Stranger Things' Jamie Campbell Bower Dishes On That Big Episode 7 Reveal
"Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1" doesn't wait long to introduce its fearsome new villain, Vecna. The terrifying character makes his screen debut at the end of the "Stranger Things 4" premiere, and the season itself is full of moments in which Vecna uses his powers to reach into the minds of innocent Hawkins residents in order to terrorize and kill them. However, while "Stranger Things" doesn't waste much time waiting to introduce him, it does take its time revealing Vecna's backstory.
Indeed, it's not until the end of "Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1" that it is revealed that Vecna is actually Henry Creel. In the same episode, it's also revealed that Henry Creel became the first child with supernatural powers to be placed under the care of Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine). Henry was subsequently given the title of One (designating his place within Brenner's program), but he eventually grew to be too much of a threat to Brenner.
Consequently, Brenner injected Henry with a chip capable of suppressing his powers. Unfortunately, Henry grew up to be the same friendly hospital orderly who later befriended and manipulated Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) after she was inducted into Brenner's program. The grown-up, orderly version of Henry/One is played in "Stranger Things" by Jamie Campbell Bower, who also plays Vecna in the season.
Now that some time has passed since the premiere of the show's fourth season as well, Campbell Bower has finally opened up about what it was like playing the latest villain on "Stranger Things."
Campbell Bower tried not to reveal too much too early on
In "Stranger Things 4," Jamie Campbell Bower has the difficult job of not only playing the manipulative, grown-up version of Henry Creel, but also the deformed and scarred version of the character known as Vecna. Taking that into account, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn that Campbell Bower was very much aware of the feat he had to pull off in "Stranger Things 4."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Campbell Bower spoke openly about how he prepared for his "Stranger Things 4" scenes, saying, "I would take four days before filming anything [to get into character]." The Vecna actor went on to admit that he did feel an intense pressure to truly nail his early scenes with Eleven. "One of the most terrifying parts of the process was when I was having to be really nice to [Eleven]," Campbell Bower said. "There was always a fear when I was looking at Millie, particularly when playing One, where I was thinking, 'Please don't see what I want from you. Please just see this sort of facade.'"
Opening up further about his performance as Henry Creel/One/Vecna, Campbell Bower revealed, "Strange thoughts would come up, particularly in that monologue with Millie in Episode 7. I still had a sense of self, but a thought would pop up, and I'd be like, 'That's weird! Once they call cut, I'm just going to step out for five minutes to have a cigarette and calm down.'"
Fortunately for Bower, his performance seems to have landed well with fans, and it's not hard to see why. By the time "Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1" has concluded, all of Henry and Eleven's scenes throughout the season have been totally redefined, and that's largely thanks to Campbell Bower's layered performance.