The Impossibly Cool Joe Keery
3 min read
He entered your consciousness as Steve, the cool, older kid among the Stranger Things boys. But when he talked to ELLE, he was sitting in the shabby greenroom of a concert venue somewhere Dallas, getting ready to take the stage as Djo, his musical alter ego.
He acts, he sings, he’s almost too handsome—we had to talk.
I’m reaching you in Dallas, where you’re about to take the stage. Do you like being on the road?
I do like the road. Right now, it’s all my friends, and that makes a huge difference. Otherwise we’d be spending a lot more time apart, so that part is really nice. But of course, you miss your bed. I’m looking forward to being home over the holidays.
I’m excited to talk to you about men and women and how we get along. What’s something surprising someone would learn from dating you?
That I’m a bit of a nerd, deep down. I was a nerdy theater kid, making movies with my friends. On tour earlier this year, my friends and I were hanging with some of the crew from the other band, and one of the young ladies said, “Wow, you guys are not how I expected you to be.” And I think it was because we were just being silly. And kind of nerdy.
What’s the best way to tell a woman you’re sorry?
I had a friend reach out for advice for this dilemma. And I feel like, you’ve just gotta be real clean and honest with it—really upfront—especially if you’re in the wrong. You just gotta own it.
Also, [buying them] a little something might help. Maybe you’re getting someone flowers, or you’re taking them to a place they like to go. Just taking the knee for the other person and saying, “I messed up. I’m so sorry.”
What’s something that most women do better than most men?
Communication.
What’s something women do that makes your knees go weak every time?
When someone’s funny. When somebody’s quick-witted and you have that immediate back-and-forth going on—that to me is like, Yep, here we go.
Do you cook?
I love to cook. I’m pretty good at making shrimp scampi. Shrimp scampi and some wine, that’s pretty nice. My sister taught me a recipe that I cannot disclose.
Who’s the woman you’ve worked with, in acting or in music, who’s taught you the most?
I got a lot of great women in my life, obviously my family, but the first person who comes to mind is Winona Ryder. I was incredibly intimidated at first because I grew up on her movies. But as I got to know her, I learned how invested and passionate she is about work.
She really knows her stuff—loves music and film, maybe more than anyone else in my life. I’ll get a random text, like, “Here’s an isolated Marvin Gaye vocal track from the stems that they never used from this song.” The deepest cuts. She’s like an encyclopedia, and she’s eager to share. She’s been to a million shows. It’s cool to have someone who’s just really excited by all of this.
Who has inspired you the most?
I’ve got four sisters. A lot of great cousins, a lot of great aunts. But I’ve got to say my mother. She and her friends were unhappy with the education system in the town I grew up in, and they actually started a charter Montessori public school. We all went to the school. I was not a traditionally super-talented academic student. I’d had my troubles in school, but when I did this sort of off-the-wall Montessori school until eighth grade, I thrived and loved it. I have a ton of respect and admiration for her for doing that—she already had a full-time job raising five kids.
This story appears in the December 2025/January 2026 issue of ELLE.