Chris Sullivan Is In 2 Of Your Favorite 2016 Shows

Though we know him as Toby on This Is Us, before Chris Sullivan was making us melt by being a great boyfriend to Kate, he was making us melt another way: by helping out a confused and scared Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) on Stranger Things. That's right, Sullivan, aka Toby, was on Stranger Things in a small yet pivotal before he shot to fame in the new NBC sitcom. And if you're wracking your brain trying to figure who he played, think back to the very first episode of Stranger Things. That's when we met Benny, the friendly owner and chef of Benny's Burgers, with the shaved head and beard, who gave Eleven her first dose of kindness.

Benny was also a friend of Jim Hopper. He first met Eleven when she broke into his diner and stole some fries. Initially, he was angry at the mysterious girl, but then he realized her situation, fed and clothed her, and made sure she was taken care of. In short, Benny was a bit like Toby — he cared about the people he came across, even if they were a little different, and never judged them.

However, Benny didn't know Eleven was on the run from Hawkins National Laboratory, so he had no idea that he was putting himself in danger by helping her.

Benny thought Eleven was a homeless child who had been abused (not a bad guess, all things considered) and called Child Protective Services trying to do a good deed. Unfortunately, the people at Hawkins Lab tracked the phone call and sent an agent over instead, who pretended to be from CPS. Benny's life was cut short when she shot and killed him.

It's an unfortunate ending for Benny — his death was even made to look like a suicide by Hawkins Lab, so no one knew that he had saved Eleven's life. I'm kind of sad that Benny left us so quickly, he became a favorite and I would've loved to see him involved in the great monster chase helping out our heroes.

Hopefully, given the recent cliffhanger on This Is Us, Toby won't leave us before we're ready like Benny did.