Stranger Things' Jamie Cambell Bower Breaks Down That Vecna Episode 7 Backstory Reveal

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episode 7 of Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1. Read at your own risk!]

Stranger Things Season 4 introduced a new villain from the Upside Down — Vecna — who capitalizes on the shame and guilt of Hawkins' youth before murdering them to generate the energy needed to create mini-gates to the Upside Down all over town. Not only is Vecna's appearance terrifying (think Freddie Krueger morphing with the Mummy and a sea slug) but he snaps the bones and gauges out the eyes of his victims in excruciating fashion. The demogorgons may be more brutal, but at least they don't play with their food. 

The latest installment of Stranger Things didn't just introduce Vecna though, it gave us a full backstory that details a lot more of the happenings of the Upside Down. Vecna is actually Henry Creel, the young son of Victor (Robert Englund). It was Henry, not demons or ghosts, who murdered the Creel family and sent his father away to live the rest of his days haunted and blind in a psychiatric hospital. After the murders, Henry was taken in by Doctor Brenner (Matthew Modine) as the first telekinetic child subject in Hawkins Lab. He was One, who eventually proved to be impossible to discipline. Because of that, Brenner put a chip in his neck to mute his powers and Henry became the lab worker who formed a special bond with Eleven when he realized that she was being ostracized by the other children. 

We eventually learn in Episode 7 that Henry/One manipulated Eleven into removing the chip from his neck and that he was the one who committed the massacre the audience was led to believe had been Eleven's fault. When Eleven discovered what Henry/One had done, she used her powers to banish him to the Upside Down and as he fell through the dimension, he was struck by lightning until he turned into the creature known by the above-ground group as Vecna. 

TV Guide caught up with Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays not only Henry/One in Eleven's flashback scenes to Hawkins Lab, but was also the man underneath Vecna's terrifying prosthetics as he sucks the souls out of multiple Hawkins teens. Bower helped break down One and Vecna's motivations and what implications the big Episode 7 reveal has for the rest of the series. 

What was the craziest or hardest thing you had to do to keep this a secret for so long?
Jamie Campbell Bower: Keeping my mouth closed was very, very difficult, keeping my effing mouth shut. It was crazy. I think also, given the character description that was given to people when I was first cast as well. It was always, "Oh my God, you're doing Stranger Things! You will be playing Peter, Peter Ballard is a caring man who works at the mental institution." That was always very, very difficult. I just shied away from talking about it full stop, realistically.

When did the Duffers give you a full picture of who you were playing and how important he'd be to this world?
Bower: I'd done three, well, two tapes for them by that point. So they originally gave me some sides from [legendary horror  film  and Stranger Things influence] Hellraiser and some sides from [Edward Norton's breakout film] Primal Fear. I did that for them. Then they gave me a set of dummy sides from the show. I kind of pieced it together, a bit. I've said this to everyone, and I'll say it because it's the truth. I created this sort of mood board of who I thought this person was. So starting with Will and then all the other central characters as well, then other parts of the world, and then kind of had other bits of inspiration and Post-It notes of as to who I thought this person might be. [It] took over the whole wall in my apartment. 

And then I went to go and meet with them and I put all these pictures in a little book. I went to go meet with Matt and Ross, after sending these two sides off, and we sort of chatted away and they were saying how much they liked my voice and all of this stuff. Then at the end of it, I was like, "Can I show you my book?" And they said, "Absolutely," and I show them this book and they said, "Have you read the script?" I said, "No, nobody sent anything. What I got was the sides from you." And they were like, "Well, this is literally perfect. So can we show you some more stuff? Can we talk about this character some more and tell you more about the lore and who this guy is?" I was like, "Absolutely. I would love that." It was on our initial meeting. I'd done the audition process, as it were, by then [but] I hadn't been offered the job. I think the meeting was very much to see if we were all as kind of invested as they are in the show.

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What was that like, being transformed into Stranger Things' Freddie Krueger?
Bower: It felt amazing. It felt incredible. I knew I was going to have to be wearing this very cumbersome prosthetic, but I needed to be able to kind of feel the character before putting it on. So I did a lot of work personally just at home, walking around the streets of Los Angeles, feeling out the character. I knew my fingers were going to be really long… Actually, I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone. The day that I got the job, or the day after — and I haven't seen this since — I was walking around downtown Los Angeles and there was a guy who passed me wearing a Vecna D&D t-shirt. I have not seen one since and I had never seen one before and I was like, "Oh shit, okay." But yeah, the prosthetics were amazing. It's such a treat to play what I hope is quite an iconic figure in popular culture. We'll see. 

Outside of prosthetics, can you talk about what draws One to Eleven instead of any of the other children in the lab who might be more powerful?
Bower: I think he sees a lot of himself in her. That's one of the main things is that she, like him, is an outsider. She's ostracized from and removed from her group. Both in the lab and also externally as well in the present day. Obviously, he doesn't know that, but I think that's part of her character and that's part of his character too. He sees her potential. He sees that she is as strong as he is and that she does have that capability. She's nicer than all the others. 

I remember walking around set when we were doing those scenes or in that universe, and I was just full of hatred and fury toward all the others. By her age, there was just something special and unique about her and when he says to her in [Episode] 7, "Because I believe in you," he genuinely does believe in her ability. He does believe in who she is because she's a reflection of him, also. Not wholly, because she potentially has a stronger moral compass or a strong sense of identity to not be manipulated by him, but certainly 80 percent of her is him. 

What is One's world vision that he's imagining when he wants to escape with Eleven before he turns into Vecna? 
Bower: When I first started thinking about that, I was like, "Oh, I wonder if he just kind of wants to drift off to a really nice island somewhere. He just wants her and him to just kind of live a really lovely life where everything is beautiful." But I think ultimately, even if he were to do that with her, even if he were to kind of remove themselves completely from society and live on their own like the X-Men facility, he would ultimately still be fueled by this vengeance and by the idea that the world is a lie to him. People are putting on a front and that it is his job to show everyone that it's all bollocks, and that we need to be honest with who we truly are. Even if they were for a brief period of time to exist in some sort of utopia, I think ultimately that would always be there to drive the want to kill, to recreate a world where they live in a reality more so than he perhaps considers the world to [on its own]. 

Does that play into Vecna's method for how he chooses his victims? He's specifically picking people that have a fear or something they feel guilty about that he can exploit. 
Bower: Yeah, guilt and shame, 100 percent. For him, his upbringing with his father and having his father predominantly having done what he's done in regards to his war efforts, I think that yes, anyone who has a secret that they are guilty or shameful about is what he's trying to change. That's his ultimate goal. 

So does Vecna's endgame lineup with One's, or has it changed so he can get back at Eleven? 
Bower: I couldn't possibly tell you. Ultimately, his main goal is still to bring righteous justice to the world, at least his version of righteous justice. He's after a lot of them. 

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In Episode 7, Dustin states a theory that Vecna is the Mind Flayer's Five-Star General. I feel like the Mind Flayer might actually be Vecna's Five-Star General. Can you clarify the power structure of the Upside Down and where Vecna fits into it?
Bower: I am going to tow the party line here. What I will say is that you will find out so much more about all of the worlds, later on. 

Do you think there's any possibility the emotional connection between him and Eleven remains, or if they end up in the same room will he end up going no holds barred to get revenge?
Bower: I would say yes, he still has sympathy for her. It's two-handed. There's sympathy and then there's also just deep, deep, rage. He definitely sees her for who she his, but he also has some designs and his own goals. 

Freddie Krueger is the obvious inspiration for this character, but were there any other references or inspirations you used when figuring out how to play Vecna?
Bower: One-hundred percent Pinhead. I took a lot of Doug Bradley, so much so that when I would send Matt and Ross emails, I often attached gifs of Doug Bradley, particularly from I think it's the third film where he walks into the church and takes out the pins from his head and puts them in his hands. Then he stands at the altar, turns his head to the side and says, "I am the way," and the windows blow out… so yeah, it was a lot of Pinhead, Christopher Lee as Dracula, anything from the sort of weird Stephen King world was a great inspiration. Voldemort was obviously on my mood board as well. 

Is there anyone else in the main kids group that you would love to see Vecna exploit in their nightmares?
Bower: Dustin, because I wonder what's in there. I imagine it being so chaotic. It'd be so much fun. And Jonathan or Argyle as well, that would be really interesting. Why do you smoke so much dope? What are you hiding from me?

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is available to stream now.