‘Stranger Things 4’: Jamie Campbell Bower Explains ‘Flap’ in His Vecna Costume for Bathroom Use on Set

Have you ever wondered how Jamie Campbell Bower used the bathroom on the set of Stranger Things 4? Neither did we until we heard Bower speak to the physical feat in an interview. Find out more about the challenges the Stranger Things star faced while in his Vecna costume, including how difficult it was to use the bathroom. 

Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna costume took 7.5 hours to put on 

While some of Vecna’s appearance is CGI, Bower estimates 90% of the Stranger Things villain is him. According to Variety, Bower’s transformation took about seven and a half hours. After 10-12 hours of filming, removing the costume took another hour. 

The Vecna suit had a flap for going to the bathroom on the set of ‘Stranger Things 4’

During his time on set in costume, Bower certainly had to use the bathroom. Sirius XM’s show Octane asked hard-hitting questions, including: “How did you pee in the suit?” 

In the interview, Bower explains the process he had to go through every time he wanted to use the bathroom while dressed as Vecna. “The bottom half of the suit … waist-down, they’re like a pair of trousers that I have to slip on,” he said. “Everything else is glued, but the bottom half [is] trousers.” 

The trousers had a “flap” that allowed Bower to use the bathroom, but it required help to undo. “I had … this f***ing flap that goes from the chest underneath my butt crack,” Bower elaborated. “Poor [prosthetic makeup artist] Duncan Jarman, who fitted the suit on me every day would have to be down there.” 

Bower continued: “If I needed to pee … I’ve got this huge hand as well with these big fingers and on the other side I’ve got these nails that are glued on so I can’t touch anything without everything f***ing falling apart. It’s not very easy.” 

To use the bathroom, Bower’s reinforcements would stand outside of the bathroom as he “hovered over the urinal” in his Vecna get-up. “The shame is so real,” he laughed. 

As for Jarman’s thoughts on all of this, he shared the interview on Instagram, adding: “Sometimes you have to get close up and personal with your actors!!” 

Jamie Campbell Bower’s costume was the least weird thing about playing Vecna in ‘Stranger Things 4’

Outside of his costume, Bower went to great lengths to embody the Stranger Things 4 villain. For instance, Henry Creel, who becomes 001/Vecna, was fascinated by black widow spiders. So, Bower purchased a vial of the arachnids from a man named Spider — the irony! — and carried them around in his pocket on set. 

“I ended up buying a vial of black widows and I would stare at them for hours and fall in love with them,” he told Vanity Fair. “They had one vial of black widow spiders in the store and I was like, well, f***, man. That makes perfect sense. Of course I’m here. Of course there’s one vial.”

Moreover, Bower would sit alone in silence after getting his makeup done to better embody the character. “It was totally pitch black,” he told Entertainment Weekly.” I’d sit in there between the takes and go for it. It was it really interesting. About halfway through, I started to become quite afraid of Vecna.” 

Bower’s dedication to the role shines. See him become Vecna in Stranger Things on Netflix.