Exclusive | ‘Stranger Things’ star Shannon Purser on Barb’s death: ‘They talked about bringing me back’

It all started with Barb. 

As “Stranger Things” gears up to end after nearly a decade, the actress behind the show’s first big death takes a walk down memory lane. 

“After Season 1 came out and there was the whole Barb movement, I think some of the people at Netflix asked [the Duffer brothers] if they would be interested in bringing me back,” Shannon Purser, 28, exclusively told The Post. 

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, the Netflix sci-fi hit first premiered in 2016, and will end with Season 5. Volume I premiered Nov. 26. 

Set in Hawkins, Indiana, in the ‘80s, “Stranger Things” follows friends of various ages – including Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery) and Hopper (David Harbour)  – as they battle supernatural threats from a sinister dimension called “The Upside Down.” 

Each season, the show has ruthlessly killed side characters such as Billy (Dacre Montgomery), Bob (Sean Astin) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn).

But it all started with Barb. For Purser, who scored an Emmy nomination for the role, it also marked her acting debut. 

“I was 18. It was my senior year of high school,” Purser recalled.  

“It was a weird thing to be doing this project, and obviously nobody knew what it was at the time. And then, when it came out, people were like, ‘that’s what you were doing the whole time?’” And I was like, ‘Yeah, I told you it was cool!’” 

Barb was friends with Nancy in Season 1. When they attended a party together, Nancy went to make out with Steve – leaving her friend alone by the pool. Poor Barb got fatally attacked by the Demogorgon, a monster from The Upside Down. 

Purser said she’s seen “a few seasons” of the show after her exit, but hasn’t “kept up all the way.” 

From what she’s watched, she doesn’t hold Barb’s death against Steve. 

“I think it’s so cool the way all the characters have been fleshed out. Steve is definitely one of my favorites, for sure. He’s really become a hero in the show.” 

Fans of the show rallied around the perceived injustice of Hawkins quickly moving on from Barb’s death. #JusticeForBarb became a viral fan campaign in 2016. 

Purser, who currently has nearly one million followers on Instagram, recalled, “I remember watching the show the night that it premiered on Netflix, and just thinking it was the coolest thing in the world and being so grateful…. The thing that really clued me in that something was happening was my follower accounts on Twitter and Instagram really skyrocketed super fast, which was bizarre.”

She remembered that she had “maybe 200 followers” on Instagram before the show.

“Suddenly, it was jumping into the tens of thousands. When you’re 18, having a ton of followers is like the coolest thing ever,” she added. “And then, I remember there were a few celebrities who were tweeting about Barb.”

For instance, John Stamos did an #ImWithBarb post on his social media.

The actress said she was “in shock” about the unexpected phenomena. 

“I was so excited just to have my first professional acting job, and to be on a project that Winona Ryder was working on,” she told The Post. “I fully believed that people would not care about my character at all, and that they would forget about her. She was really only there for like, three episodes.” 

When audiences rallied around Barb, “it was definitely flattering,” she noted. “I think I still have to process it, but I guess something I did struck a chord with people.” 

Purser said that although there was briefly talk of her returning to the show after Season 1, the Duffer brothers shot the idea down, because they insisted that “it’s important for the story and for the stakes that somebody is actually in danger.”

She had no hard feelings about not returning.

“[IT] makes sense to me,” she explained. “If everybody just gets off scot-free every time there’s danger, then there’s no real fear in it.” 

The “Riverdale” actress added, “And to be honest, my death scene was so fun to shoot. It was one of my favorite days on set.” 

Purser revealed that there was also “a moment” in Season 3, “where they talked about bringing me back” for what she believed would be, “flashback stuff.” 

“I still don’t know for sure what it would have been,” she told The Post. “But, that didn’t end up happening.” 

Barb’s body will reportedly be shown in Season 5, according to Time, but Purser told The Post that she wasn’t on set for the final season — even though she attended the premiere.  

“It’s my body, but it’s not me. I think it’s like the corpse that they made for Season 1. I guess they still have that. It’s so weird just to know that my fake dead body is like hanging around in Atlanta, somewhere,” she quipped. 

“Stranger Things” Season 5 will have 8 episodes, dropping on Netflix in three volumes, releasing on Nov. 26, Dec. 25 and Dec. 31.