Stranger Things Eddie Munson actor Joseph Quinn reveals that he's not a fan of Dungeons & Dragons in real life, despite his character's love of the game. After first being released in 2016, the hit Netflix horror/ fantasy series returned earlier this year with a penultimate fourth season, which shattered Netflix viewership records. Stranger Things season 4 saw the return of fan-favorite characters like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Hopper (David Harbour), and among many others, pitting the heroes against a dangerous new threat in the form of Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).
In addition to several familiar faces, Stranger Things season 4 also introduced audiences to a handful of new characters, including Quinn's Eddie. Acting as the leader of Hellfire Club, a Dungeons & Dragons club at Hawkins High School, Eddie quickly became a fan favorite due to his rebellious attitude but kind-hearted demeanor. However, the character found himself the object of a town-wide manhunt after becoming the prime suspect in Chrissy's (Grace Van Dien) gruesome murder. The character would play a crucial role in the final episodes of Stranger Things season 4, even rocking out on his guitar in the Upside Down to distract Vecna.
In a new exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Quinn reveals that despite Eddie's love of Dungeons and Dragons, the passion doesn't extend to the actor's life outside the show. Although he's not a hardcore fan of the game, Quinn says he enjoyed one campaign that he played with Wolfhard, Matarazzo, and Erica actor Priah Ferguson as part of a press event before Stranger Things season 4. Check out Quinn's full comment below:
"I was not, I'm not going to pretend to be. [Chuckles] I had obviously heard of it, I did a very minimal amount of research to build up to doing it, but yeah, I can't say that I've left this job with the obsession for Dungeons & Dragons, but I have the utmost respect for that community. We did this press Dungeons & Dragons game with Priah, Finn, Gaten and myself and it was so fun. I think you just need an amazing Dungeon Master, because there's a performance to it and it was a great laugh. Maybe further down the road."
Interestingly, the Netflix series is primarily credited with repopularizing Dungeons & Dragons to more general audiences following the release of the first season in 2016. In fact, in the very first episode of Stranger Things, Mike, Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin, and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are in the midst of a campaign where they face off against the Demogorgon, the monster that would end up terrorizing Hawkins in later episodes. Similarly, Eddie serves as Dungeon Master during the "Cult of Vecna" campaign that Hellfire Club plays through in an early episode of season 4, which also foreshadows some of what is to come.
Despite not loving the game, Quinn seems open to becoming a fan in the future. After all, as he explains, a campaign's level of fun largely comes down to Dungeon Master overseeing it. With the strong Dungeon Master skills that he puts on display early on in Stranger Things season 4, it would seem that the actor already has a natural talent for the role, especially considering it often involves a level of theatricality and drama. Hopefully, any Dungeons & Dragons games the actor undertakes in real life don't foreshadow any dimension-altering events to come.