With every additional season of Stranger Things, fans have increasingly united to declare their undying love for the best babysitter in Hawkins, Steve Harrington. When Season 4, Volume 1 was released, the love continued as we watched Steve and Robin's friendship flourish and the endearing job he did of taking care of Dustin, Lucas, and Max.
Joe Keery has done a brilliant job so far of portraying Steve, and has rapidly become a fan-favorite both on and off-screen. Watching his character evolve over the years has brought a great deal of joy to fans across the world; now with only a few days to go, we can't wait to see Steve battle his way through Season 4, Volume 2 on July 1st. That being said, although Keery gets the most attention for his role in Stranger Things, we cannot forget about some of this other great performances outside the show that should be getting just as much love and attention.
6 Spree
Released in 2020, Spree is a dark comedy horror film directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko, and is considered one of the more disturbing scary movies on Hulu. Keery plays Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver who is obsessed with gaining a large social media following and going viral. Like Steve, Kurt was a babysitter to Bobby, who becomes an internet celebrity, making Kurt jealous. In an attempt to go viral, Kurt joins a rideshare app called Spree and begins killing his passengers with poisoned water and live-streaming it to become famous.
Keery is intense and terrifying in the role, with Kurt maintaining a creepy 'polite' smile for almost the entire movie. In what is one of Keery's best performances outside of Stranger Things, Spree is a must-watch to see a completely different side to his acting abilities. For both Stranger Things and horror fans, this cold, murderous portrayal is definitely not one to miss.
5 Death to 2020 / Death to 2021
Death to 2020 is a 2020 mockumentary by Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. It features fictional characters being interviewed and discussing both US and UK events of 2020, which include the COVID-19 pandemic, the two national lockdowns in England, online circulation of false information, vaccine trials (including the first use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine), as well as other events like the US presidential election. With its success, a sequel, Death to 2021 was also released, being of a similar nature.
Keery plays Duke Goolies, who is interviewed about the recent events and is introduced as a content provider, DJ, and mixologist. Duke can be considered a purely satirical creation portraying those who make a living from social media and YouTube in an exaggerated manner. Some might even argue that he is what Keery's character in Spree, Kurt, might be aspiring to be. As always, Keery's performance is entirely brilliant and hilarious, and many fans have said that it was even the best part of the mockumentary. Those who love Keery's funny and lighthearted side in Stranger Things would feel just as warm and fuzzy inside seeing him bring a smile to our faces in these mockumentaries.
4 No Activity
No Activity is a comedy television series, actually based on the Australian series of the same name created by Trent O'Donnell, that premiered in 2017 on CBS All Access. The first series is set against the world of a major drug cartel bust and follows two low-level cops who have spent far too much time in a car together; two criminals who are largely kept in the dark; two dispatch workers who haven’t really clicked; and two Mexican tunnelers who are in way too small a space considering they’ve only just met.
With it being such a success, it was then followed by three other seasons. Keery appeared as a guest star in season three where he played Officer Ed Reinhardt and his performance was so brilliant that he returned for season 4. Although, they created season four to be animated, so we also got to see Keery in animated form. With this show being a comedy, it was just obvious that Keery would fit right in and be a fantastic addition to the show.
3 Free Guy
The 2021 action-comedy film, Free Guy, was directed and produced by Shawn Levy, who is also known for directing Stranger Things, so Joe Keery was no stranger to his work. Keery also starred alongside other well known names like Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer. The film tells the story of a bank teller who discovers that he is a non-player character in a massively multiplayer online game and partners with a player to find evidence that a gaming company's CEO stole the player's game's source code, and Keery's role is Keys, the designer behind the video game.
Despite his wonderful performance, Keery actually admitted in an interview with ComicBook that he was very nervous to be a part of this movie: "I will say I was very nervous to do this movie just because you're working with massive talent [...] I mean, every single person that was in this movie, I was a fan of, and kind of anxious. And just like anybody else would be, you meet these people that you've seen their work." However, Keery's fans of course have his back and no doubt absolutely loved his work and are surely now hyped for the sequel, Free Guy 2.
2 Slice
Keery, although still comedic, gives us a taste of horror in 2018 horror-comedy, Slice. The movie follows the murders of several pizza deliverymen in the Ghost Town neighborhood of Kingfisher, and various townspeople's efforts to solve the crimes. This movie gives every horror fan a fun variation on the classic slasher film. With unexplained murders and enough throat slashing to last a lifetime, Keery's character, Jackson (the local reporter), takes us on a wild goose chase, and still never fails to make us laugh the entire way through, not to mention make us hungry for pizza.
1 Molly's Game
On a more serious note, Keery appeared in the 2017 biographical crime drama film, Molly's Game, which is based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Molly Bloom. The film follows Bloom, who becomes the target of an FBI investigation after the underground poker empire she runs for Hollywood celebrities, athletes, business tycoons, and the Russian mob is exposed. Keery plays Trust Fund Cole, and while it may be only a smaller role, even the smallest supporting roles include quirks that help each character stand out, and his work is vital to the storyline, injecting cruelty and higher stakes into the film. Seeing Keery in a more serious role is refreshing and emphasizes his talent, and shows a darker aspect of the actor.