Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower describes the process of finding Vecna's voice in the Netflix sci-fi/horror series' fourth season.

Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower recently explained how he created the voice of Season 4's main antagonist Vecna.

Bower described the process of perfecting corpse-like baddie's sinister vocals during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "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 [Vecna's human form] Henry," he said. "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 [co-star] Millie [Bobby Brown] and I was doing the voice and it started in this like very kind of like nasally kind of area, kind of more like [A Nightmare on Elm Street villain] Freddie Krueger and it just wasn't landing."

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"So I went home and worked on it and did a bunch of reference work on like Hellraiser and [actor] Doug Bradley, particularly," Bower continued. "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." Netflix has previously shared footage of Bower recording Vecna's dialogue to illustrate just how little the actor's vocal performance was altered during post-production.

Bower was apparently so effective as Vecna that he made at least one of Stranger Things' cast members cry during their scenes together. Bower recalled how Millie Bobby Brown was reduced to tears the first time they shot the climactic confrontation Vecna and her character, Eleven. The English actor noted that Brown's intense reaction to his ghoulish appearance was rooted in her childlike approach to playing Eleven. "Anything that's meant to be scary and should be scary, feels terrifying for her," Bower said.

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Filming Vecna's scenes could be an arduous experience for Bower himself, too, thanks to the six-hour prosthetics sessions required to transform him into Stranger Things' newest villain. The star's Vecna makeup was designed and applied by Barrie Gower and the team at BGFX, who were hired by the show's co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer based on their work on iconic Game of Thrones antagonist The Night King.

Stranger Things Seasons 1-4 are currently streaming on Netflix.

Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, via YouTube

Leon is an Associate News Writer at CBR. He reports on the latest developments in film and TV, covering everything from popcorn cinema to prestige mini-series. His previous freelance writing credits include articles on film, TV, comics, and video games for Screen Rant, Polygon, The Things, Cultured Vultures, and Taste of Cinema. Originally from Australia, Leon is currently based in the UK.

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