Stranger Things: The First Shadow's Rosie Benton and Janie Brookshire on 16 Years of Friendship and Sharing a Broadway Role

Stranger Things: The First Shadow cast members Rosie Benton and Janie Brookshire first met as audience members. They both came to see a mutual friend perform in a play and ended up taking the train home together, chatting about their lives and careers. Brookshire had previously seen Benton on stage, including with Brookshire's now-husband, actor Robert Eli. In 2009, they were on Broadway at the same time—Benton in Accent on Youth and Brookshire making her debut in The Philanthropist—and the casts occasionally hung out. 2010's Wife to James Whelan marked their first production together, at off-Broadway's Mint Theater. They shared a tiny dressing room with another actress and grew closer as part of a tight-knit company.

Now going on 16 years of friendship, the pair are having a scary good time working together on Broadway. Benton originated the role of Virginia Creel at the Marquis Theatre, and Brookshire serves as her understudy and performs as a member of the ensemble. The dynamic duo settled into a corner booth at their post-show spot, Miss Nellie's, to discuss their parallel paths, the screenwriting project close to their hearts and how Stranger Things is far from a normal job, in the very best way.

Had you worked together prior to Stranger Things?

Rosie Benton: We were cast in a play together in 2010, and the rest is history. That cast got very close, so we hung out a lot. We were all young and having fun.

Janie Brookshire: And then I was at Rosie's wedding. Rosie ended up marrying my husband and me. Rosie was also there on our first date. She was essentially my wingman.

Rosie: But I didn't realize they were on a date, so I stayed way too long and Janie was kicking me under the table. She's like, "Get out of here." And I was like, "Oh right. They're not just my friends." Then they asked me to marry them and it was a beautiful ceremony. And now we live in the same neighborhood.

Do you often find yourselves auditioning for the same roles?

Rosie: We go in for a lot of the same roles. Are your children dead, or missing? Which kind of grieving mother are you?

Janie: Crying moms are our jam.

Rosie: Over the years, we'd be like, "I've got this audition." "Oh yeah, I'm going in for that too." Some guest star where they need a crying mom. We go in for similar plays, including this, which just all of a sudden happened and we were like, "What if we both get it?"

How do you handle that as friends? Are you like, "I really want this one, but also it's cool if you get it"?

Rosie: I think that's the attitude.

Janie: Yeah. And we did talk a lot about what it would mean if we were both doing it. It was clear pretty early in the audition process for this that I was going in for the cover track.

Rosie: I think that over the years you realize that if your friends are getting cast, it's sort of like lifting everyone together. That feels like a much better way to look at it. If I don't get it, I'd much rather you get it. Or you might be a little bit better for that than me. Because despite being up for the same things, I think we do have differences, on camera specifically.

Janie: After you've been here and doing it for a couple of decades, you do kind of see how it all evens out anyway. It's not like somebody getting a part means there's less opportunity for you. There's enough to go around.

The two of you also write together.

Janie: We became writing partners during the pandemic, so that was another form of collaboration.

Rosie: We were both sticking our toes in the water of writing. It's hard when you know so many great writers and you've been in plays with these fantastic playwrights and you're like, "Am I a writer? Can I do this?" I think we helped each other realize that we could.

Janie: There's this amazing story that Rosie discovered in Green-Wood Cemetery, which is near where we live. It's a theater story that spoke to both of us in a very visceral way. I remember the laps we took in the park just talking about it before we even wrote a single thing down.

Rosie: At heart, we're both into what really good storytelling is and how to bring that to life.

Were you able to bring that story to fruition?

Rosie: We've written a draft and now we're talking to people about how to revise that draft and get it out there. I rarely see theater done well on TV or film. It's about the Brooklyn Theatre Fire that happened in 1876.

Would you want to be in it?

Janie: We didn't really write parts for ourselves, interestingly.

Rosie: Our friends though. Lots of our friends.

Janie: We wrote parts for a lot of specific theater people that we know and love and have worked with. I remember the first day we were in the Marquis looking around at this giant space and this giant crew and the automation system, the pulleys, the whole operation that is a theater—and thinking about being able to use that in subsequent revisions.

Tell me the story of how you were both cast in Stranger Things.

Rosie: I had a pretty good feeling about it, but it took a while. And then [Janie] called me. I remember exactly where I was in the park when she was like, "Netflix approved me." I was like, "Well, they haven't approved me. Maybe I didn't get it."

Janie: You were like, "Have fun. Enjoy your play." [Laughs]

Rosie: But I was like, "Janie, what if we get this?" I called my agent and within a day or two we were both cast. It was so crazy, because what are the chances? Especially to do a play for a year in this city. Musicals, sure, but a play for a year is really exciting.

Have you had the opportunity to see one another in the role?

Janie: I see her every night. She doesn't see me.

Rosie: I'm going to see her before it's all over. I can't wait. The first night she went on, I was going on vacation and I wrote the cast, "She's one of my favorite actresses. I can't believe I'm not there. I come to all her shows." But the nature of this is that I can't.

Janie: What is interesting is that I get to do your job, but you don't ever get to do my job.

Rosie: You do it less, but I do feel like there's an ownership that you have of the part that's probably a different thing than I do.

Were you Stranger Things fans before auditioning?

Rosie: Yes. I love the show so much. I don't know how they did it. It's the magic of the producers, [director] Stephen Daldry and the writers [the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry]. I don't find them similar, but I find that the essence of the show is really translated to the play in a way that is so unique and weird and wonderful.

Janie: Well, it's so much about misfits and dreamers, and theater kids obviously fall into that category. So I think there's something super relatable.

Rosie: I love the magic of this show and how it can be sort of old school with the guys in black velvet just pulling a curtain on something. Some of it's very expensive and some of it's just sleight of hand.

In a show with so many special effects and gasp-worthy moments, how do you keep your performance grounded?

Rosie: I think the adults in the show, we carry this deep trauma that some of the kids get to skirt around. The show's got a film noir stylized way to it that I love. I love the underscoring. I love that in a play, when it feels bigger than reality. It is helpful that the effects are so good. When you're seeing a spider coming at you, it's a gigantic spider and it's terrifying.

Janie: One of the other tracks that I cover is one of the teenage tracks. I feel like I'm in two completely different plays, because everything is big and theatrical in the way that it is when you're a theater kid doing a play in high school. The adults are forced to be in this more grounded world.

Rosie: It's finding the melodrama and the truth at the same time. I find it to be a great challenge. And I love the technical stuff, like you have to get the light right here or else you'll be out of the light.

Janie: But the light helps you. As soon as you're in the light, you realize this is the size of the moment. This is the size the moment needs to be.

Rosie: As somebody who doesn't do musicals, even though I would love to, it feels that size. It's just a rare opportunity. The play we met on was a tiny, 99-seat theater. Even a lot of the Broadway shows I've done don't have this sort of scale.

What other roles would you want to tackle together?

Rosie: It'd be fun to play sisters or friends. It's been a long time.

Janie: The play that we met on was by Teresa Deevy, an absolutely magnificent playwright. I think we're both attracted to that kind of small, semi-tortured, rural, specific story of loss and heartbreak.

Rosie: To work on the same part together—I always think there should be more role sharing. It'd be really great to [do a show] the way Cynthia Nixon and Laura Linney [did The Little Foxes]. 

Rosie, how did you first approach the role of Virginia?

Rosie: I have two young sons, so as a mother, I really relate. I've said this to Janie a million times: I don't think you need to have children to be able to relate, but for me, it's always about wanting what's best for him. Virginia, I always thought she probably didn't have a very good mother. She's trying to bridge that gap, but she wants everything to be perfect. So I just try and always connect with that.

How has your performance evolved?

Rosie: Over time, I think the emotional connection has become easier. I used to have to take a little more time to get there and now every night it feels much faster. And I relate to Henry so much because we now know [the actors]. It's a personal connection. I think it's changed over time in that I can feel her mannerisms have taken over and they're hers specifically. Certain things that I do, I'm like, "Oh, that's so Virginia."

Janie, what's your take on Virginia?

Janie: I've had a handful of roles that are very similar to this, mostly on screen. The mid-century housewife who's overburdened, under-resourced, has a distant husband and a kid who's acting out for various reasons. I don't know why this is a thing that keeps coming up for me. But I think what all those women share is a high intelligence and also this need to search out the best solution for their family. And then what they're met with in return is closed doors and gaslighting. One of the wonderful things is there's three different Henrys, so it's like, what are you going to get on a given night from the person who's stepping into the role with you? Over time, there's a relaxation and a trust that’s happened. I think sometimes we spend a lot of time building up all of this backstory for a character when it's a more intuitive leap. Just stay present. That's worked out the best for me because there's so much other technical stuff that you do have to think about. The script is very simple and the objectives are really clear.

Do you spend much time together at work?

Janie: So much. I come hang out in her dressing room quite a bit. Sometimes because we are neighbors, we'll make a roadie and take it home and have a drink on the train and chat and catch up about life.

Rosie: Oftentimes we see each other on the way in. I'll go into the train and she's there. We sit down and maybe we don't even talk. We're doing crossword puzzles next to each other.

Janie: We play each other in Crossplay.

Rosie: We have very parallel lives.

What about the rest of the cast?

Rosie: It's crazy how well this cast gets along, especially because so many of them are like 22 years old. They're all very professional and fun and take it seriously. They're always like, "Is this normal?" And we're like, "No, this is not a normal job." They don't exist like this often.

You’ve both been with the production since it opened. What is it about this show and this role that keeps you coming back?

Rosie: Everyone's really wonderful. I really enjoy doing the play. It's just the right amount of challenging every night. And trying to do something for this long as an actor, it's a rare occurrence. So you try and say, "How does this month feel different?" Or, "How does this week feel different?" Janie, her track that she does every night is very physical, and that's something that you've had to think about in your daily life.

Janie: Definitely. My swing track and the teenager track that I cover, there's a lot of physical stuff. I'm in the dance every night with people half my age. It's been challenging, but it's rewarding. It's reminded me of when we were first in acting school and learning how to use our bodies and be strong and flexible and all of these tools that we didn't think we would use on a daily basis, but we really are.

Why do you think audiences love the show so much?

Janie: It is spectacular.

Rosie: It really is. I watch it as much as I can. We had a re-tech recently for the proshot. When we have chances to sit in the audience and watch it, I always do. I can't believe there are some kids, 11, 12, 13 who come and that's their first play, because the scale of it is so fun.

Janie: But we have had very, very snobby theater friends come see it and have the biggest grin on their face afterwards. I think there's just something that happens to you. It's magical that storytelling can feel that visceral and that engrossing.

Rosie: It's a satisfying show. Stephen's such a good director, and [co-director] Justin [Martin]. The heart of it is the connections and the relationships, but all of these illusions happening are really fun to watch.

Outside of the theater, what do you like to do together?

Rosie: It's so funny because sometimes we're like, "We have to actually hang out." We see each other all the time.

Janie: We forget to hang out.

Rosie: I have two kids and Janie's helped me with them and hung out with us over the years, and that's been really wonderful.

Janie: We both love to go to a really good restaurant, get a nice cocktail, read.

What's your Miss Nellie's order?

Rosie: We do have a martini club, so sometimes we get martinis.

Janie: We've had the Dirty Dill martini here, which is really excellent. The fries here are really good as well. We're typically snacking late at night.

Rosie: We both love mezcal and grapefruit, so we drink that a lot here, with a Tajín rim. We come in with the cast and one of us will just order for the other one.

Janie: Two to go. And then we share a cab home. During Tonys season the first year, we did an internal cast "Louis Awards," after Louis McCartney. Rosie and I won Best Offstage Duo, which was really cute.

Rosie: I'm always just like, "Is Janie here? Has anyone seen Janie?" [Laughs] It's been really lovely for our friendship to have this and have the connection.

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