From Hawkins to hustler: 'Stranger Things' star Gaten Matarazzo gets summer job at a restaurant

The Demogorgon-defeating teen actor is pitching in at a New Jersey restaurant after production on the hit Netflix show was paused

Gaten Matarazzo is making use of his time off from filming by working in a US restaurant. EPA

Stranger Things have happened.

One of the stars of the hit Netflix series has swapped chasing otherworldly demons for waiting tables in New Jersey, taking up a summer job at a local restaurant.

Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson in the Duffer Brothers' sci-fi smash, is working as a food runner in a Long Beach Island, US, restaurant after production shut down on the series' fourth season.

The 17-year-old actor, a native of New Jersey, is working at the restaurant alongside some of his family members, his representative told The Hollywood Reporter.

"He did get noticed by some eagle-eyed diners despite the fact that he was incognito in a hat with the majority of his face covered by cloth mask," the publication reports.

Production on Stranger Things was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and no date has been given for its resumption.

Filming for the fourth season began early in the year, with a teaser trailer dropping in February.

Spoiler alert if you have not gotten around to the third season yet.

The short clip showed that Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper, played by David Harbour, is very much alive, following a cliff-hanger ending in the final episode of season three.

"We're excited to officially confirm that production on Stranger Things 4 is now underway — and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper!" the show's creators said in a statement at the time.

“Although it’s not all good news for our ‘American’; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human … and other.”

There is currently no indication of when the new series – which also stars Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown – will air.

Harbour told fans in an Instagram Q&A that the season had been due to be released this year.

"We’re shut down now. It was supposed to come out early next year, I think, although I don’t have authority on this," the actor said. "And now I don’t know. That’ll probably be pushed back. Hopefully we can get back to work but I don’t know what that looks like.”