{"id":2228612,"date":"2026-01-09T17:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2228612"},"modified":"2026-01-09T17:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:57:19","slug":"exclusive-inside-steve-harringtons-stranger-things-transformation-joe-keerys-1-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/exclusive-inside-steve-harringtons-stranger-things-transformation-joe-keerys-1-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Inside Steve Harrington&#8217;s &#8216;Stranger Things&#8217; transformation, Joe Keery&#8217;s 1 request"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F01%2Fsteve.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>There\u2019s a reason he\u2019s known as Steve \u201cthe hair\u201d Harrington.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) was the fan favorite character in the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/07\/entertainment\/inside-vecnas-stranger-things-snatched-look-in-final-season-that-took-7-hours-a-day-to-achieve\/\">Netflix hit \u201cStranger Things\u201d <\/a>\u2014 and was one of the only actor\u2019s to not need a wig. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is correct. I mean, he has amazing hair, right? So he does not need one,\u201d lead hair designer Sarah Hindsgaul told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers in \u201cStranger Things.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Keery as Steve in \u201cStranger Things.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Viewers have also been going wild for Steve\u2019s backwards baseball hat look in Season 5, with one viral <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@endjoyed\/video\/7588044364270570782\">TikTok<\/a> proclaiming it to be \u201clife changing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Hindsgaul noted, \u201cI think [the hat] was Joe\u2019s idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steve began the show as an entitled smarmy popular kid, and Nancy\u2019s (Natalia Dyer) boyfriend. He gradually evolved into a more likable person, and unlikely babysitter to the kids, before forming friendships with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Robin (Maya Hawke).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The series finale saw <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/31\/entertainment\/did-steve-die-in-the-stranger-things-series-finale\/\">Steve nearly plummet to his death off a tall tower <\/a>\u2013 but luckily, he was saved by his former rival, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). He ended the series embracing small town life as the local school coach \/ sex ed teacher, dating around without settling down yet, and staying in touch with his friends. He was shown visiting Dustin at college, and solidifying his friendship bonds with Nancy, Jonathan, and Robin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Keery as Steve Harrington in \u201cStranger Things\u201d Season 5.  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Keery as Steve Harrington and Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow in \u201cStranger Things\u201d Season 5.  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Chelsea Talmadge, Chester Rushing, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Shannon Purser in \u201cStranger Things\u201d Season 1.  <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen we started the show, his hair was a lot shorter,\u201d Hindsgaul explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had him in a very classic early \u201880s groomed, preppy boy hairdo for a couple of scenes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During Season 1, she recalled, \u201cJoe came to me and he was like, \u2018I feel like I need something that is more poppy, like something that is in your face, and that can give me the confidence.\u2019 I think he used the word \u2018douchey.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said that led them to do this \u201cpompadour\u2026. more kind of \u201850s bad boy kind of look.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After they did that, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer told her \u201cWe\u2019re not going back,\u201d about Steve\u2019s hair look.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, and Gaten Matarazzo in \u201cStranger Things.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Maya Hawke and Joe Keery in \u201cStranger Things.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gaten Matarazzo and Joe Keery in \u201cStranger Things\u201d Season 5.  <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not super \u201880s what we have going on here. But, I think having different characters and having the energy come through the right way is just as important as being completely on the nose with period,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>Steve quickly grew out his hair out after Season 1. \u201cWe have different layers of Steve. He starts quite fluffy. We start smaller and then it gets filled up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hindsgaul described Season 3 as \u201cSteve\u2019s heyday\u201d and \u201chis peak.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Keery as Steve at the end of \u201cStranger Things.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Keery as Steve Harrington and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in \u201cStranger Things.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAnd then from there we kind of go backwards a little bit and it gets more and more texturized and less fluffy to wear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By the time Steve is a young man in the final season, it\u2019s more \u201cgrungy,\u201d since the show is in the late \u201880s and approaching the \u201890s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe very last time we see him, we bring him back to the early days\u2026..in that kind of Tom Cruise, small time, preppy, popular boy again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a reason he\u2019s known as Steve \u201cthe hair\u201d Harrington.\u00a0 Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) was the fan favorite character in the Netflix hit \u201cStranger Things\u201d \u2014 and was one of the only actor\u2019s to not need a wig. \u201cThat is correct. I mean, he has amazing hair, right? So he does not need one,\u201d lead [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2228613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[362438,21741,25404,401718,346392,305890,22205,21913],"class_list":["post-2228612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-celebrity-hairstyles","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-hairstyles","tag-joe-keery","tag-stranger-things","tag-television","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Exclusive-Inside-Steve-Harringtons-Stranger-Things-transformation-Joe-Keerys.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2228614,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228612\/revisions\/2228614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2228613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}