Stranger Things season five spoilers follow.

AI seems like it’s everywhere these days, but one place we can confirm it’s nowhere to be seen is in that Stranger Things flashback scene. In season five episode four, Max takes a journey through the mind of Vecna after unlocking the memories of his childhood self Henry Creel.

In one scene, Max finds herself in Hawkins High in the year 1959 where she briefly encounters a young Joyce Byers (then Maldonado).

Joyce is of course played by Winona Ryder in the series, but fans were convinced that the legendary actor was also playing her character’s younger self because of the uncanny resemblance.

But rather than using AI (or CGI) to turn back the clock, Stranger Things went the old-fashioned route and cast an actor named Birdy who bears an astounding resemblance to Ryder.

On Instagram, Birdy shared a screenshot of herself as Joyce in the episode and captioned it: “Not AI winona :).”

Fans were shocked to discover that no AI was used, with many remarking how much Birdy looked like Ryder, with one fan writing: “I genuinely thought they de-aged Winona somehow!!”

One fan commented: “I’m still SHOCKED. DNA test. Now,” while one another added: “I’m not entirely convinced somebody didn’t make a time machine and literally pull Winona out of the 80s.”

Meanwhile, Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers have revealed a very personal season 5 casting.

On Instagram the pair revealed that the character of Miss Harris is played by Hope Hynes Love, who was the brothers’ high school drama teacher.

“High school was rough for me and my brother [Matt]. But Hope saw something in us we didn’t see in ourselves,” Ross Duffer shared.

“She helped give us the confidence to not only survive those four years, but to move to LA and chase our dreams. Shoutout to all the teachers out there making a difference. And please… let’s prioritize the arts in schools.”

Stranger Things seasons 1-5 are streaming on Netflix.