The new breakout character in Stranger Things Season 4 has come in the form of the quintessential 80s metalhead, Eddie Munson, played by British actor Joe Quinn.
In the famed series, now in its swan song season, Quinn's Munson is a Dungeons & Dragons obsessed guy and natural sidekick for characters Dustin Henderson and Mike Wheeler, played by series regulars Gaten Matarazzo and Finn Wolfhard.
Quinn tried diving headfirst into D&D lore while trying to discover who the character Eddie Munson was as a person. Quinn only played the game for the first game in preparation for the role. Yet immediately, he knew he wasn’t going to unlock the potential for Eddie Munson through the iconic role playing game.
"I played my first game in L.A. when we were doing some press," Quinn told Entertainment Weekly. "I bought a book to try and understand what Dungeons & Dragons was about, and it didn't agree with me…. I knew that wasn't going to be my way in [to the character], as it were. I listened to a lot of heavy metal… God, it's impossible to not sound pretentious when you say it, but, yeah, that was my way in [to the character]."
Quinn has played guitar since a young age (he's since inspired a new Stranger Things-themed B.C. Rich Warlock), and he isn't shy about his prowess. "I've played since I was 7, and I've had huge breaks," he said. "I wouldn't consider myself a brilliant guitarist, but I can play it. [I was] very lucky because [Stranger Things] scripts came out, I think, at some point in the pandemic. I did start practicing pretty furiously."
Though, as much as his chops came in handy in preparation for the role, it was Quinn’s realistic sense of fashion that really sealed the deal. Munson’s over the top hairdo is a cross between Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Motorhead’s “Philthy” Phil Taylor. But apparently, show creators the Duffer Brothers were looking for something more along the lines of David Bowie’s Labyrinth character, yet Quinn knew that wasn’t going to fly.
"Unfortunately, I'm not David Bowie, so I didn't think that I could pull that off," Quinn reasoned. "I wanted something that was normal, of this world, more like a mullet. But we compromised. I mean, it's still objectively ridiculous, but it serves the character really well. It's very useful as an actor to put something on and instantly you feel like you're looking at a different person."
Stranger Things 4, Volume 1 premiered on Netflix last week, with Volume 2 debuting on July 1. You can check the trailer out here.
