Joe Keery says his Stranger Things co-star Winona Ryder has been massively supportive of his music career and sends him the “deepest cuts”.
As well as playing Steve Harrington in the hit Netflix sci-fi series – which pays homage to the music, movies and TV of the ’80s – Joe releases music under the pseudonym Djo and recently knocked Taylor Swift off the top of the chart with his hit song End of Beginning.
Sharing how the Edward Scissorhands star, 54, has taken an invested interest in his music, he told ELLE: “She really knows her stuff – loves music and film, maybe more than anyone else in my life. I’ll get a random text, like, ‘Here’s an isolated Marvin Gaye vocal track from the stems that they never used from this song’ – The deepest cuts.”
He continued: “She’s like an encyclopedia, and she’s eager to share. She’s been to a million shows. It’s cool to have someone who’s just really excited by all of this.”
Joe has always been a huge fan of Winona and was “intimidated” by the Hollywood star at first, but once he got to know her, he saw how “invested and passionate she is about work.”
After the series wrapped, the 33-year-old actor is focused on his music, but says he’d like to try different art forms – and not be defined solely by “this himbo character” from Stranger Things.
He told the publication: “I reckon I’ll always feel a little self-conscious.
“I’ve had a real chip on my shoulder that people’s perception of me is that I’m this himbo character from Stranger Things, and I want to prove myself as a multi-faceted artist who isn’t just one thing.
“I have dreams and aspirations to do all sorts of different art. Nobody wants to be pigeonholed, but I think that’s a deeply human experience as well.”
