Why is Charlie Heaton’s performance in Netflix’s Below getting attention from fans who know him as Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things? The short answer: He plays Wade Penney with a rough, restless vulnerability that feels very different from his best-known role. In this coastal horror story, Heaton turns a local troublemaker into one of the series’ most complicated emotional pressure points.
Quick answer: Charlie Heaton stands out in Below because Wade is not a conventional hero. He is stuck in his hometown, acts out when he feels cornered, and carries more fear and confusion than he can comfortably admit. Heaton lets those contradictions show through pauses, guarded expressions, and sudden shifts in energy rather than explaining everything in dialogue.
Below is a six-episode Netflix limited series set in Newfoundland. Josh Hartnett plays fisherman Calvin Penney, Mackenzie Davis plays marine researcher Fonda Howander, and Heaton plays Calvin’s oldest son, Wade. The show’s sea-creature mystery gives the story its danger, but the family’s fractures give it its human stakes. Netflix’s official cast guide describes Wade as someone who stayed behind while his siblings left, a young man whose life has stalled while the world around him changes.
Wade Penney is a different kind of role for Charlie Heaton
In Stranger Things, Heaton’s Jonathan Byers is often the watchful one: protective, thoughtful, and willing to take a risk for his family. Wade shares the instinct to protect people close to him, but he has far fewer tools for expressing what he feels. He can be impulsive, defensive, and frustrating. That friction is part of the performance’s appeal.
Wade is not written as a polished young man who always makes the right call. He is a person who has spent too long in a small place with too few prospects, watching the people around him leave or move on. When danger arrives, his immaturity does not magically disappear. Instead, the crisis exposes both his worst habits and the loyalty underneath them.
Heaton makes the character’s flaws feel lived-in
The most convincing thing about Heaton’s work is that he does not ask the audience to excuse Wade. The character can be difficult to like in one scene and unexpectedly sympathetic in the next. Heaton plays that unevenness without smoothing it into a standard redemption arc.
Watch how Wade’s confidence can feel like a performance of its own. He often behaves as though he is less affected by events than he really is. When that front slips, the change is small but telling: a look that lasts a beat too long, a hesitation before answering, or a burst of anger that seems to cover something more vulnerable. The result feels closer to a young adult struggling to name his feelings than a genre character waiting for the next plot twist.
The Newfoundland setting gives Wade’s restlessness context
Below is built around a community facing pressure from several directions: a frightening presence offshore, uncertainty about the town’s future, and the economic realities of a place where leaving can seem easier than staying. Wade’s choices make more sense when viewed against that backdrop. He has not simply failed to grow up; he is also trying to imagine a future in a place that may not offer him many.
The production’s real Newfoundland locations matter, too. The sea and the weather do not feel like generic horror scenery. They make the characters appear physically small, exposed, and bound to the place they call home. Netflix’s first-look report on Below notes that the series was filmed in Newfoundland and that its isolated landscape was central to the show’s identity.
Why the performance works alongside Josh Hartnett and Mackenzie Davis
Wade’s story is inseparable from Calvin’s. Hartnett plays a father who wants to keep his family and community together but has trouble making either feel secure. Heaton gives that conflict a younger, messier counterpart: Wade is still trying to figure out what responsibility means when the adults around him have not solved their own problems.
Davis’s Fonda brings a different kind of focus to the story. As a researcher, she approaches the threat with questions and evidence, while Wade reacts from inside the town’s everyday life. Those perspectives help the series avoid becoming a string of creature attacks. Its tension comes from the clash between people who need to understand what is happening and people who are already emotionally overwhelmed by it.
How Wade compares with Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things
The comparison is not about declaring one character objectively better. It is about range. Jonathan’s sensitivity often appears as quiet observation and protective action. Wade’s sensitivity is buried under defensiveness and poor decisions. Heaton’s performance in Below is compelling because he has to make the audience look past Wade’s attitude without pretending that attitude is harmless.
There is also a useful difference in scale. Stranger Things is an ensemble adventure in which Jonathan’s story shares space with a large mythology. Below is a tighter family-and-community drama wrapped around a horror mystery. That narrower frame gives Heaton more room to make Wade’s small reactions count. For viewers who want to see his work beyond Jonathan, it is a strong reason to add the series to their watchlist.
Is Below Charlie Heaton’s best performance since Stranger Things?
That is a matter of taste, not a measurable fact. But Below gives Heaton a convincing showcase: the character is flawed, emotionally guarded, and tied to the show’s central family conflict. The performance is not built around one big speech or a single shocking reveal. It gains force through the accumulation of uncomfortable choices and brief moments when Wade’s defenses fall away.
For fans who primarily know Heaton from Stranger Things, this is a worthwhile reminder that an actor can be familiar without being repetitive. Wade and Jonathan share a concern for family, but they express it in markedly different ways. That contrast is the clearest case for why Heaton’s work in Below deserves attention.
Quick facts about Charlie Heaton in Below
- Character: Wade Penney, Calvin’s oldest son.
- Series: Below, a six-episode Netflix limited series.
- Setting: A fictional coastal community in Newfoundland, Canada.
- Why the role stands out: Wade’s immaturity, loyalty, and vulnerability coexist instead of resolving neatly.
- Where to watch: Netflix’s official Below page.
Frequently asked questions
Who does Charlie Heaton play in Below?
He plays Wade Penney, the oldest son of fisherman Calvin Penney. Wade has stayed in his Newfoundland hometown while his siblings have gone elsewhere.
Is Charlie Heaton in Below the same actor from Stranger Things?
Yes. Heaton plays Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things and Wade Penney in Below.
What makes Charlie Heaton’s performance in Below different?
Wade is more openly impulsive and defensive than Jonathan. Heaton gives him a vulnerable side without removing the character’s rough edges.
Is Below a horror show or a family drama?
It is both. The sea-creature mystery drives the suspense, while family conflict and the town’s uncertain future give the story its emotional weight.
How many episodes of Below are there?
Below is a six-episode limited series on Netflix.
By Shivam Das
Reporting note: Character details and production context were checked against Netflix Tudum’s official cast and series coverage. The assessment of Heaton’s performance is editorial opinion.
