Charlie Heaton has an 11-year-old son and he’s just started watching Stranger Things

I somehow completely missed that Charlie Heaton is a father with an 11-year-old son, and he even came onto the Stranger Things set while they were filming the final season.

Charlie, who played Johnathan Byers in Stranger Things, has been a favourite from the series since the beginning. He was just 22 years old when season one started. Since then, he’s developed a romantic relationship with co-star Natalia Dyer, who plays Nancy Wheeler, and the pair have been going strong for the past 10 years.

Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers) has a 3 year old son named Archie that lives in London #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/YYBFBeZ1KC

— Stranger Facts (@DexertoST) October 30, 2017

But one thing Charlie has kept super private is his son, who he had with ex-girlfriend and band member Akiko Matsuura. They met while playing in rock band Comanechi, and broke up shortly after having a son named Archie. Charlie was 20 years old at the time, and Akiko was 32.

The pair have chosen to keep their son out of the spotlight, and rarely talk about life as parents. But in a new interview with People, Charlie shared a wholesome update on Archie, who is developing an interest in his dad’s acting career.

“He has just started getting into it,” Charlie said. “He got to come to set last year and that was really cool.”

Archie is 11-years-old now, and Charlie and Akiko continue to co-parent him. In an older interview with Wonderland Magazine, he spoke more candidly about the troubles of raising a child as a young parent.

Most Read

Why Elizabeth Smart’s mother Lois wasn’t in the Netflix documentary, and where she is now

These filthy videos of the identical twins who do OnlyFans together are actually too much

The truth behind *that* viral pic of Mia Khalifa and Mr Bean, and if they’re really dating

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charlie Heaton (@charlie.r.heaton)

“Being a young father, you have to grow up very fast,” he told the outlet. “You have to also learn ethical priorities, too, and you’ve got to look after somebody.”

He added: “That’s a big thing, you want to give them good experiences and a lot of love and the hard part obviously is distance. But that’s part of the sacrifice.”

After the dramatic Stranger Things ending, Charlie is back on screen for the new season of HBO’s Industry, playing as Jim Dycher, an investigative finance journalist. He’s also got a few upcoming major films, so it looks like he’ll be having a busy 2026.

Featured image via Instagram/X