Poor Chrissy Cunningham. Played by Grace Van Dien in Stranger Things Season 4, the Hawkins High School cheerleader is a major character in the new set of episodes, although in terms of screen time she plays a relatively minor role. That’s because – and spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4 after this point – like Barb (Shannon Purser) before her, Chrissy dies to reveal just how deadly the new villain, Vecna, really is.
But who is Chrissy Cunningham in Stranger Things Season 4? And what do we know about Grace Van Dien, the actress who plays her? Let’s find out together! Yea!
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Who is Chrissy Cunningham in Stranger Things Season 4?
The Hawkins High School cheerleader seems to have everything going for her. She is beautiful, popular and is dating Jason Carver (Mason Dye), the high school basketball star. But – and you might already know this from watching three previous seasons of Stranger Things – there’s a lot more going on under the surface.
Chrissy is, in fact, being haunted by nightmares caused by the villain Vecna that show her the corpses of her family. While we don’t find out specifically in the episodes whether this is something she’s experienced, like other characters being chased by Vecna, or just something she sees happen, it doesn’t really matter. She dies while trying to buy drugs from Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) to try to avoid the visions.
Despite her gruesome death at the end of the season premiere, Chrissy’s ghost hangs over the rest of the season. Eddie is soon framed for his murder and hunted by both the police and the basketball team (surprisingly, it’s the basketball team that looks much more dangerous). A heartbroken Jason practically freaks out and starts a variation of the ’80s Satanic Panic in his name. And worst of all, we can see his body mutilated several times in the Upside Down, embedded in a crude-looking pillar in Vecna’s fortress.
Oh, and the place where she was murdered – Eddie’s trailer – serves as a portal to the Upside Down and the climactic setting of the final episode of Volume 1.
grace van dien as chrissy cunningham in season 4 of #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/y1gfr3dedo
— poppy (@notthatpoppy) May 27, 2022
If we’re going to get the #JusticeForChrissy that season one never gave Barb, it hasn’t been; There are still two episodes left for Stranger Things Season 4, which will premiere on July 1st. But it’s pretty clear that Chrissy may be gone, but not forgotten.
Who is Grace Van Dien, who plays Chrissy Cunningham in Stranger Things Season 4?
Grace Van Dien is a 24-year-old actress from Los Angeles, born Caroline Dorothy Grace Van Dien. Although she started acting at the age of 9 in her family videos, Stranger Things is easily her biggest role to date. In between, though, she appeared on Netflix’s Greenhouse Academy as Brooke Osmond, NBC’s short-lived The Village as Katie Campbell, and had a guest on The Rookie among many other roles.
In case you didn't get enough Chrissy content…because…y'know… #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/uSgKD5bSKo
— Grace Van Dien (@GraceVanDien) May 30, 2022
Although she has less than 10,000 followers on Twitter (currently, we expect it to grow as people see her performance on Stranger Things), she is a certified Instagram star with over 421k followers for just 68 posts. Go Grace!
Post-Strange StuffGrace Van Dien is also busy. IMDb lists four projects for her: V for Vendetta, The Fix, Aaah! Barata!, and Júlio César Live Read! You can, of course, also get her in the first volume of Stranger Things Season 4 now. And there’s always the possibility that her reanimated corpse could do something strange in the two episodes that premiere in July. Stay tuned!
