‘Outer Banks’ Star Chase Stokes Admits He ‘Absolutely Effed Up’ His Audition To Play Steve In ‘Stranger Things’

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Chase Stokes, 30, was always destined to be a Netflix heartthrob! Years before he rose to fame playing John B on Outer Banks, Chase auditioned for the role of Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, which ultimately went to Joe Keery, 30. Chase told Access Hollywood in a recent interview that he “forgot all the lines and absolutely effed up the audition.” He added, “I drove 8 hours from Atlanta back to Orlando, regretting every moment of my life on that.”

#ChaseStokes reveals how he "effed up" his #StrangerThings audition. #OBX pic.twitter.com/M5BBxob8SX

— Access Hollywood (@accesshollywood) February 22, 2023

Chase didn’t get to play Steve on Stranger Things, but he did make a brief appearance in a Season 1 episode of the hit series. “The Duffer brothers decided to write me back into the show. So it [the audition] was a lot of like, ‘I wish I would have said at least two words,’ ” Chase explained. “But Joe Keery is an absolute legend and he’s so damn good as Steve Harington. And so I’m super proud of him. I’ve talked to him a little bit throughout the years.”

Chase also mentioned how Stranger Things helped him get cast in Outer Banks, which returns for Season 3 on February 23. “I’m thankful for the Duffer brothers for giving me an opportunity to do my job and start my career. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “And the executive producers and the Netflix people who are apart of this show were also a part of Stranger Things. It’s a very full circle moment for me.”

Chase’s role on Outer Banks almost didn’t come to be, though, since he initially turned down the offer. He explained why he was hesitant to join the show, and what convinced him to finally say yes, in a new interview with The New York Times. “I really wasn’t making money as an actor up until the job that I did right before ‘Outer Banks,’ which was a show on Amazon called ‘Tell Me Your Secrets’,” he said. “But the money had kind of run dry from that show — I had an eviction notice on my door, the registration on my car had expired, my engine was steaming everywhere I went. I’m not a mechanic, so I didn’t know how to fix it, nor did I have the money to do so.”

Chase added, “After declining the ‘Outer Banks’ audition a couple of times I got a call from Lisa Fincannon, a wonderful casting director, and she said, ‘You need to read for this.’ That was a Wednesday. Sunday came around, and I get a call and [my agent] said: ‘You’re getting on a plane tonight. Here’s 14 pages of dialogue. Here’s the first four episodes. You’re going to be on the very last row of a plane in the middle seat on a red eye, and you’re going to land in Charleston. The audition is right when you get off the plane.’ And I did it, and the rest is history.”

Ironically, Chase isn’t the only Outer Banks star who had a minor role in Stranger Things. Madelyn Cline played high schooler Tina for two episodes in Season 2, before she was cast as Sarah Cameron in Outer Banks.