Apparently, Steve Harrington of Stranger Things, who's played by the internet's new boyfriend Joe Keery, was originally supposed to be a star swimmer.
"At the beginning of the first season, I got the part, and talked to the Duffer brothers. They were saying, 'He's going to be kinda like this jock character, and he's like a swimmer,'" Keery told Seth Meyers on Late Night With Seth Meyers Tuesday night. So, Keery started training to be a swimmer. "So, for the first, I don't know, six weeks prior to shooting, I was training, doing all this swimming prep."
Of course, if you watched the show, you know that Steve Harrington isn't a swimmer. In fact, I'm not sure Hawkins High has a swim team. In Stranger Things 2, Steve plays some basketball, although it's not clear if he's a basketball player or just a regular dude in gym class. (The Ringer astutely pointed out that the basketball scene in the second season verges on bonkers.)
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"Also, I thought I was going to be in, like, a Speedo," Keery added. Much to the disappointment of the internet, he never wore a swimsuit on the show. He did, however, wear very tight jeans, at least in season 2.
Since the show debuted, the Duffer brothers have made it clear that Steve Harrington has evolved past his initial character description. Steve was supposed to be a Biff-like character — in one interview, Keery admitted that an early draft of the show had Steve raping Nancy Wheeler (played by Natalia Dyer).
"He was a total, total dick," Keery told GQ. So, in many ways, we should be grateful that Steve Harrington isn't the swimming douchebag he was originally meant to be.
Watch the full interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers, below.
Read These Stories Next: