In 2017, Gelman starred in and co-wrote Lemon, opposite Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Nia Long and Gillian Jacobs, directed by Janicza Bravo. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017.
In 2017, it was announced that Gelman was cast in the second season of the hit Netflix science-fiction web series Stranger Things as Murray Bauman, a conspiracy theorist and former journalist. From the fourth season he belongs to the main cast.