot. My favorite gospel song right now is ‘Love Said Not So’ by BeBe and CeCe Winans. It’s a beautiful song,” he shared.

He told Essence in 2022 that acting is his calling.

“Of course, there’s more I have to do to become better and I have to work at that,” he said. “God has called me to do this thing called acting and the performing arts. I never wanted to do it — it just happened. I love it more than anything now.”

“I’m not in competition with anyone but myself, and I think once I know I work hard enough for myself and I know I put my all into everything, then that’s my goal. That’s what I want to reach,” he said.

McLaughlin has starred in CONCRETE COWBOY, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE and SHOOTING STARS, a basketball movie that focuses on human connection.

“In this film, we talk about basketball, but I feel like this movie represents life,” he previously told the Christian Post. “Basketball is more than a game. It’s about friendship. It’s about a bond. It’s about community.”

“There are a lot of parallels in this film that people don’t see. Don’t forget about the people that love you and support you, because you’re going to need them at the end of the day when all else fails, when your back’s against the wall. … You’re going to need that person to have your back,” he explained.

His next project, GOAT, produced by Stephen Curry, comes out next month.

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