Ted Wheeler might be the most unassuming character on Stranger Things and it's probably because sometimes it seems as if he's just not there. Ted is a chill dad who has no idea that his children literally fight monsters everyday or who seemingly has no idea how frustrated his wife is. He's usually nonchalant, even that one time Dustin swore at him. Ted might seem like an uninteresting guy with a monotone voice, but no one can deny he cares about his family even if he's usually oblivious to whatever they're getting into. He tries to be there for them, even when he just can't figure out what's really going on. Ted might only have one reaction for everything, but the actor that plays him has a lot of range IRL. Here's everything you should know about Joe Chrest.
1. Joe discovered acting after taking a speech class in high school to overcome his shy habits.
In the speech class, Ted was assigned an acting scene, and he realized he really liked it, he told the student newspaper, The Reveille. "It was much easier to be somebody else than to be myself in front of people. It just really clicked," he said.
2. Joe was born and raised in St. Alban's, West Virginia.
He attended St. Alban's High School.
3. Joe's face might seem familiar because you've probably caught him in a bunch of popular TV shows and movies.
Some of his projects include 21 Jump Street and its sequel, where he played Jonah Hill's dad, The Perfect Date, where he played Celia's dad and True Detective, where he played Detective Demma.
4. Joe is also an academic.
He's a professor at the LSU School of Theatre, teaching classes like "Introduction to Acting for the Camera." Joe told The Reveille he enjoys having time to both teach and act. "I think the students enjoy someone who’s actually in the field. It’s not like I did it five years ago, or even three. I did it last week or yesterday. They teach me so much. They make me a better actor, and I think I’m able to bring the nuts and bolts of what’s going on and to help them to understand to love the process like I do.”
5. In 2014, he told Trainwreck'd Society that his fave film genre to work in was comedy
"Comedy is the best. I love it all, dumb stuff like Stripes, and The Animal to high brow Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward plays to the corny stuff like Andy Griffith and Don Knotts movies. In junior high and high school, before ever wanting to act I was always voted class clown and stuff like that. I’ve always enjoyed laughing and I love making people laugh," Joe said.
6. Before becoming an actor, Joe was once enrolled in the armed forces.
He said that his stint in the military made him realized he wanted to pursue acting as a serious career. "...It wasn’t until I got out of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and started sitting at a desk every morning, in a uniform that I realized I wasn’t going to be happy unless I went all in with the acting thing and see where it took me. Bummer was that I still owed Uncle Sam 4 more years. I was able to finish out my service and finish undergrad at the same time, so all was not lost, and my theatre degree was fully funded by the U.S. Government!," Joe told Trainwreck'd Society.
Jasmine Gomez is the Commerce Editor at Women’s Health, where she cover the best product recommendations across beauty, health, lifestyle, fitness, and more. When she's not shopping for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. Follow her @JazzeGomez.
