ACTOR · BORN 2002
Sadie Sink
- Born
- 16 April 2002, Brenham, Texas, USA
- Known for
- Stranger Things (2016), The Whale (2022), Fear Street: 1994 (2021), Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
36 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (36)
- #001
Sadie Sink is one of five children of Lori and Casey Sink.
- #002
Sadie Sink has three older brothers, Caleb, Spencer and Mitchell, and a younger sister, Jacey.
- #003
Sadie Sink and her brother Mitchell developed an interest in musical theater, staging performances at home and watching Broadway productions and Tony Award performances together.
- #004
Sadie Sink later credited that experience with inspiring her to pursue acting professionally.
- #005
Sadie Sink's acting career led her to move between homeschooling, remote study and public school.
- #006
Sadie Sink attended public school in eighth grade and for part of her first two years of high school.
- #007
Sadie Sink completed her final two years of high school through remote study.
- #008
Sadie Sink's professional stage work began with Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, where she played Susan Waverly in White Christmas in 2011 and took the title role in Annie in 2012.
- #009
At the age of ten, Sadie Sink made her Broadway debut in 2012 in the revival of Annie at the Palace Theatre, initially as a standby for Annie and several orphan roles.
- #010
In July 2013, Sadie Sink and Taylor Richardson began alternating in the roles of Annie and Duffy, and Sink stayed with the production until it closed in January 2014.
- #011
Sadie Sink has said that the eight-show weekly schedule of the Annie production helped her develop discipline as an actor and confirmed her wish to act professionally.
- #012
Sadie Sink made her television debut in a 2013 episode of the spy drama The Americans, following her appearances in Annie.
- #013
Sadie Sink guest-starred in the police procedural series Blue Bloods in 2014.
- #014
Sadie Sink called The Audience a formative experience, saying that working with Helen Mirren, director Stephen Daldry and Peter Morgan changed how she viewed acting.
- #015
Sadie Sink made her feature-film debut as Kimberly Wepner in the biographical sports drama Chuck, released in 2016.
- #016
In September 2016, Sadie Sink auditioned for the role of Maxine "Max" Mayfield in the second season of Netflix's Stranger Things, though casting directors considered the 14-year-old too old for the part.
- #017
Sadie Sink asked repeatedly for more material to perform, went through four callbacks and took part in a chemistry read with Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin; she also claimed rollerblading experience she did not have.
- #018
According to director and writer Matt Duffer, casting Sadie Sink was "a bit of a no-brainer" because of her "innocent, child chemistry" with Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin.
- #019
After booking the role, Sadie Sink had to learn to skateboard, a skill she disliked after falling on her first day of practice, and she trained in three-hour lessons daily for two months; the part became her breakthrough, and she was nominated with her Stranger Things castmates for the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
- #020
Sadie Sink appeared in the films The Glass Castle (2017) and Eli (2019).
- #021
Sadie Sink reprised her role in the third season of Stranger Things and earned critical praise for it; the BBC described her performance as "wonderfully loose and natural", while Variety praised the energy she and co-star Millie Bobby Brown brought.
- #022
In 2021, Sadie Sink starred in Fear Street Part Two: 1978 as Ziggy Berman, an aggressive and tomboyish teenager with a difficult home life; she said she was drawn to the character's potential for depth, and director Leigh Janiak suggested she watch slasher films such as Friday the 13th (1980) and Scream (1996) to prepare. Sink performed most of her own stunts in the film.
- #023
Sadie Sink played a leading role opposite Dylan O'Brien in All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), which was written and directed by Taylor Swift.
- #024
Taylor Swift cast Sadie Sink after being impressed by her onscreen presence and emotivity in Stranger Things, and Swift said she would not have made the film had Sink declined the offer.
- #025
Sadie Sink described the role in All Too Well: The Short Film as a chance to step out of being a kid on screen and to play a more rounded and mature character.
- #026
Collider stated that Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien gave vividly emotional performances in All Too Well: The Short Film, which the short received critical acclaim for.
- #027
Sadie Sink appeared in the fourth season of Stranger Things, which was released in two parts on May 27, 2022, and July 1, 2022.
- #028
To prepare for her character's journey, Sadie Sink journaled and engaged in internal reflection.
- #029
Sadie Sink was cast in the psychological drama The Whale in February 2021, after a Zoom meeting with director Darren Aronofsky and lead actor Brendan Fraser.
- #030
Sadie Sink played Ellie in The Whale, the estranged daughter of Brendan Fraser's character.
- #031
Sadie Sink described her experience filming The Whale as sometimes draining, saying the darker subject matter required her to shed every layer and be really vulnerable.
- #032
Sadie Sink said her role in The Whale boosted her confidence, which she linked to stepping out of the child actor role and into adulthood, where she stopped seeing herself as a puppet who stands on their mark and takes direction.
- #033
Sadie Sink received a nomination for Best Young Actor/Actress at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards for her work in The Whale.
- #034
The Whale, in which Sadie Sink appeared, premiered on September 4, 2022, at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.
- #035
Variety's Owen Gleiberman wrote that Sadie Sink acts with a fire and directness reminiscent of the young Lindsay Lohan.
- #036
Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called Sadie Sink's emotional intensity impressive but considered her role poorly written, while Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald described her acting as unrelentingly obnoxious.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Sadie Sink — Wikipedia
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