British actor Joseph Quinn attributes his American breakthrough to playing Eddie Munson in Netflix's Stranger Things. The character debuted recently in Season 4 Volume 1 and became an instant fan favorite. Eddie is an audacious '80s metalhead who runs The Hellfire Club — a Dungeons & Dragons group — and is pulled into the season's mystery through his friendship with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard).
In a recent interview with Vulture on his character and his first time working in Hollywood, Quinn spoke about the surprisingly simple audition process saying, “I sent two tapes to the Duffer brothers. I sent one, they asked for another, and then they offered me the part. It was disarming.” Further adding, "I had never worked in America before, and my friends and colleagues would talk about these grueling, gladiatorial auditions. I expected nothing from those tapes. I sent them off, and they gave me the part. I don’t understand why, but I’m very glad they did."
The English actor worked on making Eddie a likable character right from the start, perfectly toeing the line between charming and intimidating. While Eddie is certainly anti-establishment, ostracized, and nonconformist, there’s something in him that wants to be accepted. Quinn explained his approach to the character, saying:
"Well, anyone that presents themselves as incredibly unapproachable and distant is acting that way as a defense mechanism, right? We all have periods in our lives where we’re protecting ourselves. In your adolescence, you’re doing that constantly. I don’t know what I was clued into where others weren’t. I saw what was there on the page and I tried to bring my intuition towards it. I got away with it!"
In preparation for becoming the Stranger Things Season 4 fan favorite, Quinn listened to a lot of heavy metal music from bands like Black Sabbath, and Metallica. “I was listening to a lot of. It felt right for me. 'Masters of Reality' was played on rotation — loved it. It was a perfect compromise because as Joe I really love the music, and Eddie definitely would too. I banged that out a lot,” he said. Fans are still speculating what song Eddie is jamming out to on his guitar in the teaser for the final two episodes of Season 4 — perhaps Quinn's musical inspirations could provide some hints.
The actor also revealed some of the influences for designing the wig he wore as Eddie, saying “it was modeled on all of those seminal ’80s heavy-metal bands — Eddie Van Halen was a big one and all the guys in Iron Maiden and Mötley Crüe.”
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is streaming on Netflix, and Volume 2 arrives on July 1.