Stranger Things Derek Actor Hid His Season 5 Casting In Plain Sight With A Hilarious Trick
Breakout Derek actor Jake Connelly reveals the hilarious ruse he used to keep his Stranger Things Season 5 casting under wraps, finally spilling the secret on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Stranger Things Season 5 has a lot of moving parts, but one new face managed to sneak in and steal scenes: Derek. The actor behind him, Jake Connelly, hit The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and told a very funny story about how he landed the gig, hid it from everyone, and, yes, skipped a little school along the way.
The breakout: Derek, the unlikely ringer
Connelly plays Derek Turnbow in the fifth and final season, an unexpected ally to the Hawkins kids who plugs into their complicated endgame plan. Fans latched onto the character fast — mostly because Derek’s whole vibe feels different from the usual suspects, and that personality pop helped him stand out in a crowded season.
Landing the role (and ducking class)
On Fallon, Connelly said the audition was one of those pinch-me moments — the kind you double-check to make sure it’s real. Fallon asked if he missed school for it, and Connelly admitted he did, but framed it like a harmless heist: it was the last week before winter break, not exactly midterms. The crowd approved.
School gets weird when you’re on Stranger Things
He also talked about how day-to-day life at school shifted once the show hit and his profile jumped — locker-room fame, hallway whispers, the whole deal — before he got into how he kept the entire job a secret for a long time.
The cover story: a mayonnaise documentary
Connelly said Netflix kept him quiet for a year and a half, which is basically an eternity when you’re a teenager. His solution was so oddly perfect it belongs in Hawkins lore:
'I actually had to tell everyone I was on a mayonnaise documentary.'
'No follow-up questions to mayonnaise.'
As Fallon pointed out (between laughs), that is the kind of excuse that absolutely shuts down curiosity. Weird? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
What’s next
The Tonight Show appearance played like a victory lap — the same energy he got from fans for Derek carried over to the studio crowd — and Connelly will be back as Derek in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 when it drops on December 25, 2025.