Jamie Campbell Bower Is at Peace With Vecna Memes: “You Can’t Stop the Internet”

Jamie Campbell Bower has just gotten back from Marrakesh, where he found himself in the middle of a medina, expertly negotiating the price of a few rugs he wanted to whisk back home. 

“Being British, I’m obviously very unsure about how to haggle, but for some reason, all this confidence came out,” the actor says delightedly over Zoom. Honestly, he says, he doesn’t know where it came from. He compares it to the last time he tried to haggle at the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena: “The guy was like, $160, and I was like, $190! He was like, Yeah, all right, then.” Bower bursts out laughing. 

Maybe he’s just gotten better at getting what he wants—or maybe he’s channeling the villainous Vecna, his character on Stranger Things. Vecna crawls into the minds of the people of Hawkins, feasting on their trauma, filling their heads with nightmarish images and breaking their bones to help the Mind Flayer take over the world. At the end of the show’s fourth season, Vecna nearly achieves this feat, killing a few key characters (R.I.P. Eddie Munson) before he’s stopped by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). But Vecna narrowly escapes death, laying the groundwork for an apocalyptic fifth (and final) season of the staggeringly popular Netflix series, which was recently nominated for a slew of Emmys. 

Now that all season four’s secrets are out, Bower, who delivers another excellent performance as Vecna, is approaching a blissful state. “I feel fine and good and confident and like there’s nothing more to worry about—apart from what’s next,” he says. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actor talks candidly about the explosive success of season four, why he doesn’t regret Vecna nearly killing Max, and the internet’s obsession with his friendship with castmate Joe Quinn. 

Vanity Fair: How do you feel now that Stranger Things season four is fully out?

Jamie Campbell Bower: It’s been a real journey. It all feels a bit like a blur. There was this immediate verbal diarrhea that came out of me when the show came out because I hadn’t been able to talk about anything for some time. It felt lovely. Then came this [feeling of], “I’m losing my mind.” I need to settle and make sure that I’m grounded enough, ‘cause I feel like I’m on fire and my head’s going to pop off. So then came a load of meditation and centering myself. Then it sort of became normal.

One of the things that I’ve really loved is seeing the reach of the show. Like, our local baristas at Starbucks, they just love the show. Or we’ll be stopped at a red light and somebody will wind their window down and go, “Awesome work!” That’s really cute.

Do the baristas ever write “Vecna” on your cup? 

No! But I’ll ask them to now. I do order the beverage I’m drinking in that meme going around. [Laughs.] Why do I feel so much shame around that!

I love all the memes of Vecna hanging out on set! Is it weird to see the pictures circulating?

It’s fine. It’s lovely. You can’t stop the internet. The internet is a hive mind in and of itself, so you just have to release control at a certain point and just go, “Do what you need to do. You’ll calm down in a minute.”

Speaking of, I feel like people on the internet are obsessed with the bromance between you and Joe Quinn.

Joe was one of the first people I met at the read-through. And obviously, being British and being newcomers, we automatically gravitated towards each other. Everyone was very welcoming and very kind to us, but it’s such a jarring experience to join any cast. Really, any read-through is terrifying because you’re like, oh my God, I’ve got to do well. There’s no camera and there’s no costume. But I remember in the first break that we had, Joe and I went outside and had a cigarette and just propped each other up and gave each other love and support. The bromance is very real. He’s a great guy. I would relish the opportunity to work with him again. Maybe not kill him this time. [Laughs.]

Have you watched the entire season, or just bits and pieces?

I’ve watched the whole show. My partner and I will watch it together. She absolutely adores it.

Was there a particular moment watching it that you were proud of? Or is it all kind of a blur at this point?

It’s funny—when I watch the Vecna scenes or the Henry scenes, I remember doing it like it was yesterday. It’s still very much there and present in my mind all the time. So much so that even five minutes ago, I was doing the the voice around the house. [Laughs.]

Are your friends or family around? Are they just used to Vecna showing up?

My partner’s around. She was upstairs in bed the other night and I was in the kitchen, and we had a full-on voice note war of her trying to do the Vecna voice. It was really funny. She sounded really constipated while she was doing it, so I kept trying to teach her how to not sound constipated. It’s very normal around here. Nobody’s concerned by it.

Totally normal, nobody worry.

But I think the scene [I’m proudest of] was in episode nine, when he’s explaining to Eleven—god, there’s so many numbers. I just realized this. Nine, Eleven, One. Nightmare! [Laughs.] But it’s when he’s explaining to her, “I became an explorer, and one day I found the most extraordinary thing of all. I found a means to realize my potential, to become the predator I was always born to be.” And you see him with the Mind Flayer. I remember shooting that with my hand out, stood on the rock. On the stage, we had half of the set. The rocks were actually built and it was all very, very dark, but then obviously everything around it was green screen. But I could see that moment so clearly whilst I was doing it in my mind. When I watched it back, I was just like, yeah! It was always there in my mind and now it’s on the screen. It was fantastic. It’s brilliant.

There was also one thing that I’d forgotten about, which is when they’re at the Snow Ball and Vecna comes out of the bleachers and walks back to El and raises the shards of broken wood and sends them towards her. When I saw that [in the episode], I was like, oh, that looks so cool! Because I remember at the time just, like, raising my arms and being like, “I hope this looks cool. I hope this is working.”

Also, the helicopter crash for Mills [Millie Bobby Brown] in episode eight looks so, so sick. I wanted to see that in person. We actually drove out to New Mexico in the hope that we would make it in time for the crash, [but] they’d done it just the day before. I was like, No!

Another moment people are talking about from Vol. 2 is Max’s near death. How did you feel about that when you were reading it in the script?

I felt like it was of great importance. So much of this season has been about trying to break Max. Going back to just before that happens, in the Snow Ball where she’s up against the wall and he [Vecna] appears for the first time and walks towards her, I remember shooting that and thinking, I have to break you. I have to break you. On a fan level, it’s devastating. It’s absolutely devastating to watch her performance. Everyone’s performance in that scene is just so heartbreaking. But while shooting it, I felt it was of great importance, which is so dark.

That’s what makes it so tragic as well. There was an interview Millie Bobby Brown did where she said, kind of jokingly, that there’s too many characters and the show should kill some people in the last season. Where do you stand on this? Should the show go full Game of Thrones?

I trust Matt and Ross Duffer and Millie Bobby Brown, all equally! They all know what’s right, I don’t! But I mean, for me as Vecna and as Henry, any kill that takes place is necessary for me. As an actor and as the character, I see nothing but purpose to anybody that has to go. Which is awful. As a fan, it’s obviously really, really heartbreaking. But I don’t know what they’re going do.

They haven’t written season five yet, right? Anything’s possible.

They have a sketch of five, and what they want it to be and look like.

Is there anything you want for Vecna? Whether that’s an encounter with another character, or some new weapons?

As far as I’m concerned, he ain’t finished! There’s a lot more that he needs to do. Eleven is still out there. She’s one of his main targets. Will says, “I can still feel him.” I think there’s a connection there, and I would be interested to see if that’s explored.

Will has had a very interesting journey this season. It’s been very internal with him, realizing he’s gay. I loved seeing that finally came into the narrative.

It's so nice. The little looks that Noah would do were just so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s lovely. It’s so real and it’s so gorgeous. Will’s had a fantastic journey throughout the whole show. His whole thing has just been really epic. It’s been Greek!

I’m so proud of the whole team and the recognition they are getting for this show. We saw all the fantastic things that have come out regarding the Emmys. They’re all just shook, which is so nice to see. I’m so happy.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.