Ah Barb, we barely knew thee…. . Still, she did manage to create a fan base that rallied around her for a couple of seasons, even well after her character had been taken into the Upside Down by the Demogorgon and effectively eliminated from becoming anything other than a memory for people to talk about over, and over, and over. Think there’s any chance that we’ll still be hearing about Barb in some way when the next season of Stranger Things hits? Thankfully Shannon Purser, the woman responsible for somehow making a lot of people think so intensely about what amounted to a throwaway character, has continued to act and is currently attending Kennesaw State University in Georgia. If you can believe this she’s still in her early 20s so she has a lot of time left to her to establish a solid career, as she’s been doing thus far since Stranger Things was only the beginning of her career. She was even nominated for an Emmy for the role of Barb, but didn’t win. As much as she did lend herself to the role, it was over and done with in such short order that the outcry for Barb to live through the ordeal was kind of odd.
She did manage to land a role in the movie Wish Upon, which if anyone remembers is a horror movie about a young woman that is given a strange music box that makes wishes come true in the most horrific way since each wish requires a sacrifice of sorts. From there she went on to Riverdale for a handful of episodes, and then to a direct to video movie, then to another show titled Rise, and finally to Final Space, where she’s currently still working apparently. Shannon hasn’t gone by the wayside just yet, though it’s kind of a wonder as to where she’s going to show up next. The big hope is that she’s not a flash in the pan that’s there one moment and will be gone the next, as her career just started a few years ago and is still moving forward but not at a pace you could call rapid in any sense. Given how many talented individuals there are in show business though it’s not a huge thing to worry about since there’s always bound to be a role or roles that will fit just about anyone so long as they’re willing to bend without breaking and do what it takes to remain as versatile as possible. Bruce Fretts of The New York Times has more to say on this matter.
As far as fans go she’s got plenty of those, though if you go by her Instagram she has well over a million followers, a lot of whom could be called fans but a lot of those who are also bound to keep remembering her as Barb for a long time to come. At this point it wouldn’t be hard to believe that some folks might actually be trying to convince others that Barb isn’t really dead, that there’s a way to bring her back and really muck up the story of Stranger Things in a way that no one will see coming. That’s true enough, no one would see it coming since the unfortunate young woman was dead if not forgotten two seasons back. So far though it does appear that she has a lot more to offer than just that one role. Fans realize this without a doubt, but the need to cling to one character has been a failing of many people for a long time and takes time to finally remedy. In the meantime she’ll likely continue to take one role after another in an attempt to keep her fan base and keep things moving along. As she stated during an interview at one point, via Scott Tobias of Rolling Stone:
“I’m just in a constant state of shock now,” Purser tells Rolling Stone. “I don’t even know what my life is anymore. Like, in the best way. All these incredible opportunities and things have come my way that I never would have anticipated.”
Likely being taken from utter obscurity and turned into someone that created a fan base in a very short time was kind of a dizzying experience as one might expect, but Shannon has been taking things in stride at this point and if anything it does feel as though she might be laying back just enough to take it all in before diving forward to take on another role or two that might catapult her career even further. Shannon has already tasted a good deal of fame for one role and has been around long enough at this time to know that she’s going to have to keep kicking things up a notch, but it’s evident that she knows she has an opportunity that’s too good to waste, so let’s be patient and see what she comes up with next.
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