In Stranger Things 5, Holly Wheeler is played by British actress Nell Fisher, who is in her early teens in real life while portraying a younger child on screen. Viewers often notice that Holly now looks older than in previous seasons, which connects to both the show’s timeline and the decision to expand the character’s role.
Nell Fisher is around 13–14 years old during the release of Stranger Things 5, having been about 12 during much of the 2024 filming. Although her character reads as roughly nine or ten in the story, Fisher plays younger than her real age, which is common for experienced child actors.
Within the Stranger Things timeline, Holly was introduced as a three-year-old in Season 1, set in 1983. By Season 5, which takes place in late 1987, dialogue and context suggest that Holly is presented as about nine or ten, slightly older than the strictly calculated seven years the timeline would imply.
In the first four seasons, Holly Wheeler was portrayed by twins Tinsley and Anniston (Anniston and Tinsley) Price, who were very young when the show began. As the series progressed and Holly’s part grew more substantial, the production opted to recast the role with an older actor capable of handling a larger emotional range and more complex scenes, which led to Nell Fisher taking over.
Holly Wheeler was originally played by twins Anniston and Tinsley Price before the role passed to Nell Fisher in Season 5.
The article explains that Nell Fisher, a young British teen, replaces twins Tinsley and Anniston Price as an older, more prominent Holly Wheeler in Stranger Things 5, aligning casting needs with the show’s evolving story.