‘Stranger Things’: Dacre Montgomery Filmed His Season 4 Scene in Perth, Australia
Dacre Montgomery returned as Billy Hargrove for a brief scene in Stranger Things Season 4. More specifically, he appeared as a hallucinated form of Billy created by Vecna to torment Max Mayfield. Montgomery’s scene in season 4 wasn’t long but COVID made filming it complicated. Montgomery shot his scene remotely from his home in Perth, Australia.
Dacre Montgomery briefly returned for ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4
Montgomery returned for a brief scene in Stranger Things Season 4. His character Billy Hargrove died during the Battle of Starcourt in the season 3 finale. His death has been haunting his step-sister Max ever since. In season 4 Max becomes a target of Vecna.
In the episode “Dear Billy,” she visits Billy’s grave to read him a letter, in case Vecna manages to kill her. While at the cemetery, Vecna attacks Max, creating a bloody, hallucinated version of Billy who approaches her. “I’ve been waiting to hear those words, Max,” he says. “Waiting so very long. But it wasn’t the full truth was it Max? You know, I think there’s a part of you buried somewhere deep that wanted me to die that day. That was maybe even relieved, happy.”
Montgomery had to film his scene while still in Perth, Australia
Actor Dacre Montgomery hails from Perth, Australia, which created a bit of a problem while filming Stranger Things Season 4. “Dacre is a good friend and someone I have been a massive fan of since the first line of his Billy self-taped audition. When I read that I got to bring back Billy, I was over the moon,” executive producer and director Shawn Levy told Entertainment Weekly.
“But here’s what’s crazy: Because COVID scuttled all of our production plans in the midst of an already massively ambitious season, Dacre could not leave Australia to film his scene.”
“It was rescheduled again and again and again, and there were lockdowns and protocol updates and more lockdowns and more stringent border restrictions,” Levy continued. “So with the clock running down, we had no choice but to have me direct over Zoom [with Montgomery] in Australia on a soundstage, while I had already shot the scene in a cemetery with Sadie Sink a year earlier.”
According to the outlet, Montgomery’s performance had to be digitally inserted into the scene with Sink. Levy referred to that sequence as “one of the biggest Rubik’s Cube challenges of my directing career.”
‘Stranger Things’ fans praised season 4 episode 4
This scene in Stranger Things Season 4 was part of an episode that is receiving praise from fans and critics alike. “That whole Max sequence was insane and had a nice closing, I can see why everyone was praising Sadie Sink. I was legit scared and wondering whether they’d actually kill her off,” one Reddit user wrote.
Montgomery posted on Instagram several times, expressing his gratitude for being able to appear in season 4. “Feeling extremely fortunate to have been able to shoot these scenes during the pandemic in my hometown, Perth (in Australia),” he wrote. “What an absolute blessing to work with such an incredible local crew and @slevydirect directing on Zoom!”
All episodes of Stranger Things are currently streaming on Netflix.
