‘Stranger Things’ Star Joe Keery Sends Bold Political Message While Discussing Steve’s Legacy

Michelle Stein November 28, 2025, 10:56 am

Joe Keery, 'Stranger Things' — Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

What To Know

Joe Keery discussed Steve Harrington’s character growth on The Tonight Show, highlighting his redemption arc.
Keery expressed appreciation for playing Steve over 10 years, emphasizing the show’s message about outcasts coming together from all walks of life.
While sharing his excitement about the Stranger Things Season 5 finale, Keery avoided revealing spoilers about Steve’s fate.

Stranger Things star Joe Keery sent a bold political message while discussing what he hopes Steve Harrington’s legacy will be by the end of Season 5.

On the Thursday, November 27 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Keery, 33, dished on Steve and spoke about his reaction to the Season 5 finale.

“What do you want Steve Harrington’s legacy to be?” host Jimmy Fallon, 51, asked.

To that, the actor began, “Well, besides my suit, I guess — making it OK to wear something like that,” referencing his Scoops Ahoy uniform from Season 3.

Keery continued, “The thing I loved about the character and loved that they gave me is that he kind of has a change of heart and realizes the error in his ways.”

He then got political, adding, “Right now, there’s kind of a lot of opportunity for that, for people to sort of choose to do the right thing. And the show is about a group of outcasts that come together. And you can be from all walks of life.”

To conclude his reflection on Steve’s character arc from Season 1, Keery pointed out, “But I just love that the character kind of makes that choice. And for that reason, it was just a real pleasure to play for 10 years.”

Additionally, Keery shared his reaction to the Stranger Things Season 5 finale.

“I’ve been on the show for 10 years,” he said. “And you work with all these different actors, and you get different time with different people, and you read the scripts, and you kind of understand the journey that they’re going to go on as you’re filming the show. So reading that episode, I was just very excited to see certain actors kind of do their thing.”