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Unless you have been in a trance (that’s only look at like coma) for a long time, you know that Netflix released most of the Stranger Things‘fifth seasonwith the series finale arriving on December 31 to hopefully answer all of our lingering questions. But one aspect of the Netflix series that we are now much more informed about is its big bad, Vecna. Played by Jamie Campbell Bower, he was introduced in season four— but season five showed us just how complex this man-turned-monster is.
For starters, he now has a third identity to go with the tendril-and-tooth creature that is Vecna and his former human form, Henry Creel – the angry guy who bursts in in the blood-splattered order uniform. Season five introduced Mr. Whatsit, a seemingly gentle protector from A wrinkle in time and used to manipulate the group of children Vecna needs to carry out her ultimate plan.
Talk to DeadlineBower reflected on what it’s been like playing Vecna as the character has become more complex.
“Toward the end of filming the Henry portion of season four, Matt and Ross [Duffer] were saying, “This has been incredible. We were always going to bring you back as Vecna, but now we think we should bring you back more in your form. and I was just like, “Cool. It looks awesome. Whatever you want, guys,” Bower recalled. “So as far as the story arc, none of that was presented to me, and I think it was… something that kind of developed between the two of them.”
Once Bower knew what to expect, understanding how to play multiple characters contained within a single character came down to finding the right emotional tone, as well as some movement training.
“Where I arrived with Henry at the end of [season four] This was the way I wanted to bring him back when we saw him again. It was in that emotional space,” he explained. “Having already been in Mr. Whatsit in season five, for me there is a difference between them, as subtle as it is, there is a difference. So yes, there are emotional differences and difficulties, but also physical ones. [ones]. That particular moment, the physical aspect of it, is something that we’ve been working on, actually, with someone who works in the gaming space, and using things called nodes, which are like particular moments that you hit and you’ll come back to. So we worked on the gap between Whatsit and Henry before shooting it.
And then, of course, there is Vecna, the worst; he is fully monstrous and distant from humanity to the extent that “it is practically impossible [for him to feel] anything that resembles love,” Bower said. Yet the actor is still grappling with what he thinks audiences will remember about his character on many levels once the dust settles.
“A lot of this character is based on the idea of loneliness [and] the idea of salvation. I had to fall in love, and I fell in love with Henry Creel. I had to want to protect him,” he said. “I had to want to nurture him and love him, because that’s my duty as the person who plays him. I have to understand it, and I don’t know what it’s like to be a spectator, but watching it from afar, I don’t know. I would have to give myself another six months to really be able to absorb this.
THE Stranger Things the finale arrives December 31 on Netflix.
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