Southern Indiana Native Has Roles in ‘Stranger Things’, New Film ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’

Who knew the Interstate 64 corridor between the Evansville metro and Louisville would have such a strong Stranger Things connection? The answer is nobody. But it really does.

The fourth season of the wildly popular Netflix series features a 10-year-old actress named Elizabeth Howlett in the second episode. Well now we've learned that an actress from right here in the tri-state is also a member of the Stranger Things cast.

FROM THE NEWBURGH TO BOTH THE BIG AND SMALL SCREENS

The role of Diane Hopper--the ex-wife of fictional Hawkins, Indiana sheriff Jim Hopper--wasn't originally a speaking role. Newburgh, Indiana native Jerri Tubbs, who plays Diane, told the WFIE-14News team that she was initially just going to appear in a framed photo, but that all changed.

And it's a good thing, too, since Diane has quite a backstory. But before you click through to the Stranger Things Fandom site, understand that you might hit on some spoilers. Of course, if you're a fan of the show, that's not an issue.

WHERE YOU MAY HAVE SEEN JERRI TUBBS ELSEWHERE

And if you aren't a Stranger Things fan, there's a good chance you've seen Jerri Tubbs' work anyway. In fact, she has a small role in the new film Where the Crawdads Sing, about a young loner (Under the Banner of Heaven's Daisy Edgar-Jones) who's a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.

But Jerri has managed to land roles in some SERIOUSLY huge hits like Cobra Kai--she was Nurse Patricia in the third season episode entitled "Now You're Gonna Pay"--and The Walking Dead. In that iconic AMC horror/action thriller, she was in three episodes of the elongated 10th season and played a woman named Margo. (I confess I bailed on the Dead prior to season 10, but now I have a reason to go back and take a look.)

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INTERVIEWS WITH JERRI TUBBS

She also had a small role in the first episode of the third season of one of my all-time favorite shows, Ozark. Check out this 2019 podcast interview with Jerri Tubbs:

And in the YouTube series, Screen Test, she discusses, among other things, a comparison between life in Georgia (where she's temporarily lived filming The Walking Dead, Ozark, and Stranger Things) and life in Los Angeles (her permanent home):

And the hits just keep on coming. Up next for Jerri is a made-for-television movie called Blood Relative about which little is known other than it's a detective story AND she'll be co-starring alongside Oscar winner Melissa Leo.

And I have no doubt that Blood Relative is not where Jerri Tubbs' IMDB page or resume will end. We look forward to seeing more from this tri-state native in the years to come.