Stranger Things fans are losing it over Jamie Campbell Bower's performance in season 4

6 June 2022, 15:47

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By Katie Louise Smith

"One thing about Jamie Campbell Bower, he always understands the assignment."

Has everyone finished watching Stranger Things 4 Volume 1 yet? Because we're about to discuss something very important: And he goes by the name of Jamie Campbell Bower.

Back in 2021, the new cast members for season 4 were announced by Netflix, with Jamie included in the line up as Peter Ballard, the "friendly orderly". Fans were thrilled to see the actor join the cast of the show but never in their wildest dreams did they expect him to be playing such a game-changing role.

Now that the big shocking reveal is finally out there, viewers have been absolutely losing it over Jamie's performance and the tweets about him and his acting skills are proof enough.

READ MORE: Give Sadie Sink an Emmy for Stranger Things 4 right now

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 4!

Stop reading now if you have not finished at seven episodes of Volume 1!

Well, if you've scrolled this far, you'll now know exactly who Jamie Campbell Bower plays in Stranger Things 4.

Jamie first pops up in episode 5 as the mysterious Peter Ballard, an orderly who worked at Hawkins Lab when Eleven was part of Dr. Brenner's experiments. We learn more about Peter through El's memories, but it's not until episode 7 that we find out exactly who Peter is.

After successfully tricking a young Eleven into removing the chip in his neck, Peter reveals that he is actually 001, the first child from Brenner's experiment whose powers were replicated to varying degrees within the other lab kids. (We then find out that he is actually Henry Creel, too. And then, adding another layer to the whole thing, it's revealed that he is Vecna.)

Within seconds, Jamie's performance goes from utterly brilliant to absolutely astonishing, and fans can't stop raving about it.

Amongst all the praise for his performance in season 4, others who have loved him since his roles in Twilight, Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts, The Mortal Instruments and even Sweeney Todd are enjoying the "Jamie Campbell Bower renaissance" that's currently happening on social media.

Now, his role in Stranger Things 4 is bringing in thousands of new fans from across the world. And there's still more to come in Volume 2 by the sounds of things. (The jury is still out on whether Vecna will be back in season 5, though... we'll just have to wait and see how season 4 ends.)

To add another layer of brilliance to Jamie's performance as Peter/001/Henry/Vecna, it also turns out that he physically portrayed Vecna throughout the entire season as well. The villain wasn't actually CGI, it was Jamie wearing full prosthetics, acting opposite the actors on the actual set.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jamie also confirmed that it was him doing the voice of Vecna, as well.

"Yeah, that's me doing the voice under the prosthetics. It's all me. Ninety percent is practical. The only thing that is not practical are the vines moving on the neck," he told the publication.

"It was funny. I was in ADR for the show a couple of weeks ago and the engineer was like, 'I've got this octave [voice distorter] for you.' I was like, 'Oh no, we don't use that.' He was like, 'What do you mean?' And I was like, 'It's all me.' He was like, 'Yeah, whatever. Go on.' And so I did it and he was like, 'Right. Yep. I've canceled the octave of that. It's off now.'"

Emmy award. Now.

Read more about Stranger Things here:

• Who dies in Stranger Things 4 Volume 1? All the deaths explained
• Who is Vecna in Stranger Things 4? His powers and identity explained
• Stranger Things fans are convinced Steve is going to die in season 4 and I am terrified
• Stranger Things fans are just realising why Max's fave song is Running Up That Hill
• Stranger Things 4 soundtrack: All the songs in Volume 1
• Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 release date: When does it come out on Netflix?
• Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 trailer: Here's what happens next

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