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Stranger Things Stars Were Genuinely 'Terrified' of Vecna Actor Jamie Campbell Bower

Bower remained in costume on set, "standing in the corner and ... growling," explains Sadie Sink.
  • Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things. (Photo: Netflix)
    Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things. (Photo: Netflix)

    Apparently Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays the monster Vecna on Stranger Things, is a method actor.

    In a new interview with the The Hollywood Reporter, Sadie Sink explained that part of why the show's cast look so terrified on camera is that Bower stayed in costume — and in — character while on set.

    "I think two things come into play when it comes to the believability of Vecna," said Sink.

    "The first just being the prosthetics and having it be mostly practical effects was really helpful. We're so used to working with stunt guys and stunt-women in green bodies and tennis balls in their hands, or something like that, so having Jamie actually there was very helpful because he was genuinely just horrifying. It's just not normal what you're looking at, so you're kind of tricking your mind in a way."

    Sink added, "I think the biggest part is that you can put anyone in that costume and they can be scary, but with Jamie, he was so in it all the time, not only when the cameras were rolling. He liked to kind of stay in character a lot, and there would be times and longer setups and stuff where he would filter in and out of it, but for a lot of the Mind Lair stuff, there was not a lot of talking going on between us. It was mostly just him as Vecna, standing in the corner and like growling or something like that, and he was just very, very, in it. And he would kind of talk in that voice a lot. So, to have someone as committed as Jamie in a role like that, just made it really believable. I think that was probably the key."

    In his own interview with THR earlier this month, Bower described how the cast, especially Millie Bobby Brown, was "terrified" of him.

    "Millie. She was terrified, absolutely terrified," said Bower. "She's a very open, receptive individual as a soul. I've become very friendly with her parents, too, and her mom finds it hilarious. Every time I see her, she will say, 'Millie thought you were so scary! She'd call me. She was in tears. She said, 'Jamie wasn’t there anymore!'"

    Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2 premieres on Netflix on July 1.

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    Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.

    TOPICS: Stranger Things, Netflix, Jamie Campbell Bower, Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink