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The devilish pantomimes, the guitar-kissing, the voluminous hair masking his sweet little face.
(I draw things when I talk, he said with a laugh.
I hope you dont think Im rude.)
I need to start by asking about your talented co-star the wig.
But it was great fun putting something on that drastically changed the way I felt.
Its a real unit, isnt it?
Youre in the unique position of joining a wildly popular show well into its run.
I had a hope that I wouldnt be chased out of town.
Clearly, something is working with thisStranger Thingsmodel.
Im relieved, really.
Thats the main feeling.
And very grateful for peoples responses and how welcoming they have been to Eddie.
Im glad I didnt ruin the show.
My exposure to social media has been minimal.
I dont have TikTok; I have an Instagram account managed by a friend.
But I have friends sending me little videos constantly.
I find that sweet and funny, but I dont know what to say about it.
Clearly, Eddie has touched some people.
Its funny that people would take time out of their day to make videos like that.
He was telling me about his process and it sounded pretty weird.
But I think it was necessary for the character he played.
My audition was pretty straightforward in comparison.
Back home in London, I sent two tapes to the Duffer brothers.
I sent one, they asked for another, and then they offered me the part.
Going back to expectations, I expected nothing from those tapes.
I sent them off and they gave me the part.
I dont understand why but Im very glad they did.
We all have periods in our lives where were protecting ourselves.
In your adolescence, youre doing that constantly.
I dont know what I was clued into where others werent.
I saw what was there on the page and I tried to bring my intuition towards it.
I got away with it!
What was your intuition telling you?Hes ostracized and nonconformist.
But theres still something in him that wants to be accepted, like everyone during that age.
Can you imagine that wait?
It was a long time to have those words in my brain.
I remember reading it and thinking it was a powerfully written entrance.
I was nervous on the filming day, but I had been working on it for a long time.
I had the brilliant Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo and the Hellfire guys to bounce off.
I enjoyed that day a lot.
It was daunting, though.
There was a room of 200 actors watching me.
When you flicked your snack at Finns face.
He looked genuinely charmed.There you go.
We wanted moments of spontaneity.
The scary thing is that moment is then there forever.
But one impulse you have with screen acting, thats what theyre going to go with.
You have to trust thats going to be the right choice.
What other moments of spontaneity made the cut?Oh, quite a few, I think.
Its moments when something presents itself to you and it feels like an interesting avenue to go on.
As a character, Eddie had to be compulsive.
I tried to do different things in different takes so the Duffers could pick one.
Youre a 29-year-old British lad playing an American teenager.
My vocal coach is incredible and would do a lot of Zoom sessions with me throughout the filming process.
Self-doubt can be useful sometimes.
Eddie needed to be sinewy.
You feel different when youre ten kilograms lighter.
But you dont want to be messing with your food habits for that long.
How has your perspective onDungeons & Dragonschanged after filming the season?
I ask this as someone with limited knowledge.We have that in common.
I dont know anything about it.
I went with the music route instead.
That was my way into Eddie.
I have no opinions onDungeons & Dragons.
I have nothing but a distant, loving respect for that community.
What music route did you take?I was listening to a lot of Black Sabbath and Metallica.
It felt right for me.Masters of Realitywas played on rotation loved it.
It was a perfect compromise because as Joe I really love the music, and Eddie definitely would too.
I banged that out a lot.
Its an extraordinary sequence, and youll enjoy it.
Eddie compliments Steve for biting a Demogorgon bat, calling it very metal.
Im here with two friends from London, and were going to drive to Joshua Tree.
I dont know if itsmetal,but it feels ostentatious and funny.
Its beyond my means.
You enjoy that Netflix money, my man.I will.
Its a silly car but its good fun.
