Joseph Quinn may have become an overnight celebrity after making his debut as ‘Eddie Munson’ in season four of Stranger Things, but that almost wasn’t enough to keep him from being detained by U.S immigration during a recent trip to the states.
The British-born actor was traveling to America to appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon when he was stopped by border control. During his appearance on the late-night talk show, Quinn recounted the details of almost being trapped at customs until a separate officer recognized him from the popular Netflix series.
‘Stranger Things’ Star Joseph Quinn Almost Missed ‘Tonight Show’ Appearance After Being Detained By U.S. Customs
“It’s so nice to be here because I very nearly didn’t make it,” Quinn told Fallon. “I was held up at immigration yesterday. Ever been to ‘secondary’? Anyone?” Quinn then described how he was interrogated on why he wanted to enter the country but nobody was buying his story.
“I was taken into, I guess what you could call it more of a dungeon. And 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.”
But the undisputed breakout star of Stranger Things eventually proved to have its perks, as Quinn was soon identified by another officer who watches the show. “One of his colleagues looked over at him, looked at me, and said: ‘Leave Eddie alone! And then said, ‘It’s Eddie from “Stranger Things,”‘ and he was like, ‘You’re Eddie Munson?’”
Quinn replied, “Kind of” before the office quizzed him on the upcoming final season of the series. “He was like ‘Do you come back next season?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know,’ and he was like, ‘You better,’ gave me the passport, and there you go,” Quinn said, drawing a happy ending to his airport saga. That’s the power of Eddie Munson!” Jimmy Fallon quipped.
Joseph Quinn also chatted with The Tonight Show host about the close relationships he developed with his castmates while filming season four, and noted that he is particularly close with Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson). “I had the best time with [Joe and Gaten],” he said.
“I was quite nervous about this dynamic because Gaten and Joe’s characters, their dynamic is something that people really, really like and I was very conscious stepping into it and being Gaten’s side-Joe.” The actor explained that he came into the role “Not really wanting to step on anyone’s toes” but he and Keery developed a close bond because they “would compare little Gaten anecdotes constantly.”
