Trailer Talk & Tea with Andrey Ivchenko aka Grigori

In this candid, funny, and very real zoom sit-down, Andrey Ivchenko (Grigori in Stranger Things S3) joins Sarah in the trailer to unpack how a role that started as “the muscle” became a season-defining villain — and why his now-iconic haircut was a battle of its own. From a global casting scramble to bruising, multi-day fight shoots, this episode is packed with the good stuff fans never get to hear. 

Highlights you’ll hear:

• The Terminator inspo and the “flat-top vs. Georgia heat” saga — soft hair, lots of trial and error, and the tweak that finally made it hold. 

• Casting curveball: the part began as a two-episode heavy with no name, then the Duffers saw his tape and wrote him into seven of eight episodes. 

• Day one in Atlanta: wardrobe gauntlet, first meet with the Duffers, and getting sent back to the hair trailer when the first pass ran too high. 

• Designing the fights with David Harbour: full rehearsals, four days to film one brutal sequence, pads under the costume — and going back to the hotel black and blue. 

• The carnival night & the mirror room: long takes, 500 extras, and the moment that shattered fans (RIP, Alexei). 

• Playing the “bad guy” with humanity: channeling ’80s action vibes without losing the person underneath—and why the Duffers’ trust mattered. 

If you love behind-the-scenes craft — hair, stunts, costume, and the choices that make a character pop — brew a cup and press play. This is where the trailer chair meets real talk.