Stranger Things favourite Charlie Heaton celebrates his birthday today (February 6) but how much do you know about the British-born actor?
Jonathan Byers was a fan-favourite in Stranger Things throughout its five-season run. The older brother of Will, he was a key character in the fight against the Demogorgon and trying to reveal the truth about the Upside Down in all five series of the show, which concluded its run last year.
Charlie Heaton, who played Jonathan, turns 32 today (February 6). Stranger Things made him into an international star – but how much do you know about him? Read on to find out some things you might not know.
He followed his dream at a young age
Charlie – despite his accent in Stranger Things – was born and brought up in Bridlington in Yorkshire, England. He has a sister, Levi, who is also an actress and is also in Self Esteem’s backing band.
At the age of 16, Charlie took a chance and moved down to London to pursue his dream of being a drummer in a rock band. After moving to London, he played in various bands, including Comanechi. Comanechi had some success and supported The Gossip, as well as releasing an album in 2013. He was also in psychedelic rock band Half Loon
Charlie became an actor by accident
As mentioned, Charlie was a drummer in bands in his late teens. However, as the bands were not hugely successful to make ends meet, Charlie had to take on other work. As well as working as a barman, he also took on work as an extra in TV shows.
It was at this point that Charlie, with no formal acting training, started to consider being an actor.
His first on-screen roles were small
After taking on extra work, Charlie then began to start getting acting jobs on English TV shows. He had small roles in various shows in 2015 – although they were some of the biggest shows in the country. On ITV, he had minor roles in crime dramas DCI Banks and Vera, as well as appearing on BBC medical drama Casualty.
But his big break came later in 2015, when he was cast as Jonathan Byers in a new Netflix sci-fi show called Stranger Things.
He’s dating his on-screen girlfriend IRL
In Stranger Things, Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler were a well-known couple. But if you thought the characters had good chemistry, you’d be right – and it wasn’t just acting. Charlie and Natalia Dyer, who played Nancy, have been dating in real life since 2016. Charlie has said that it is “gift” to work with his “best friend”. He added that its good to have shared experiences with your partner, as they know what it feels like if you have had a bad day, or are anxious about not getting jobs and the like.
He’s a big football fan
Charlie is a fan of Arsenal FC, one of the leading sides in the English Premier League. He started supporting the London-based side after he moved to the city when he was 16.
Charlie has a son
When Charlie was in Comanechi, he started dating Akiko Matsuura, who was the frontwoman of the band. There was quite an age gap between them – Charlie was 20, Akiko was 34 – and they did end up having a son, who was born in 2014.
However, they split up not long after the son was born. Charlie has said that being a young father made him grow up “very fast”. While Charlie generally keeps his private life, well, private, he has talked of wanting to give his son “good experiences and a lot of love and the hard part obviously is distance.”
