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Sumnima Kandangwa

Freelance Editorial Assistant for Style by SCMP


Netflix’s hit science fiction/horror series Stranger Things is finally back on our screens with a highly anticipated final season. Led by Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, David Harbour and others, the show takes place in the 1980s in Hawkins, Indiana, where a young boy named Will (Noah Schnapp) mysteriously disappears.

The search for him leads his friends and family to go on a series of supernatural adventures, from finding a girl with telekinetic powers (Brown) to discovering a parallel dimension called the Upside Down where the series antagonist named Vecna and his troop of monsters, aka Demogorgons, reside.

Premiering on November 26, the show’s fifth season is being released in three chapters, with the first already out. Only four episodes in, several moments from the show have already gone viral – including a clip of Cara Buono, who plays Karen, the doting but clueless mother of Mike, Nancy and Holly Wheeler.


In the season’s second episode, fans see a new side of Karen when a Demogorgon attacks her youngest child, Holly. Suddenly, Karen is no longer a wine-drunk housewife, but a formidable mother who holds her own against a supernatural monster – with the help of a broken wine bottle. While she didn’t win the fight and was left mauled nearly to death by the monster, the fight scene went viral with fans who have since nicknamed the mum “Karen wine ‘em down Wheeler.”
Here’s everything to know about Cara Buono, the actress behind Stranger Things’ Karen Wheeler.
She debuted at 12 years old

Most fans of the show may only know Buono for her role as Karen Wheeler, but the 54-year-old American actress has an illustrious career with over 83 acting credits to her name. Born and raised in the Bronx, Buono made her acting debut at only 12, in Harvey Fierstein’s play Spookhouse.

Since then, Buono has continued to work in the industry, making her film debut in Gladiator (1992) with recurring roles in hit television series such as Mad Men, The Sopranos, Law & Order and more. She earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for her role in the Schoolbreak episode “Abby, My Love” (1991). In 2017, she won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for outstanding ensemble performance in a drama series alongside her Stranger Things cast.
She graduated from the University of Columbia

While pursuing her acting career, Buono also studied at the University of Columbia and graduated with a degree in English and political science.
She is married

Buono is married to Peter Thum, a businessman who has founded several companies including Ethos Water, a bottled water company that donates a portion of its earnings to clean water initiatives. The brand was acquired by Starbucks in 2005.
Buono and Thum reportedly met in 2007 and wed in 2009. They have a young daughter named Esmé.


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Who plays Stranger Things’ Karen Wheeler? Meet prolific actress Cara Buono

Cara Buono at the world premiere of Stranger Things’ fifth season in Los Angeles, in November. Photo: AP

Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, Joseph Quinn, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson and Sadie Sink in Stranger Things. Photo: @josephquinn/Instagram

Cara Buono at the UK screening of Netflix’s Stranger Things season five in London, in November. Photo: AFP

Cara Buono in Mad Men, with Elisabeth Moss in the centre. Photo: @carabuono/Instagram

Cara Buono on Stranger Things. Photo: @carabuono/Instagram

Cara Buono at the Glamour Women of the Year awards in 2019. Photo: @carabuono/Instagram

Cara Buono with her daughter in 2022. Photo: @carabuono/Instagram

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Jacob Lofland at the season two premiere of Landman in New York last week. Photo: AP

Jacob Lofland with Paulina Chávez on Landman. Photo: @landmanpplus/Instagram

Jacob Lofland at the New York premiere of Paramount+‘s Landman second season. Photo: TNS

Jacob Lofland in 2013. Photo: @jacob_lofland/Instagram

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Jacob Lofland on Landman. Photo: @landmanpplus/Instagram

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Karolina Wydra is a breakout star from Pluribus. Photo: AFP

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Karolina Wydra went from modelling to acting. Photo: @karolina_wydra/Instagram

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Meadow Lane opened its doors on November 14. Photo: @meadowlanenyc/Instagram

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Lily Allen in an outfit that channels her inner Audrey Hepburn. Photo: @lilyallen/Instagram

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The actress behind ‘Karen wine ‘em down Wheeler’ has appeared in Mad Men and The Sopranos, among over 80 other acting credits – she is also a Columbia grad


The actress behind ‘Karen wine ‘em down Wheeler’ has appeared in Mad Men and The Sopranos, among over 80 other acting credits – she is also a Columbia grad.


Who plays Stranger Things’ Karen Wheeler? Meet prolific actress Cara Buono

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The actress behind ‘Karen wine ‘em down Wheeler’ has appeared in Mad Men and The Sopranos, among over 80 other acting credits – she is also a Columbia grad

The actress behind ‘Karen wine ‘em down Wheeler’ has appeared in Mad Men and The Sopranos, among over 80 other acting credits – she is also a Columbia grad