Strange things (2016) has certainly made a name for itself this year, with its surprisingly epic fourth season breaking records on Netflix. It also features some standout performances, with Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson) and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield) receiving praise from fans.
Another actor who gave an amazing performance in Strange things 4, however, is Jamie Campbell-Bower, who plays the main antagonist Vecna/One/Henry Creel, a supernatural being heavily inspired by A nightmare on elm streetit’s freddy krueger
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Bower, 33, appears in both human and demon form on the show (again, not unlike Freddy Krueger). The first involves flashbacks taking place in Hawkins Lab, where we see that Henry Creel previously developed an unsettling friendship with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
The latter, however, finds him residing in the “shadow dimension”, the Upside Down (and sometimes in the real world when he kills his victims), in the form of the hideous “dark wizard” who has the same powers as Eleven. , as well as other psychokinetic abilities such as telepathy.
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As such, Bower demonstrates his versatility as an actor, and it’s just as formidable and unsettling to see him in human form as he is as the supernatural being Vecna (yet another comparison to Robert Englund, one might say, who enjoys a small cameo in the show as Creel’s father).
Although it is very likely that Bower will reprise his role in stranger things 5especially seeing how he did a “Michael Myers” at the end of the finale (his body mysteriously disappears after being shot from a balcony), it’s clear the British actor has a bright future ahead of him on screen.
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That said, it’s easy to forget that Vecna isn’t the first dark wizard Bower has played, as he plays Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and in the spin-off sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
The character was predominantly played by Johnny Depp in the last film, with Mads Mikkelsen taking over in this year’s. Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets (2022).
Now him Strange things the star has revealed that he came close to playing other Wizard. In an interview with the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Bower discussed how he almost landed the role of Harry Potter himself, as well as another well-known fantasy icon.
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Speaking about his audition for the role of Boy Who Lived, which of course ultimately went to Daniel Radcliffe, here’s what Bower had to say:
“I was prepared for Harry. They came to my school looking for potential Potters or potential cast members and pulled me out of a group of people.” Bower revealed. “I went to meet Chris Columbus in London for the first time. [Harry] Potter and they asked us to prepare a prank. I had just heard this joke about why the fairy sits on top of the Christmas tree. It’s a very dirty joke because it’s about a Christmas tree on someone’s butt. And I told the joke at the audition. There was this air of silence after I said it. I said ‘Well, he screwed that up’. Time to move on.'”
While he may not have landed the role of Boy Who Lived, evidently the failed audition didn’t result in him being blacklisted from the future. Harry Potter movies, as he returned for the seventh and penultimate installment of the main series to play Gellert Grindelwald.
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Bower also admitted that he was about to be cast as handsome vampire Edward Cullen in the hugely popular Twilight movies, saying:
“They were really interested in me reading for Edward [Cullen]. They were like ‘the dedication that Jamie brings to his role, we’d be interested to see it,’ and all this and all. And it just didn’t work out at the time because it was around the same time that Sweeny was being released that they were interested in seeing me. I think life was so crazy and hectic that it was one of those things that never came to fruition. Then it went into movie two and they said, ‘Hey, do you want to come play a bad boy?’
While that role made Robert Pattinson a household name, just like it did in the Harry Potter movies, Bower ended up playing a villain in the last few Twilight movies, playing Gaius in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga Dawn Part 2 (2012).
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Perhaps Bower is simply destined to play the villain, whether in a television series or in a movie (he also recently confessed that he would love to play a james link villain someday). So here’s hoping we get to see him play the current Freddy Krueger in a much-needed reboot of A nightmare on elm street (1984). Let’s hope the Duffer brothers are also available.
According to the Netflix website, here is the official synopsis for stranger things 4:
Six months have passed since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends is separated for the first time, and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable moment, a horrific new supernatural threat emerges, presenting a terrifying mystery that, if solved, could finally bring the horrors of the Upside Down to an end.
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Creators Reveal Surprising Number of Episodes for Final Season
stranger things 4 stars Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbor (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Dad/Martin Brenner), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers) , Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) and Jamie Campbell-Bower (Vecna/One/Henry Creel).
stranger things 4 is currently streaming on Netflix. The Duffer Brothers have compared the upcoming final season to The Lord of the rings in terms of scale and scope.
Strange things you will also get a derived series.
What other iconic character do you think Jamie Campbell-Bower could play, be it villain or hero? Let us know in the comments below!
