Jamie Campbell Bower’s Most Shocking Comments About Playing Vecna in ‘Stranger Things’: ‘I Started to Become Quite Afraid’

Credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix

Jamie Campbell Bower's Most Shocking Comments About Playing Vecna in 'Stranger Things': 'I Started to Become Quite Afraid'

Becoming one with Vecna. Jamie Campbell Bower has been candid about his Stranger Things journey — including the challenges that came with turning into the season 4 villain. After the first half of the season hit Netflix, Bower opened up about how little he knew during the audition process. “I first got two sets of [script] sides, one from Primal Fear, and one from Hellraiser,” he told Variety in May 2022. “I had no idea what this character was. I wasn’t sent any material from the show.” According to the actor, watching the series put the mysterious character into perspective for him. “I went crazy for, like, two days. In my apartment, I put a picture of Will Byers [Noah Schnapp] in the middle, and then all the other characters around it, and then sort of made this Claire Danes-esque from Homeland mind-map of who I thought this person was," he continued. "I stepped back from it after two days, and was like, 'That feels kind of good.' So I took a picture, and then I printed out all the pictures and put them in this little folder — and then I got a phone call saying Matt and Ross [Duffer] wanted to meet.” From there, Bower showed the creators the vision he had for the role. “They were like, ‘This is literally perfect. Everything that you’ve gotten here is perfect. Your references are perfect. The inspiration is perfect. Do you mind if we show you some more visual references that we have and what we’re thinking, and tell you a little bit more about the character?’" he recalled. "I think, by that point, they knew I wasn’t completely insane.” Two months later, viewers watched Vecna's reign of terror reach its peak when he opened several gates into the Upside Down throughout Hawkins, Indiana. The shocking Volume 2 finale hinted that Vecna wasn't finished attempting to take over the world. At the time, Bower noted that he was able to gain empathy for the character after playing him throughout season 4. "Am I able to view him as a villain? I’m certainly able to view him as as a point of conflict. But in terms of, like, is he evil or villainous? I mean, I understand him, and I love him. And I relate to him," he detailed to Variety in July 2022. "I just got a pain in my eyes as I was saying that — maybe I should shut up! Like, I understand him, and so I’m always gonna be on his side." Scroll down for everything Bower has said about bringing Vecna to life: [podcast_block]

Credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix

Getting Into Character

For Bower, the process of becoming Vecna included changing his voice and the way he delivered his lines.

“I was just fervently going through it and building it and it was a lot. I remember doing it in the rehearsal and Millie [Bobby Brown] just looking at me and saying something like, ‘You’re a freak,'” he told Variety in May 2022 about performing his monologue in the first part of season 4.

The Twilight actor recalled his costar getting more frightened as Henry's identity was revealed in the scene. “She was terrified, like, literally terrified, and when she saw Vecna, she burst into tears and she said, ‘That’s not my friend. I don’t know who this person is anymore. Where’s he gone?'” Bower added at the time.

Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Forming Too Close of a Connection With Vecna

“It was scary, I’ll be honest with you. Particularly when I’m Henry or One, there’s so much manipulation that’s going on in there,” the U.K. native explained to Variety about sharing scenes with kids as the monster. “To work with a young person or a child or somebody who’s much younger, that was an interesting dynamic. And the things that would sort of pop up in the brain were quite weird and odd.”

The musician recalled doing “lots of weird stuff" to get into the right headspace to play the villain. 

“For Vecna, there’s this deep, deep, deep resentment. It’s his fuel, so I really had to tap into that, and I consider myself not somebody who holds onto resentment. So, digging that up from within me was quite a lot,” he shared. “I mean, I wouldn’t speak to people. I wouldn’t speak to anybody outside of the Stranger Things world for at least four days before filming anything. I would find myself doing some pretty wild stuff. If anyone saw me walking around the streets of Atlanta at 2 in the morning talking to myself, they would understand. I was just bringing up a lot of anger, particularly for Vecna.”

Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

The Darker Side

During an interview with Variety in May 2022, Bower revealed that it took about seven and a half hours to transform into the monster through prosthetics. After filming for 12 hours, Bower wasn't in a rush to remove all of the makeup for Vecna. 

“I came in in character, wearing the character, so I’m sitting in the makeup chair very still, not really talking to anyone. Music is a big help for me. I find it to be a very visceral experience,” he noted. “I had a few records that I was just constantly spinning on repeat as I’d been building the character I’d had on anyway, so there was that, sort of, subconsciousness that was coming through.” 

Bower recalled asking for an extra 30 minutes to himself before filming started, adding, “It was totally pitch black. I’d sit in [a dark room] between the takes and go for it. It was really interesting. About halfway through, I started to become quite afraid of Vecna.”

Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Thinking About Vecna's Victims

"I would take photographs of each victim," Bower told People in July 2022, referring to Vecna taking the eyes during a kill. "I'd print them off, my next victim, and I would cross their eyes out and put them up on my wall. And I'd stare at them."  

Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Bathroom Breaks

After the second installment of season 4 aired in July 2022, Bower broke down the "very complicated process" of going to the bathroom in his Vecna costume.

“The top half is glued [to my body], and then the bottom half is like these trousers, and there’s a flap," he told TV Line at the time. “Poor Duncan [Jarman, the makeup-effects department cohead] would have to un-pop me first of all, and then there’s a zipper in the trousers. Then [someone] would have to stand outside the restroom.”

He continued: “I can’t really touch anything. I had these nails glued on as well as the hands. So I’d come back from the bathroom with, like, a nail coming off and say to [makeup-effects artist] Mike Mekash, ‘Mike, can you fix my finger? I’m really sorry!’"

Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

Taking Accountability

In July 2022, Bower and his former costar Joseph Quinn participated in a funny video where they addressed Eddie's death. 

"I know a lot of people are mad at me. But my apology isn't just for you. It's for the main victim of all of this," Bower said in a Netflix video, before addressing Quinn directly. "Things got really complicated at the end of the season. And I did some things I regret. I took your life, so I am really sorry about that. That felt awful. I also want to apologize for Chrissy as well."

The clip ended with Quinn accepting a large flower display from Bower.