Stranger Things’ fifth and final season will be here soon, and throughout the show's run, the Netflix hit has managed to bring on some pretty terrifying creatures – such as the Demogorgon and the Demo-bats, among others. Very few things have been more terrifying than the creature introduced in Season 4, however. Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays the villainous and creepy-looking Vecna, opened up about playing a villain, and it’s not as easy or fun as one might think.
Vecna, or Henry Creel, played a big part in Season 4, killing teens and storing their consciousness in his mindscape to create a gateway between the Upside Down and the real world. After killing Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick, Vecna was able to capture Max as his fourth victim, breaking the gates to achieve his goal. Although Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was able to harm him, he is still very much alive, meaning he might be coming back in Season 5. Between the makeup, prosthetics, and what the actual role entails, Bower admitted during a panel at MegaCon Orlando (via People) he’d much rather not play that kind of role again:
It's funny. I was talking to my therapist the other day… I'm not lying. We were going through some stuff, and he was like, 'We really need to make sure that you carve out time for you whenever you're working next.' I turned around to him, and I was like, 'Yeah, to be honest with you, man, I just don't think I'll be doing another bad guy for a minute.’ Like it fucks me up. I’m dead serious.
It’s not surprising that Bower feels this way about playing Vecna. Sometimes a role can be both mentally and physically draining depending on the nature of it. Plus, a show like Stranger Things can be pretty exhausting, so add on Vecna’s backstory, the special effects, and Vecna's chilling kills, and it can be hard. While there are definitely some actors who get typecast as villains, it sounds like Bower does not want to be one of those, at least not anytime soon.
However, being on a show like Stranger Things, which continues to be one of the best shows on Netflix, must have still been pretty great. Jamie Campbell Bower looked back at his time on the show and praised his overall experience, knowing how lucky he is. Even despite not being much of a fan of the role he played:
It's been amazing, and it's been an incredible journey, to join the show from Season 4, to be part of something that so many people love and something that I loved as well and still love. But I definitely am ready to hang up the foam latex and wish him a slippery farewell.
Aside from a few details being released, including the episode titles, there still isn’t too much known about Stranger Things 5, including what kind of role Bower will play. Considering Hawkins is now victim to the Upside Down, there is no telling what will happen and what things will look like when the final season picks up in 2025.
Fans can rewatch the first four seasons of Stranger Things with a Netflix subscription and see just what kind of creature Vecna is and theorize the kind of destruction he will bring to Hawkins for Season 5. As of now, a premiere date for the fifth season has not been announced, but it should be premiering at some point on Netflix’s 2025 schedule. Fans will just have to patiently wait.
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