Sometimes it really pays to be famous, like when you’re rushing for a flight. Joseph Quinn, who plays Eddie Munson in Stranger Things season 4, was stopped by US immigration while trying to make his way onto The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Luckily, the security recognised him, and suddenly the alibi of going on national television sounded completely normal. He recounted the ordeal during his appearance. “I very nearly didn’t make it. I was taken into, I guess what you could call it more of a dungeon,” he recounted. “I was asked to wait there for about 20 minutes and then I was summoned to this desk where someone asked me, What are you doing in the United States, sir?’ I said, ‘I’m actually here to meet Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. And he didn’t believe me.”
Thankfully, his character on Stranger Things, Eddie, is a fan-favourite, and when another guard noticed, the situation changed. “One of his colleagues looked over at him, and said, ‘Leave Eddie alone!'” Quinn says. “And then [the colleague] said, ‘It’s Eddie from Stranger Things’, and he was like, ‘You’re Eddie Munson?’”
Quinn, a British performer, was asked by the officers if he’d come back for the Netflix series. He gave nothing away, of course, but security gave him a stern “You better”, apparently.
A heavy metal fan and ardent player of tabletop RPG Dungeons and Dragons, there was little chance Eddie would appeal to Stranger Things fans. Throw in that he plays a full-on Metallica cover on the show? Quinn is going to be recognised for a long time to come, we reckon.
He gives Fallon one of the coveted Hellfire Club shirts from Stranger Things, giving us only light FOMO. If you’re curious about whether we’ll see Eddie again, check out our guide on Stranger Things season 5.