‘Stranger Things’: Vecna Actor Reveals How He Created the Villain’s Terrifying Voice
Stranger Things has had many villains including the Mind Flayer and several Demogorgons. However, none of those villains are as iconic as Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower. The new season 4 antagonist turns out to be the one behind everything in the upside-down and continues to haunt the town of Hawkins. Bower portrayed the sinister foe in Stranger Things season 4 and shares how he came up with Vecna’s horrifying voice.
Vecna becomes the main antagonist of ‘Stranger Things’ season 4
In Stranger Things season 4, a mystery begins after a Hawkins teenager is killed in a brutal and supernatural way. While the Hawkins crew believed the upside-down escapades were over, a new monster emerged in the form of Vecna. Vecna is a powerful being who is able to hop into the minds of Hawkins’ kids and kill them from the inside. Max (Sadie Sink) is on the run from Vecna in season 4 and narrowly escapes her untimely fate.
It’s later revealed that Vecna has a strong connection to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) as they both were a part of Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) experiments in the lab. After killing everyone in the facility, Eleven banishes him to the upside-down where he turns into the monster that is Vecna. Now, Vecna has returned to bring his wrath upon Hawkins.
Jamie Campbell Bower reveals how he came up with the voice for his character
Vecna is not just a haunting Stranger Things villain because of his appearance, but also because of his frightening voice. In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Bower shares the process he underwent to find Vecna’s voice. He used famous horror villains like Freddy Kreuger and Pinhead as influences and continued to switch it up until he settled on something he liked.
“It took a few months to get right, we had the read-through in March of 2020 and I’d been doing a bit of work on Vecna and on Henry. I only got the job in January so I’d had kind of February to prepare for it. We did the read-through and I was there kind of at the table read with everyone, I sat behind Millie and I was doing the voice and it started in this like very kind of like nasally kind of area, kind of more like Freddie Krueger and it just wasn’t landing. So I went home and worked on it and did a bunch of reference work on like Hellraiser and Doug Bradley, particularly, and it said that, you know, this deep, booming voice kind of comes out of the darkness. And I was like ‘Yeah. You can tell.’ I loved it, it was amazing. So I just kind of worked on that, and I’m a singer so I kind of just relaxed myself, relaxed my larynx.”
Will Vecna return in season 5?
While the Stranger Things crew was able to stop Vecna at the end of season 4, it appears as though he was only temporary. Vecna is badly injured, so he will need some time to recuperate. However, season 4 ends with the reveal that the upside-down has now entered the main world. With season 5 being the final season, the gang will prepare for an epic climactic battle with Vecna and the monsters of the upside-down.
Stranger Things season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.
