Jamie Campbell Bower Breaks Silence On Returning As Vecna In Stranger Things

The much-awaited Stranger Things Season 5 released volume 1, which saw the return of Vecna, looking scarier than ever. In the previous season, Jamie Campbell Bower was introduced as the arch-villain Vecna. Since then, his appearance has gone through major changes.

In season 4 Nancy, Robin and Steve shot up Vecna’s body and set it on fire, making him return more grisly. The sinister villain made his full-body debut in the fourth episode of Vol. 1 with a more skeletal frame composed of veins, bones, muscles and ligaments tangled together in a gruesome visual.

Jamie Campbell Bower on Returning as Vecna

Vecna’s terrifying look has been achieved with a new level of special effects, including digital and practical. “This season was definitely more of a blend

between practical and CG,” Bower shared, as per Variety. “On a practicality level, the face is all prosthetics, the shoulders are prosthetics, and the hands are prosthetics, but everything else is a morph suit,” he added, crediting prosthetic makeup department head Barrie Gower, costume designer Amy Parris and concept artist Michael Maher.

The actor further revealed that Gower added shoulder pads into the costume as well as two large blocks on the side of the suit that made her arms sit a little further away from her body. On the other hand, Parris added a three-inch rise in his shoes to make Vecna tower over the rest of the characters.

Bower also mentioned that new prosthetics and technology required a small amount of latex covering him. In season 4, he had “an inch and a half of foam latex to get through”, while season 5 only called for “a millimetre”.

Jamie Campbell Bower on Taking Inspiration From Doug Bradley

Vecna returned in the season with his famous sinister voice based off of Doug Bradley’s performance as Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies. “Doug is amazing as Pinhead, and those first three Hellraiser films are incredible,” Bower said, adding, “I would often send the Duffers the gif of Hellraiser III, where he says, ‘I am the way,’ before the windows blow. That was often on the end of an email.”

Working with Millie Bobby Brown

Jamie Campbell Bower reflected on working with Millie Bobby Brown and shared, “Millie is wildly receptive, and that’s what makes her an incredible actor,” he shared, adding, “It’s like what she’s experiencing is real all the time, so within that, there were definitely moments where we were working and she was in full terror, which, of course, is something that you need and want for the scenes.”

He further added, “But as her friend and somebody who loves her, I don’t want her to feel like that, and there were certain moments where we were doing that and she went, ‘Oh, no, I know it’s you now. I feel safe because I can smell your cigarettes.’”