‘Stranger Things’ star Gaten Matarazzo reveals how cleidocranial dysplasia affected his career

Gaten Matarazzo, the star of Netflix hit Stranger Things has remained vocal about his experience with cleidocranial dysplasia (CDC).

“My experience with cleidocranial dysplasia has been pretty good, honestly. I have a very mild case of it and it hasn’t really caused me to be bullied or anything,” he told Health Insight.

Gaten continued, “It has benefited me in many ways because it’s basically started my acting career. It’s given me an opportunity to talk about it and not feel ashamed of it. I can still do the same things as many other kids and I can’t say the same about other people that have this condition.”

“Thankfully my case is very mild and I can live like a normal kid but not everyone that has the condition can, and that’s why I’m talking about it, because many people are not as fortunate as I am,” he further mentioned, expressing gratitude.

He was also asked if his cleidocranial dysplasia affected his career, to which the 23-year-old responded, “Pretty much every part I’ve booked is because of the condition. In some way, it affects me — whether it be my height or my teeth or making me look younger.”

“Hopefully, I can evolve from that and not just get roles because of the condition, I can play parts that don’t have physical disabilities or anything like that. I can play someone who isn’t associated with the condition,” Gaten Matarazzo concluded.

CDC is a condition that impacts the development of bones and teeth, and in some cases may result in symptoms such as underdevelopment in the collarbones, abnormal dental development, and decreased bone density.

Gaten Matarazzo has used social media to share details of the condition (including the sometimes costly operations required to address it) and even worked with the creators of Stranger Things to incorporate it into the storyline of his character, Dustin, who has CDC as well.