How Did Joseph Quinn Become an Internet Boyfriend?

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | April 10, 2024 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | April 10, 2024 |

Cinema for Gaza is a fundraiser to support Medical Aid for Palestinians in the ongoing war in the region. A wide range of talents in the entertainment industry, largely based in the UK, have offered a slew of gifts and experiences for auction to raise much-needed funds. You can bid on Susan Wokoma’s outfit from the last season of Taskmaster, a bedtime story read to you by Tilda Swinton, or a Zoom tutorial on how to make the perfect porridge courtesy of Josh O’Connor. As of the writing of this piece, the most hotly bid item is a chance to have a cup of tea and a Zoom chat for one hour with Joseph Quinn. The current price is £9,505. For casual observers, it might seem weird that a bit player from the last season of Stranger Things could command such attention. For those of us trained in the art of the internet boyfriend, it makes total sense.

Joseph Quinn is a 30-year-old, privately educated English actor who many women on the internet of varying ages are totally obsessed with. His filmography is pretty small, mostly comprised of British TV appearances, although there are some impressive credits in there, such as work with Steve McQueen and Kenneth Lonergan. He is perfectly charming and talented, but his rise to internet boyfriend status was not a slow burn. It was an overnight explosion thanks to Eddie Munson.

In the fourth season of Stranger Things, Netflix’s biggest show, we meet Edward Munson, a rock-loving, long-haired high school student and president of Hawkins High’s Dungeons & Dragons-themed “Hellfire Club”, where he befriends Mike and Dustin. He sells drugs, listens to Metallica, and has a head of long, Eddie Van Halen-esque hair. Eddie becomes a mentor and big brother to Dustin, and is pulled into their world of supernatural danger as Vecna wreaks havoc on the town. In the era of the Satanic Panic, where Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal are seen as signs of malicious intent, the sweet and slightly dopey Eddie is public enemy number one to the people of Hawkins. But he remains funny and dedicated to his friends, and in the end, he sacrifices himself for the greater good (and for a killer ‘Master of Puppets’ guitar solo.)

Over one season, Eddie immediately became a fan favourite. That wasn’t a surprise. In a series devoted to nostalgia, it’s no wonder that Stranger Things and its fans had such affection for an ’80s rocker kid who reminded a lot of older viewers of someone they knew from their youth. In romance novel terms, Eddie is kind of the ideal hero, but with denim and devil horns over a six-pack. He’s not someone you’d expect others to instantly latch onto in those terms, however. Unlike other internet boyfriends who exploded in popularity due to a popular role, Eddie Munson isn’t depicted in explicitly sexualized terms. He’s not Christian Gray, for example. He didn’t need to be. As any devotee of internet boyfriends can tell you, it’s way more fun to go after the less obvious hotties.

That the enamored fandom extended to Quinn himself was also no shock. It only made Quinn more appealing that he wasn’t anything like Eddie in real life, aesthetically or in terms of personality. He was generous with his time and attention at conventions and seemed happy to embrace the attention, at least before it got too wild. That’s not to say that there wasn’t some conflation between actor and character. Just ask Doja Cat, who DM-d one of Quinn’s co-stars to ask for his number. I do think that Quinn, who is a decent-looking dude, is far more alluring with that long hair, which makes him one of the few men in the industry who should commit to a mullet full-time.

We’re talking about an internet boyfriend, so of course we have to talk about fans going too far. Quinn seemed to be in the midst of a fan drama speedrun. In the space of mere weeks, he became the unwitting focus of stalkers, fandom harassment, and deeply unnerving obsession. Grace Van Dien, who played cheerleader Grace in one episode of Stranger Things alongside Quinn, was barraged with abuse and misogyny, something that Quinn was forced to call out. To balance things out, he also got caught up in shipping battles, because fandom is very predictable and its traditions endure for better or worse.

But let’s be honest here: most of the time, when it comes to these internet boyfriends, their actual personalities and quirks don’t matter. They are blank canvases to be projected upon. In fairness, that’s the job of most celebrities, whether or not we fully admit it to ourselves. We like tropes and types because they’re malleable. Even the most public and candid celebrity, one who overshares and has no qualms about playing the roles assigned to them, are still flexible enough to be moulded into new shapes by their fans. With someone like Quinn, who is largely private and came to Stranger Things with no visible baggage, it’s all the easier for his stans to invest in the fantasy. I don’t blame them for that, although some of the more zealous stans certainly need to calm down (ah, the perennial rule of fandom.)

Will this level of ardent attention continue as Quinn becomes more well-known and takes on a greater variety of roles? That remains to be seen. Certainly, he’s going to be more prominently featured in the press over the next year or so thanks to the prequel to A Quiet Place and the still kind of inexplicable sequel to Gladiator. Then, of course, there is Fantastic Four, which will surely take him to a whole new level of Hollywood visibility. So much of the thrall for him is linked to one character, but those devotees are following him along with his next projects. The initial fire will calm down, or at least we hope it will. Nobody really wants the weighty responsibility of being an internet boyfriend, of being a glistening idol at the top of the perch where the only way is down. There’s no fun in dealing with those expectations, especially once you dare to have your own love life or political opinions that some of your fans will be angry about. If Quinn can get through this unscathed, then perhaps he’s truly ready for the big leagues.