Joe Keery
Joseph David Keery (born April 24, 1992), known professionally in music as Djo, is an American actor and musician.
He became known for playing Steve Harrington in the science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–present), and has since starred in the comedy film Free Guy (2021) and in the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo (2023–2024).
Joe Keery | |
|---|---|
 Keery at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | Joseph David Keery April 24, 1992 |
| Education | DePaul University (BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Known for | Stranger Things Free Guy |
| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Cool Cool Cool |
| Origin | Chicago |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Labels | AWAL |
| Formerly of | Post Animal |
| Website | djomusic |
He was a member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal.
Early life
Keery was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and is the second of five children. He attended River Valley Charter School, a local Montessori elementary and middle school, and Newburyport High School. When he was young, he participated in Theater in the Open, a performing arts camp at Maudslay State Park, but ultimately began acting in high school at his older sister's insistence.
Keery went on to study at The Theatre School at DePaul University and graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting.
Career
Acting
Before his breakout role in Stranger Things, Keery appeared in KFC, Domino's, and Amiibo commercials, and had roles in Empire and Chicago Fire. His first appearance in a full-length film was in Stephen Cone's indie, Henry Gamble's Birthday Party.
Keery's breakthrough role was as Steve in the Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things. He was cast in late 2015; having initially auditioned for the role of Jonathan, he later sent in a tape for his character, Steve. The show premiered in 2016 to critical acclaim. He was promoted from recurring cast to a series regular for the second season of Stranger Things. The third and fourth seasons were released in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
Since beginning Stranger Things, Keery has also acted in a few independent movies, including starring in the 2020 satire film, Spree. He also played the role of Walter "Keys" McKey, a game developer, in the 2021 action comedy film Free Guy, which went on to become a major box-office hit. In May 2022, he was cast opposite Liam Neeson in the sci-fi action film Cold Storage. In August 2022, he was cast as Gator Tillman in the fifth season of Fargo.
Music
Aside from acting, Keery is also a musician. In his early twenties, he released music under the name "Cool Cool Cool." Keery was a guitarist and drummer for Chicago-based garage and psych-rock band Post Animal. Their debut album was released in October 2015. The band's second album, When I Think Of You In A Castle, was released in April 2018 and saw Keery performing guitar and vocals. As of 2019, Keery was no longer a touring member of the band, and he later parted ways due to acting commitments.
On July 19, 2019, Keery self-released the single "Roddy" as a solo artist under the moniker Djo. Keery released a second single on August 9, 2019, titled "Chateau (Feel Alright)" under the same moniker. On September 13, 2019, Keery released his debut album as Djo, Twenty Twenty. In a positive review of the album, NME called Keery "a musician of very high calibre who... dabbles in the kind of inventive, warped psychedelia that gently twists your melon and constantly shapeshifts around you," and compared his music to that of Tame Impala and Ariel Pink.
On September 9, 2020, he released a new single, "Keep Your Head Up". In 2022, he took part in a summer music festival tour. His sophomore album Decide was announced in June 2022, along with the release of its first single "Change". The album was released on September 16, 2022, and received positive reviews. In 2024, the sixth track of the album, "End of Beginning", was released as a single after gaining popularity and becoming viral on social media.
Personal life
Keery dated actress Maika Monroe from 2017 to 2023.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Henry Gamble's Birthday Party | Gabe | ||
| 2016 | The Charnel House | Scott | ||
| 2017 | Molly's Game | Trust Fund Cole | ||
| 2018 | After Everything | Chris | ||
| Slice | Jackson | |||
| 2019 | How to Be Alone | Jack / The Gimp | Short film | |
| 2020 | Spree | Kurt Kunkle | ||
| 2021 | Free Guy | Walter "Keys" McKeys | ||
| 2023 | Finalmente l'alba | Sean Lockwood | ||
| 2024 | Marmalade | Baron | ||
| TBA | Cold Storage | Travis Meacham |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Sirens | Scenester | Episode: "Screw the One Percent" | |
| Chicago Fire | Emmett | 2 episodes | ||
| Empire | Tony Trichter III | Episode: "Who I Am" | ||
| 2016–present | Stranger Things | Steve Harrington | Recurring role (season 1) Main role (season 2–present) | |
| 2019–2021 | No Activity | Officer Ed Reinhardt | Recurring role (season 3–4) | |
| 2020 | Death to 2020 | Duke Goolies | Television special | |
| 2021 | Death to 2021 | |||
| 2023 | Fargo | Gator Tillman | Main role (season 5) |
Discography
Post Animal
Studio album
- When I Think of You in a Castle (2018)
Extended plays
- Post Animal Perform the Most Curious Water Activities (2015)
- The Garden Series (2016)
As solo artist
Studio albums
| Title | Studio album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Rock | CAN | GER | HUN | NLD | UK Down. | |||
| Twenty Twenty |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Decide | 56 | 11 | 35 | 35 | 32 | 10 | 93 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| D-Sides |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | CAN | IRE | NLD | NOR | NZ | SWE | UK | WW | ||||
| "Roddy" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Twenty Twenty | |
| "Chateau (Feel Alright)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Mortal Projections" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Keep Your Head Up" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Change" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Decide | |
| "Gloom" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Figure You Out" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Half Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "End of Beginning" | 2024 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 3 | ||
| "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Stranger Things | Won | |
| 2018 | Nominated | ||||
| 2020 | Nominated |
References
External links
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