Jonathan Byers always felt like he had been assembled somewhere in rural Indiana from cassette tapes, teenage anxiety, and one permanently loaded camera. Charlie Heaton sold the illusion so completely that hearing his natural English accent for the first time can still cause a minor system reboot.

The Stranger Things star was raised in Bridlington, England, before eventually moving to London, yet Jonathan’s American voice became second nature once Hawkins called. Audiences bought it. More hilariously, some people standing beside him on set bought it too.

Heaton has now revealed that certain co-stars spent two years without realizing he was English at all.

During an October 8 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Fallon brought up an extraordinary piece of Stranger Things trivia: two cast members apparently worked alongside Heaton for roughly two years before discovering that he was English. Heaton greeted the revelation with the casual confidence of somebody who had clearly been getting away with linguistic fraud for quite some time.

“Yeah, I do that. I very much like, what’s it called, method acting,” Heaton joked. The explanation is surprisingly straightforward.  During the early seasons, Heaton stayed inside Jonathan’s American accent around set instead of constantly switching between voices. The series represented one of his first major acting opportunities, and maintaining the rhythm helped him remain anchored inside a character born thousands of miles away from his own upbringing.

That commitment becomes even funnier considering Heaton had entered acting almost accidentally. He had previously played drums in bands and moved to London as a teenager before commercial work gradually opened the door to television. The Duffer Brothers eventually chose him after searching for someone capable of bringing Jonathan’s particular brooding intensity to Hawkins.

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His next Netflix character takes him far away from Indiana, although strange creatures are once again waiting nearby.

Charlie Heaton has now traded Hawkins for Newfoundland in Below, Netflix’s six-episode thriller from creator Jesse McKeown. The series premiered October 8 and centers on Snook’s Arm, an isolated fishing community facing economic uncertainty when something enormous and deeply unfriendly begins moving beneath the surrounding water.

Josh Hartnett stars as Calvin Penney, a struggling fisherman and father haunted by a childhood tragedy involving the sea. Mackenzie Davis plays marine biologist Fonda Howander, who joins him in investigating the mysterious attacks threatening the community.

Heaton portrays Wade Penney, Calvin’s oldest son. His siblings have left Snook’s Arm, while Wade remains behind in a state of arrested development, creating trouble and finding ways to entertain himself in a town where everybody knows everybody. Heaton spent time with Newfoundland locals while preparing for the part, later joking that “everyone on the island knows a Wade.”

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What do you think about Charlie Heaton fooling his Stranger Things co-stars with his American accent? Let us know in the comments.