Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, who portrays Steve Harrington on the show, discussed the legendary series, his early life, his musical career, and other topics on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, July 18. He also discussed his sister’s impact on his life and how she inspired him to pursue a career in acting. Joe Keery’s depiction of Steve Harrington has garnered considerable critical praise, and his character has a sizable fan base. Continue reading to learn more about the actor and what he revealed about his childhood during an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
3 things we learned about Joe Keery from his appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s program
1) Joe Keery began his career as a waiter.
Joe Keery revealed to Jimmy Fallon that he worked as a waiter before landing the part of Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. He described himself as a “very charming” waiter and said that he originally auditioned for Stranger Things at the time but did not get a response.
Three months later, he received a call to play Steve Harrington. He remembered telling his buddy, Matt Williams, who worked with him at the restaurant, about his wonderful news of getting cast in the program. He also said that he did not expect to survive the first season of the program.
2) Keery’s sister encouraged him to pursue acting.
Keery spoke extensively about how his sister Caroline urged him to pursue acting during his freshman year in high school. He acknowledged her influence on his life by revealing that she was a member of the stage crew when he was a freshman in high school. He stated:
“And I was going to sleep in and skip and miss the stage crew thing, but she was like, “come on, get up,” and sort of dragged me along and got me into it [acting].”
Aside from Caroline, Keery has three other sisters.
3) Joe Keery chose Djo as his stage name for a specific reason.
Keery, who started his career as a musician, explained why he chose Djo as his stage name. Because of the similarity in pronunciation, he chose Djo because:
“It’s connected to me, but not directly connected to me… (that) was the idea.”
Keery said towards the conclusion that his second album, Decide, would be released on September 16, 2022. With his 2019 album Twenty Twenty, Keery launched his solo career. He was formerly a member of the band Post Animal. He subsequently discussed the inspiration of iconic performer Andy Kaufman, as well as his plans to balance his acting and singing careers.
Joe Keery in Stranger Things and other works as Steve Harrington
Stranger Things’ Steve Harrington is played by Joe Keery. Harrington’s maturation has been a big feature of the program and one of the most popular characters in the series. Keery earned the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series in 2017. Keery’s character has a big fan base all around the world. Before the release of Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2, Netflix published a picture of a sign that stated “Protect Steve,” causing concern among fans of the show on Twitter, who believed that the character might be killed off.
Kerry has been in a variety of television episodes throughout the years, including Chicago Fire, No Activity, and many more, in addition to Stranger Things. Spree, Free Guy, Slice, After Everything, and many more are among his cinematic credits.
