“Stranger Things” spoilers ahead!
Typically it’s the audience who is moved to tears by an actor, not the other way around.
Still, with her compelling way of putting gratitude into words, Kimberley Burrows managed to bring one of her favorite actors to the brink of teary speechlessness. Burrows, who is 33 years old, was at London Film and Comic Con over the weekend to hear her favorite “Stranger Things” actor, Joseph Quinn (who portrays Eddie Munson), when her extension of appreciation to the actor moved him to tears.
Earlier this week, a video recording of the interaction went viral across multiple social media platforms, including TikTok and Twitter.
Burrows has an abundant amount of appreciation for the actor’s part in helping her to cope with the aftermath of becoming fully blind just a few years ago.
“We live in a world that isn’t very inclusive. I attend a lot of events, or I go to a lot of places, and disabled people are often an afterthought, and we are made to feel like a burden for requesting access to something,” Burrows explained in an interview with TODAY. “So I could understand those qualities within Eddie representing the outsider.”
Like the character Eddie, Burrows is a big fan of metal and rock music. In addition, she’s been made to feel like an outsider in her life. Burrows was born with congenital cataracts and has always been visually impaired. She never had sight in her right eye and growing up, she only had a small window of visualization in her left, allowing her to watch shows like “Stranger Things.” Then in 2018, her retina detached, and within a matter of three days, she’d become completely blind.
“It was hard. There’s lots of media that I enjoy and have a favorite band as well, and I was going to their show at the time of this happening, and they were very supportive to me,” she explained. “But any media, I really detached myself from it actually. I found things really hard; I lost interest in everything. But with ‘Stranger Things,’ I did actually keep going back to it.”
To be in the presence of the actor who portrayed a character she so related to, Burrows bought a ticket to this year’s London Film and Comic Con.
In the span of nearly four hours, Burrows fared a bus, a tram, and three trains to travel from her small Greater Manchester suburb of Irlam to London. Her initial plan was to just attend a meet and greet with Quinn last Saturday. When she realized she had a chance to meet him during a Q&A, she stayed an extra day to hear him speak.
A day before the viral moment was captured, Burrows met Quinn during a photo opportunity. Burrows recalled to TODAY that the care with which he met with her and posed with her 10-year-old guide dog Tami meant the world.
Burrows met Quinn the day before their viral Q&A moment. During a photographed meet and greet, Quinn was generous with his time and even took time to re-enact the "Master of Puppets" scene from the series with Burrows and Tami.
“He held my hands while we were kind of waiting for everything to get sorted out,” Burrows explained. “And then I was going to wait, but he helped me. He must have held (my hand) for a couple of minutes, and that was really comforting for me to know that he was there and not just kind of a presence somewhere floating. It was more than I could have expected, really. He was just so sweet. “
The next day, during the Q&A, Burrows sat in the front row and raised her hand to thank him.
“This isn’t really a question. It’s more of an extension of gratitude,” Burrows said at the time. “I just wanted to say thank you from all of us. We’re really grateful you’re spending the time.”
Burrows wasn’t able to visibly gauge Quinn’s emotional reaction to her words as she spoke but could hear from the crowd around her that something on stage was going on.
In the video, Quinn can be seen swallowing down his tears and wiping his eyes on his sleeve to gain his composure before replying, “Now, why’d you do that?”
Since their exchange went viral, Burrows has received an outpouring of praise and a leap in followers. For those lurking on her pages and interested in her life, Burrows has a message.
“I think the main message of all of this is that just being kind to somebody can really make a huge difference. And that’s really what’s come out this year, you know, it’s so easy to be critical of others, she explained. “And it takes huge courage to be nice to someone and appreciate them.”
Burrows also has one message for the Duffer Brothers, the creators of her favorite show.
“I was very surprised about Max potentially being blind,” she said, adding that she hopes that the new development is treated with care and sensitivity. As Burrows noted, too often in movies and television series, certain disabilities are used as a plot point, and then suddenly, the character is magically healed.
“(I hope) it’s not a plot point, and it doesn’t just kind of magically go away. Because there are so many TV shows where a character goes blind, and suddenly they have some form of visions, kind of beyond sight kind of thing,” she explained, adding, “It’s very dehumanizing and very devaluing because there are blind people like me in the audience that will never be able to see.”
