A Belleville native has joined the cast of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ in a Netflix x T-Mobile ad airing in Germany.
21-year-old Titus Tolentino of Belleville was cast as the body double for one of the lead actors, Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers in the series.
Tolentino began his acting career at the Canadian Model & Talent Convention in Toronto where he signed with Mode Elle in Belleville in 2023. He later ventured off to sign with The Agency Talent Management in Toronto.
Tolentino said the audition process for the role was simple.
“They just wanted to see my profiles, so I’d do a profile to the camera, my left and right side, a 360, 360 slow, they wanted a whole bunch of versions of what I look like,” he said.
“They wanted to see a close-up of my hands too because a lot of the shots were my hands or my feet.”
The ad was filmed in Toronto over a span of four days at the end of September, which Tolentino says was an ‘insane’ experience as a major fan of the show.
“The first day was wardrobe and the set tour and that was the first day I met the cast, which was super surreal,” he said.
“I’ve grown up watching these guys, we’re about the same age, it was crazy to meet them in person because they are all people I’ve looked up to as an aspiring actor.”
Tolentino said when the audition opportunity came in, he thought there was no way that he would book the role.
“I’m always down to give things a try, so I thought why not? If I get it, that’s incredible, if not, I keep moving forward and submitting more auditions,”
“I submitted it and I actually heard back the next day for a call back, so they wanted me to go to Toronto and audition with other doubles to see who would be the best fit for the doubles as a whole. The next day, I got another email saying that I booked it. That was super crazy and super exciting.”
As a mega-fan of the show, Tolentino said that gave him an advantage to learn Schnapp’s mannerisms, and the body doubles also had the opportunity to chat with the cast in-between takes.
“It was nice to connect with them as people, not just as actors,”
“On set when the cast was acting, the body doubles had their own monitor and we were able to see how those actors acted in those specific scenarios and scenes in real time so we could match it when it was needed.”
Tolentino said after the experience, he’s been gaining a lot more attention towards his social media following and networking with other creatives in the industry.
“I’ve actually had people that were on Stranger Things Season 5 follow me and messaging about the industry, that’s been really helpful getting more knowledge,”
“Even being on set has really made a difference, for four days was quite incredible, I’m usually on set for a day or two, but multiple days was really great to learn more about the set life. Getting to know the cinematographers, the director, the producers, and even getting a chance to talk to Netflix executives. One night after we wrapped, I was walking back to Union Station, and one of the executives pulled over and I got a ride from them. I got about ten minutes to chat with Netflix executives which was a pretty crazy experience.”
Tolentino’s advice for other local talent hoping to break into bigger opportunities is to keep practicing their craft.
“Practice makes perfect. Make sure to network, networking is very important in this industry. Make connections as much as you can, reach out to people, you have to put the work in,”
“I would say work hard and do what you love.”
You can follow more of Tolentino’s journey on Instagram @titus.tolentino.
