In Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2, the series’ central villain, Vecna, is finally stepping back fully into the darkness.
In a spoiler-filled conversation, Blavity’s Shadow and Act had the chance to speak with Jamie Campbell Bower about his chilling, fully unmasked villain turn as Vecna in Volume 2 of the Netflix series’ final season.
It really feels like Volume 2 lets that villain side fully surface again after being buried for so long. As those layers peel back, you can even see it physically; his posture shifts, his presence changes, and there are moments where it feels like he’s slipping back into the person he’s been fighting not to become. What was it like for you to explore those layers in Volume 2, and how intentional were those physical and emotional choices in showing that transformation?
JCB: Thank you very much for asking me that question. It was beautifully fun. I feel like as the season is progressing, there were moments where I felt very, very close to that heart space that that, like, real reality, you know, like the mask was coming off and the reality was coming back, and that, you know, didn’t happen by accident.
There were conversations that Matt and Ross and myself had about choices that we could make within that. You know, even to the point where, like, I watched Episode 7, and I was like, looking at the things that I did, and I was like, that’s gross. It’s just really, truly grim. But it was really, really fun because, you know, even with Mr. What’s it. I felt like I was how I approached it was like I took a lot of the work that I’d done from Season 4 with the character, characterization, the experience, and kind of took bits of it, put it in the middle, and then built another world around it. So to kind of peel back that layer and get back to those things was really, really fun. And to use new references within that, too, it was cool. It was very heady, it took up a lot of brain space, but you know, it was good. We like hard work.
Vecna shows no real concern for these kids whatsoever. How did that inform the way you interacted with the young actors on screen?
JCB: I think that’s the other thing as well, as it’s like playing the character that is like having the intention so buried. And you’re in front of a kid. Like, in my experience, kids, they see through the bullshit they can see when you’re not being real with them. And to sit there and like to have that intention buried in front of a kid is terrifying.
It’s a really scary experience. But the kids were lovely, and they were so sweet. We had so much fun together. Particularly, some of those last scenes in Episode 7. Between takes, we would play games, and they’re all just great.
I wanted to ask about the cave scene and how it subtly hints at why he’s afraid to go inside. Do you see his resistance to entering the cave as more than fear, almost a refusal to confront or reconcile with who he’s become?
JCB: I’m going to pose a question as my response. Is it a choice? Is it that he doesn’t want to or can’t for fear out of fear? Of what’s dot, dot dot.
But he’s making that choice. How are you gonna feed off of people’s fear when you can’t reconcile with your own fear?
JCB: That ultimately is the crux of this character, you know, particularly of the more monstrous side of things for him. It’s hypocritical, I suppose.
The Stranger Things series finale drops New Year’s Eve on Netflix.