Sadie Sink Biography

Sadie Elizabeth Sink is an American actress known for emotionally intense performances on both stage and screen. She rose to international prominence as Max Mayfield on the hit Netflix science‑fiction series Stranger Things, a role she began in the show’s second season and continued through its later seasons.

Sadie started acting in local community theater in Texas as a child, appearing in productions such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Secret Garden, experiences that convinced her to pursue acting professionally. Her family later relocated to New Jersey to support her career, and she became active in Houston’s Theater Under the Stars, performing in musicals including White Christmas and a regional production of Annie. Those roles led to her Broadway debut in the 2012 revival of Annie, where she initially served as a standby for multiple characters before alternating in the title role until the production closed in early 2014.

While still working on Annie, Sadie made her television debut with a guest role on the FX spy drama The Americans in 2013, followed by appearances on Blue Bloods and the NBC thriller series American Odyssey, in which she played Suzanne Ballard. She returned to Broadway in 2015 as young Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience opposite Helen Mirren, further establishing herself as a serious stage performer. Her early screen work also included her feature‑film debut in the boxing biopic Chuck (2016).

Sadie's breakout came in 2017, when she joined Stranger Things as the skateboard‑riding outsider Max Mayfield, a character who quickly became a fan favorite. She trained intensively in skateboarding to prepare for the role and was praised by critics for bringing a mix of vulnerability and toughness to the part. Her work on the series earned her and the ensemble a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and individual accolades, including a Hollywood Critics Association Award for her performance in the fourth season.

Beyond Stranger Things, Sadie has built a varied film résumé. She played a supporting role in the drama The Glass Castle (2017) then took on a leading part as Ziggy Berman in the 1970s‑set horror sequel Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and reprised the character in Fear Street Part Three: 1666, drawing praise for the intensity of her performance. In 2022 she co‑starred opposite Brendan Fraser in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama The Whale, earning a Critics’ Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer, and she also led the coming‑of‑age film Dear Zoe the same year. She went on to appear in projects such as A Sacrifice (2024) and the rock‑opera film O’Dessa (2025), reinforcing her reputation for choosing challenging material.

Sadie has also remained connected to the stage, returning to Broadway in 2025 in the play John Proctor Is the Villain. Her performance in the production earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, underscoring her versatility across mediums. Offscreen, she has become a visible figure for a younger generation of performers, often cited for her professionalism from a young age and her ability to handle emotionally demanding roles.

Filmography:

O'Dessa (2025)
A Sacrifice (2024)
The Whale (2022)
Dea Zoe (2022)
Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 (2021)
Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 (2021)
Fear Street: Part One - 1994 (2021)
Eli (2019)
The Glass Castle (2017)
Stranger Things (2017-2025)
Chuck (2016)