Joseph Andrew Starkey (born November 4, 1993) is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in the teen drama films Love, Simon and The Hate U Give (both 2018). He gained recognition for his portrayal of troubled teenager Rafe Cameron in the Netflix adventure series Outer Banks (2020−present),[1] and has since starred in Luca Guadagnino's romantic drama film Queer (2024).
As a child, he played baseball and basketball,[2] and learned to play the guitar and the piano.[5] He attended St. Stephens High School in Hickory. In his freshman year, he became serious about acting after joining a drama class, which he described as "a lot of Samuel Beckett and shit."[3]
Starkey graduated from Western Carolina University in 2016, where he double majored in English and theater performance.[6] After college, he moved to Atlanta to join two friends who were forming a production company, and started to audition for roles.[3][5]
