- Bower returns as Vecna in the final season of Stranger Things
- He revealed playing a villain takes a mental toll on him
- It even comes up on the therapist couch
Stranger Things’ Jamie Campbell Bower won’t be playing villains for some time now he’s done playing Vecna.
The actor joined the cast of the hit Netflix show for its fourth season in 2022 and returns for the show’s epic send-off later this year.
Read more: What happened in Stranger Things season 4?
It turns out, however, that playing a villain takes a toll on his mental health. As such, Bower has said there was an element of relief to bidding Vecna “a slippery farewell”.
He was speaking at MegaCon Orlando when he touched on needing some time away from playing villains. The topic came up when he was asked whether he was concerned about being typecast as a bad guy.
“I definitely am ready to hang up the foam latex”
“It’s funny. I was talking to my therapist the other day,” he began. “I’m not lying.”
“We were going through some stuff, and he was like, ‘We really need to make sure that you carve out time for you whenever you’re working next.’ ” he said. “I turned around to him, and I was like, ‘Yeah, to be honest with you, man, I just don’t think I’ll be doing another bad guy for a minute.’ ”
Bower added: “It’s been amazing, and it’s been an incredible journey, to join the show from season 4, to be part of something that so many people love and something that I loved as well and still love. But I definitely am ready to hang up the foam latex and wish him a slippery farewell.”
Who else is returning for Stranger Things 5?
Fans can expect lots of familiar faces to return for Stranger Things’ final season, including Brown as Eleven, Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair.
Read more: Stranger Things season 5: new and returning cast
Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield, Natalia Dyer’s Nany Wheeler, Charlie Heaton’s Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington and Hawke’s Robin Buckley and Priah Ferguson’s Eric Sinclair are also back, as are Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers, Harbour’s Hopper and Brett Gelman’s Murray Bauman.
There are also a few new cast members. Linda Hamilton is joinibg the cast, while Nell Fisher will play Holly Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s younger sister. Scarily, the chartacter was barely a toddler in the early seasons. Newcomer Jake Connelly also joins the cast, as does Alex Breaux.
