“Stranger Things” star Joseph Quinn just made his talk show debut — and almost didn’t make it.
The British actor appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” for the first time Monday to reveal he was detained at immigration on his arrival in the U.S. a day earlier.
Fortunately for Quinn, his “Stranger Things” character of Eddie Munson is universally adored — even by customs officials.
“I was taken into, I guess what you could call it, was more of a dungeon,” Quinn told the host. “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?’”
While fans love Quinn’s portrayal of metalhead slacker Eddie Munson, the character was only introduced in the fourth season and may be hard to identify without his torn jeans and long trademark hair.
“Well I’m actually here to meet Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show,’” Quinn said he replied. “And he didn’t believe me. And one of his colleagues looked over at me, looked at him, and said: ‘Leave Eddie alone.’”
The first agent, realizing who he’d been interrogating, then asked Quinn the one question “Stranger Things” fans have been clamoring for: “Do you come back next season?”
Quinn himself claimed to have no idea whether Munson would return and said he told the agent as much. He was ultimately given a stern warning before having his passport returned: “You better.”
In his conversation with Fallon, Quinn expounded further on the beauty of the “Stranger Things” fandom. He said he was moved by how strongly fans at Comic-Con identify with his character.
“I think it’s probably the fact that he’s an outsider, a little bit kind of on the fringes of society,” said Quinn. “It’s so moving to see how much he means to people.”
Quinn read one of Munson’s monologues, switching accents from Scotland, Liverpool, Australia, New York City and Wales from one line to the next.
Fallon reminded Quinn that his rendition of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” during a vital “Stranger Things” scene landed the song on the Billboard charts for the first time in decades. Quinn joked that he didn’t share any royalties, but did get a shoutout from his acting idol Jack Black.
Quinn told Fallon he has “worshipped” Black since “School of Rock” was released in 2003. A heavy metal fan himself, Black spoke on the red carpet for “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight” about binge-watching “Stranger Things” with his son — and falling for Eddie Munson.
“It was pretty epic,” said Black. “I was geeking out pretty hard. And then I was like, ‘Why did you kill the heavy metal guy? He was the best character!’”