Who Is Joseph Quinn, a.k.a. Eddie Munson in 'Stranger Things'?

Stranger Things season 4 introduces fans to some new faces as our favorite monster hunters enter Hawkins High School. One of the standout new characters introduced this season—in addition to Grace Van Dien, who plays Chrissy—is Eddie Munson, the ‘80s metalhead (long mop of hair included) who runs Hawkins High's official Dungeons & Dragons group, the Hellfire Club. As it tends to happen after becoming friends with Mike and crew, Eddie soon gets involved in the latest mayhem from the Upside Down. 

Playing Eddie is Joseph Quinn, a rather mysterious celeb thanks to his aversion to social media. However, he comes to the Stranger Things-verse with an impressive resumé and a nerdy side, so he fits in just fine. Here's what we know about the season 4 newcomer.

He's British!

Though he plays an American high school nerd in Stranger Things, the 29-year-old actor was born and raised in England. In an interview with Nuit Magazine, he said that he's been acting since he was a baby, starting with a school play and continuing on as a drama scholar in primary and secondary school. He also attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and graduated in 2015.

He's a 'Game of Thrones' alum.

Add Munson's name to the many talented Brits who appeared on the HBO mega-hit. He played a Stark soldier named Koner in the season 7 episode "The Spoils of War." Specifically, he was one of the guards at the Winterfell gate when Arya finally returned home.

Besides his one-off GoT appearance, he's best known for playing Arthur Havisham on the BBC One series Dickensian, as well as acting alongside Helen Mirren in the HBO miniseries Catherine the Great. He also acted alongside Olivia Colman in the National Theatre production of Mosquitos, which he said was "pretty magical" in a Glass Magazine interview.

He's a fan of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Succession.'

Quinn has shared some of his favorite shows and films during interviews, and he has great taste. He told Glass Magazine that if he could be in a remake of any classic movie or show, he would like to play all the characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Also, when asked by The Rakish Gent what the one role is that he wished he had played, he name-checked Roman Roy from Succession. "I don’t know if there is one role in particular but in Succession, Kieran Culkin’s character is a goldmine and he just delivers every line and knocks it out of the park," he said. "His sense of humour and lightness of touch with that character is enviable. But I think these iconic roles are so defined by the actors that played them its hard to imagine anyone else playing them."

He said joining Stranger Things was "daunting."

While Quinn had to adhere to spoiler-free policies for his Stranger Things press, he did open up about the pressures of joining the beloved show. The actor told Collider that he wanted to do his character justice.

"There’s a lot of devotion towards this show, and you don’t want to ruin it," he said. "So it’s been an amazing experience. It’s been surreal to be involved in something like this. It’s just a huge honor, and to be able to participate in this season, and be amongst everyone trying to pull it off, it’s a treat."

He also mentioned the challenge in an Entertainment Tonight interview, saying that joining the show was "daunting," but he added that he is "grateful" for the experience working with the cast. "They’re really nice people, and it was everything that you’d expect. It’s a good thing to go somewhere strange with a bunch of strangers and then leave that place with really dear friends," he said.

His references for Eddie Munson ranged from Metallica to 'The Breakfast Club'.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Quinn opened up about his audition process and the references he used to build Eddie. The actor said the Duffers hired him after he sent two audition tapes, and that he tapped into both heavy metal music and classic '80s movies to connect to his character.

"The Breakfast Club was a film that I found has such great character explorations," he told the outlet. "But I didn’t want to base him on anything. There was a little reference to people who were older than me at school who impressed me, who seemed quite non-conformist."

When asked about music, Quinn added that he listened to a lot of Metallica and Black Sabbath (which makes sense, since Eddie played Metallica's "Master of Puppets" for his Upside Down concert). However, he admitted that he didn't get into Dungeons & Dragons during his research.

"I bought the book, read a bit and went, 'OK, this isn’t going to happen.' All respect to the D&D community, it just didn’t do anything for me. The first game I played was when we did a bit of press in L.A. a few months ago. It’s all depending on your Dungeon Master, and we had a great one."

He actually played the guitar in the finale.

For Eddie's first hero moment of the finale, where he plays guitar to lure away the bats in the Upside Down, Quinn was performing for real in the big scene. The show's music supervisor Nora Felder told Variety that the actor played part of the song.

"Joseph did take time to learn the guitar riff, and was actually playing along to a guide track," she told the outlet. "Everyone thought he did a great job."

Quinn also spoke to the outlet, saying that he had learned to play guitar when he was young. 

"I was lucky that I had learned guitar when I was younger, so I had the foundation. By no means was I a virtuoso, but when it came time to shoot it, I was able to get through it," he said. "We had a sort of black-belt heavy metal guitarist take us through the solo, because that wasn’t going to happen! I couldn’t do that, but I could do the rest of it, which is lucky. It was an amazing experience."

"For a lot of the crew, it was the first time that we all felt like we were in a live music environment since the beginning of the pandemic. It was great fun to be able to do that with Gaten," he added.

He doesn't like social media.

For anyone who looks up the actor and only finds fan pages, it's because Quinn isn't a fan of social media. During his 2017 Nuit Magazine interview, he said that he had gotten rid of his social media page, hinting that he wasted too much time on it (which, fair).

"I don’t have Facebook, I used to but I just spent all my time looking at other people’s lives," he told the outlet. "I don’t have Instagram. I find it an incredibly image centric medium that devalues the use of words. I do have Twitter, I wouldn’t say I use it in a professional capacity—selling myself online. It’s a useful tool for news and seeing what other people are up to. Some people say some funny stuff on it. It can be mentally useful, I’m sure. But I’m not on that team now. It’s also a useful tool for people to communicate I suppose."

However, he may start sharing more on social media for self-promotion purposes. He recently opened an Instagram, and his first-ever post was an image of his Stranger Things character poster, shared on May 7. So far his posts include shots from events and show promos, as well as a fun behind-the-scenes clip.

Doja Cat has a crush on him.

It's a good thing that Quinn got an Instagram, because he'll need to keep an eye on his DMs. In a delightful bit of celebrity gossip, Noah Schnapp (who plays Will Byers) shared a Tik Tok revealing that Doja Cat is interested in Quinn after watching the new season.

The clip includes screenshots of a conversation between Schnapp and Doja, where she asks if Quinn has a girlfriend. The actor tells the rapper to DM him, and helpfully sends a link to his co-star's Instagram. We're hoping for an update on the surprising pairing.