Jamie Campbell Bower: the actor who plays Vecna and Henry Creel, under the prosthetics
Actors · Jamie Campbell Bower · Vecna
Jamie Campbell Bower spent seven hours a day in a makeup chair to become Vecna, and the audience did not recognize him before the seventh episode of season 4, when Henry Creel, the lab orderly, reveals who he is. Portrait of the actor behind the big villain of the show.
The essentials
- Born: November 22, 1988, London
- Role: Henry Creel / One / Vecna, seasons 4 and 5
- Before: Sweeney Todd, Twilight, Harry Potter, The Mortal Instruments
- The makeup: up to eight hours of prosthetics per shooting day
Contents
Jamie Campbell Bower, a face known to teenagers of the 2010s
Jamie Campbell Bower starts at eighteen in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, alongside Johnny Depp, then strings together teen sagas: Caius, the Volturi guard vampire in Twilight; young Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Jace in The Mortal Instruments. He also plays King Arthur in the series Camelot, and sings in the band Counterfeit.
When he auditions for season 4, in 2020, the role is described under a fake name, with no mention of Vecna: the Duffers wanted to keep the surprise, including for the actors.
The Vecna T-shirt, vines included.
In the shopVisit Hawkins Indiana tank top36,90 €See the product
Henry Creel, One, Vecna: three faces
The actor plays three versions of the same character: Henry, the gentle, attentive lab orderly, who bonds with Eleven; One, Brenner's first subject, once the chip is out; and Vecna, the burned body covered in vines who kills from the Upside Down. The first two are played barefaced; the third under full prosthetics, designed by Barrie Gower's team, and with no CGI for the body.
The voice, low and slow, is his, slightly reworked. On set, the actor stayed in costume between takes, and several of his scene partners said they were afraid of him.
The Chapter 7 monologueThe reveal, where Henry tells Eleven about his childhood, his murdered family and his view of the world, is a several-minute monologue shot in long takes. Jamie Campbell Bower shot it after weeks of preparation, and it is the scene that made Vecna a front-rank villain.
The character, season by season
| Season | What we see |
|---|---|
| 4 | Henry at the lab in 1979, the massacre, the transformation; Vecna kills Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, and nearly Max |
| 5 | Vecna with his face uncovered more often, Mr. Whatsit for Holly, the final battle |
The role earned the actor nominations and a new kind of fame, very different from that of his teen sagas: Vecna is, with the Demogorgon, the most reproduced creature on the show.
After Vecna
| Year | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd | Anthony Hope |
| 2009-2012 | Twilight (chapters 2, 4 and 5) | Caius |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Young Gellert Grindelwald |
| 2013 | The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | Jace |
| 2022 | Stranger Things 4 | Henry Creel / Vecna |
| 2025 | Stranger Things 5 | Henry Creel / Vecna, through the last chapter |
Jamie Campbell Bower has also spoken publicly about his sobriety, begun in 2015, and how it let him take on a role this heavy. He joined Kevin Costner's western saga Horizon, and keeps making music as a solo artist.
Markers
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Born in London |
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd |
| 2009 | Twilight: New Moon |
| 2015 | The start of his sobriety |
| 2020 | Secret audition for season 4 |
| 2022 | Reveal of Vecna, chapter 7 |
| 2025 | Season 5; Horizon |
The Vecna figure, in its most faithful version.
In the shopLego Henry Creel mini figure14,90 €See the product
What you know less about him
Jamie Campbell Bower was born in London to a mother who worked as a music manager and a father who worked for guitar maker Gibson. He learned violin as a child through the Suzuki method, attended the National Youth Music Theatre and the National Youth Theatre, and it was an actress friend, Laura Michelle Kelly, who recommended him to her agent. His younger brother Samuel played with him in the band Counterfeit.
Between the sagas, he sang in a West End musical, played Christopher Marlowe in the series Will in 2017, and has voiced a character in the Thomas & Friends franchise since 2015. He was to hold a role in a Game of Thrones prequel, Bloodmoon, which the network finally dropped in 2019.
Henry in 1987: Mr. Whatsit, the mine, the spider
The last season shows Henry Creel far more often with a human face than in 1986. He presents himself to Hawkins's children under the name Mr. Whatsit, borrowed from the novel A Wrinkle in Time, welcomes them into the Creel house of his mind, and promises to protect them from the monsters. He takes eight children at the end of episode 4, calling them “perfect vessels,” and tries to kill Max when she escapes.
The finale reveals his origin: in a mine, as a child, he killed a wounded man and opened his briefcase, which held a fragment of the Upside Down entity. He refuses to detach from it and declares that they are one; his lair turns out to be the body of a colossal spider. Will tears off one of its arms, Eleven runs him through, Joyce beheads him with an axe. Jamie Campbell Bower played the character all the way, in prosthetics for Vecna and bare-faced for Henry.
Five Henry and Vecna scenes to rewatch
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The lab, 1979
The orderly who speaks softly to Eleven, then the massacre, then exile through the gate.
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The monologue, 1979
Henry tells his childhood and his view of the world: the scene that made the character a great villain.
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The Creel house, 1986
Vecna riddled with bullets and burned by Nancy, Steve and Robin, before disappearing through the window.
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The library, 1983
The Season 5 prologue: the Demogorgon brings him Will, and he infects him.
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The mine, 1959
The briefcase, the fragment, and the line: we are one.
The prosthetics, day after day
Becoming Vecna took up to eight hours of makeup a day, for a full prosthetic costume designed by Barrie Gower's team. The actor has said he stays in costume between takes, which impressed several of his partners, and works the voice, low and slow, which is his own barely reworked in post-production. For season 5, where Henry appears more often with a human face, the pace lightened, but the spider of the finale required new sessions.
The contrast with his previous roles, the vampire Caius or young Grindelwald, sits in that: Vecna is not a franchise makeup job, it is a body. Jamie Campbell Bower said his sobriety, begun in 2015, had given him the stability needed to hold a role this heavy over two seasons.
One last pass through the shop before the clock.
In the shopBrown Vecna mask34,90 €See the product
TakeawayBorn in 1988 in London, revealed by Sweeney Todd and Twilight. Cast in secret to play Henry Creel, One and Vecna. Seven hours of prosthetics a day, no CGI for the body. The reveal monologue is one of the strongest scenes of Season 4.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Vecna in Stranger Things?
Jamie Campbell Bower, British actor born in 1988, in Seasons 4 and 5. He also plays Henry Creel and One.
Is Vecna made with CGI?
No, for the most part: the body is made of prosthetics worn by the actor, with up to eight hours of makeup a day. Only certain effects (vines, lights) are digital.
In which films has Jamie Campbell Bower acted?
Sweeney Todd, the Twilight saga (Caius), Harry Potter (young Grindelwald), The Mortal Instruments, Horizon.
Does Jamie Campbell Bower sing?
Yes, he was the singer of the band Counterfeit and continues a solo career.
Did Jamie Campbell Bower act in a musical?
Yes, in the West End, from June 2015 on, in the musical adaptation of Bend It Like Beckham, and he sang in the band Counterfeit.
Who is Mr. Whatsit?
The name Henry Creel borrows, in Season 5, to introduce himself to the Hawkins children as an imaginary friend. It comes from the novel A Wrinkle in Time.
Does Jamie Campbell Bower also play young Henry?
No. Henry as a child is played by Raphael Luce in the 1959 flashbacks; Jamie Campbell Bower plays adult Henry, One and Vecna.