Stranger Things actress Jennifer Marshall, who played Max’s mother Susan Hargrove in seasons 2 and 4 of the hit Netflix series, posted on social media about not appearing in the show’s final season and how she came to that decision when she was diagnosed with cancer.
Season 4 ended with Max (Sadie Sink) in a coma in the hospital, but the character also spent much of season 5 there. However, while Max’s boyfriend Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) stands vigil by her side, Susan, despite being Max’s mother, is nowhere to be seen.
Marshall said in his post that he was disappointed not to participate in season 5, especially since he would have been able to get health insurance.
“I had cancer, I get it,” Marshall wrote on social media. “But I was in remission during the filming of Season 5. Thanks to filming, I was able to get health insurance through my union. Maybe there were too many characters, but clearly Susan Hargrove is the worst mother ever. LOL. #StrangerThings #StrangerThings5 #Gun #GunSack #ButWhy.”
Marshall told Variety that the post was not meant to be mean, but rather a joke, noting that with Susan gone, it’s clear that the character isn’t such a great mother.
“I made the reel just to be funny and it blew up,” Marshall wrote in an email to Variety. “I have no ill will toward anyone, I just wish things had gone in a different direction. I was surprised that I wasn’t recalled, but I can’t confirm why that decision was made. In any case, I’m grateful for the opportunity to play last season.”
Earlier, when the final episode of Stranger Things aired on New Year’s Eve, Marshall wrote another post on Instagram: “Okay guys! It’s over…but where was she? What kind of mother wouldn’t be there for her child in the hospital? Tell me all your theories.”
Marshall revealed his cancer diagnosis in a personal Facebook post in 2022. At the time, she said that she was undergoing treatment for cancer while filming Season 4 of Stranger Things, and that by the fourth episode her hair had fallen out and she needed a wig.
“I confided in several people on set, including Sadie, who plays my daughter Max. I was overwhelmed by her kindness and compassion and am forever grateful for those moments we shared behind the scenes,” she wrote at the time. “She’s an amazing talent, but more importantly, she’s a caring and kind human being. At the end of filming, I asked if I could talk alone with Matt and Ross (Duffer, the show’s creator) and explain what was going on. They looked alarmed and asked how I was doing. I confessed that I filmed these episodes while I was in treatment, and that they were some of the brightest days of my life, giving everything that was going on. I told them that I would eventually go public about my diagnosis, and I asked them not to write to me out of kindness or concern for my health, so that no one else would have to go through what I did.
Marshall’s other credits include “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf,” “Sugar,” “For All Mankind,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Reacher” and he is the host of The CW’s “Mysteries Decoded.”
