Joseph Andrew Starkey is an American actor. A son of basketball coach Todd Starkey, he played supporting roles in the teen drama films Love, Simon and The Hate U Give (both 2018). He gained recognition for starring in the Netflix adventure series Outer Banks (2020−present), and has since starred in the romantic drama film Queer (2024).
Starkey was born in Asheville, North Carolina to Todd Starkey, a college-basketball coach for the Kent State women's team, and Jodi Starkey, a school counselor. Starkey is the oldest of four children. His family moved around the Blue Ridge Mountains area, but he mostly grew up in Hickory, North Carolina.
As a kid, Starkey grew up playing baseball and basketball. He also learned to play the guitar and the piano. Starkey attended St. Stephens High School in Hickory, and started to get serious about acting after joining a drama class on his freshman year, which he described as "a lot of Samuel Beckett and shit."
He graduated magna cum laude from Western Carolina University in 2016 where he double majored in English and theater performance. After college he moved to Atlanta to join two friends who were forming a production company and started to audition for roles.
Starkey lives in Los Angeles.
