‘Stranger Things 4’ Vecna Star ‘Never Complained’ About Grisly Transformation into Monster
Stranger Things 4 introduced us to Vecna, an even more terrifying villain than the Mind Flayer from season 3. The new season, which premiered on May 27, 2022, with the first seven episodes. Vecna’s true identity is revealed in “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” which shocked the audiences, and makeup artist Barrie Gower served as the mastermind behind the creature.
[WARNING: This article contains detailed plot spoilers regarding Stranger Things 4 Volume I.]
‘Stranger Things 4’ star Jamie Campbell Bower is the actor behind Vecna
Audiences meet Stranger Things 4 villain Vecna in the first episode of volume I , but his identity remains a mystery. The fact that Vecna was once human also stays a secret until the very end of volume I. Jamie Campbell Bower plays the role of Peter Ballard, a “friendly orderly” at Hawkins National Lab who meets Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) as a young child. Fans watch as Peter seemingly takes Eleven under his wing, telling her that the other children and Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) plan to eliminate her altogether. However, in “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” we learn that not only was Peter lying to her about almost everything, but we find out he was once Henry Creel.
Henry Creel supposedly died after Victor Creel allegedly murdered his entire family by mangling their bodies and gouging out their eyes. In reality, Henry caused all of it. When he overused his supernatural powers, he collapsed, and Victor believed he succumbed to a coma and eventually died. Only Henry never died. Instead, authorities placed him in the care of Dr. Brenner, who experimented on the child and his supernatural abilities. When Eleven chose not to join Peter/Henry on his crusade to “reset the balance” in the world, he tried to kill her. Eleven proved too strong and banished Peter/Henry to the Upside Down, where he somehow transformed into Vecna.
Makeup artist Barrie Gower said Jamie Campbell Bower was ‘covered in head to toe prosthetics’
The advances in CGI caused many people to believe the crew created most of Vecna’s look via computer technology or had a Vecna “double” on set to fill in for some scenes. Gower explained otherwise.
“Usually doing a character like this, you would have a stunt Vecna as well. You would have your actor who might play a couple of headshots, a couple of parts here and there, and then you would have a double with the same physique, who would do the rest of the role and do all the stunts. Jamie did absolutely everything,” Gower said to Hollywood Life.
Gower, who also created the look of the Night King in Game of Thrones, described Bower’s transformation into the Stranger Things 4 monster, “We did two makeup tests with him, and every day we’d do the makeup application. It’s a brand new set of appliances every day. He’s covered head to toe in prosthetics. There are about 24 to 25 different appliances that sort of overlap each other. Everything’s glued and adhered to the skin with a medical adhesive. It’s made out of silicone rubber, and we have other parts made out of a foam latex, lighter material as well.”
Barrie Gower called Jamie Campbell Bower was a ‘total hero’
Gower also noted that Bower “never complained once” about the process of transforming into Vecna despite the several hours or prep each transformation required. The actor also wore a mechanical hand for some of his scenes in Stranger Things 4.
Gower also discussed the weight of Bower’s prosthetic pieces in his role as Vecna. He said they were “about 6 to 8 kilos just for that piece. And then it’s a full silicone chest, a full silicone back, foam rubber this, that, and the other. It’s an awful lot of weight that he was wearing every single day. We never had a complaint out of him. He was a total hero.”
Vecna also appears in the final two episodes of Stranger Things 4, which premiere on July 1, 2022. Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for all your Stranger Things updates!
