Entertainment

Joseph Quinn says it was 'weird' watching himself in 'Stranger Things' because of his 'big wig' and American accent

left: joseph quinn as eddie munson in stranger things, looking gently to the side with long, wavy brown hair and wearing a baseball tee that says "hellfire;" right: joseph quinn at the stranger things premiere, with much shorter cropped hair, a mustache, and facial hair
Joseph Quinn plays Eddie Munson in "Stranger Things." Netflix; Arturo Holmes/WireImage
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Joseph Quinn said that it was bizarre to watch himself play Eddie Munson on "Stranger Things," given that the character has much longer hair and has a different accent than the British actor. 

Quinn told Esquire Singapore that he could see "growth" in his performances from the early days of his career to the present moment, but that watching himself back in "Stranger Things" was a unique experience. 

"With Eddie, it was a very weird experience because obviously, I had this big wig on and I was trying to do my best American accent," he told the publication. "So there was this kind of physical and role difference at the same time."

Quinn's character Eddie has become a fan favorite since season four premiered in May. A metalhead and the leader of Hawkins High School's "Dungeons & Dragons" club, he joins forces with the series' main cast in their fight against creatures from the Upside Down.

joseph quinn as eddie munson in stranger things, sticking out his tongue, placing his hands on his head like horns, and making a silly face
Joseph Quinn plays Eddie Munson in "Stranger Things."  Netflix

As Eddie, the actor sports long, wavy, dark brown hair, a stark departure from the actor's more closely cropped style in real life. He also has puppet-master and bat tattoos, which provided unintentional foreshadowing to his fate in the series, "Stranger Things" lead makeup artist Amy L. Forsythe told Insider. Furthermore, the role required Quinn to put on an American accent, which the actor said on the "Off Menu" podcast stressed him out. 

"You feel like a sociopath," Quinn said on the July podcast episode. "After awhile I was so far down the rabbit hole, at points I'd be like 'Do I sound good? Do you like this? Do you like what I'm doing?'"

Quinn told Esquire Singapore that it was "surreal" to watch himself "pop up" alongside his friends in the show, but that the "best part" was getting to see his costars' performances. 

"There were so many different stories and it was lovely watching the work that David [Harbour], Winona [Ryder] and Brett [Gelman] had been doing and watching the California storyline," he said. "It was great to see it all come together."

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Palmer Haasch was an entertainment reporter at Business Insider and a film and television critic. Her work included reviews, comprehensive coverage of genre series like "House of the Dragon," and interviews with showrunners, actors, and filmmakers. She is a member of the Television Critics Association.Previously, she was a digital culture reporter at BI, covering TikTok and online culture. Before joining BI in 2020, she covered animation, television, and the internet for publications including Polygon, Thrillist, IGN, The Verge, and GLAAD. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4 Front RowNPR's All Things Considered, Recode Daily (previously Reset), NBCLX, NY1, and the British Film Institute's Woman With a Movie Camera summit to speak about TikTok, fandom, entertainment, and online culture. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in English and French Studies.