A biography for Shannon Purserhasn’t been written yet.
“I've been singing since I was a little kid, but 'Sierra' was my first time singing on camera, which was definitely intimidating at first.”
“The most evil and insidious thing about mental illness is that it isolates us and makes us feel so different that we think no one can possibly relate.”
“Stranger Things' was my first job, and I was learning everything as I was doing it and it was such a whirlwind.”
“That's what I love about movies and TV: You can go anywhere any time and be whoever you want.”
“I think there were so many times that I just felt so overwhelmed by school and by my relationships with my friends and I felt like I was going to be stuck in high school forever and I was never going to achieve my dreams.”
“Instagram is great but I'm not an amazing photographer and I don't wanna post selfies constantly.”
“People will send me pictures of T-shirts with my face on it and it's nothing that I ever would've imagined in a million years as a kid.”
“I like being known for who I am.”
“I would definitely love to see a queer rom-com because representation matters. It does so much to help normalize things in the mind of society.”
“I think the media in general hasn't been very kind to fat women or fat people. We see so many insensitive portrayals of plus-sized people. That kind of stuff really affected me - not even necessarily the portrayal of fat people, but the absence of fat people.”
“The idea that I get to kind of redefine what is beautiful and whose story deserves to be told and showcase that you know, big women have love lives and complex colorful lives like everybody else, that's really important to me.”
“As I got older, I fell more in love with movies and thought it would be incredible to someday be in one.”
“I watch Jimmy Fallon all the time. I think he's hilarious.”
“I had this incredible opportunity with 'Stranger Things,' and now all it tells me is that people like my work, so I need to keep working. I need to push forward and put as much of my heart into every character I play as I did into Barb.”
“I think people are more alike than they are different, especially in high school. No matter what clique you belong to, everybody's trying to get approval and trying to fit in.”
“Sierra' is me being a plus-size woman.”
“I didn't even have a career before 'Stranger Things' - it was my first acting job, my first time on a professional set, and my character wasn't even supposed to be a big deal - it all just exploded.”
“It's incredible, but I will sing the praises of therapy. I think everybody should be in therapy. It helps so much to have somebody educated you can talk to.”
“I think temptation is ever present to become something that you think is more socially acceptable.”
“I'm always going to love Barb and I'm always going to be grateful to 'Stranger Things' and for the incredible opportunity I've had.”