Jamie Campbell Bower has a long history in acting, and while the British star is most known for playing Vecna in Stranger Things, he has also had appearances in a number of other well-known films and television shows, including Harry Potter.
Jamie has 15 years of experience in the entertainment business. Beginning his career at the age of 19, the actor went on to appear in important movies that some fans might not have known about or might have forgotten.
The London-born and -bred star has always been passionate about acting and music. He knew he wanted to pursue music from a young age because he grew up in a musical family.
Celebrating his 33rd birthday, HITC dives into his early career stages and Jamie’s lesser known appearances before becoming known as Stranger Things’ ultimate antagonist, Vecna.
JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER’S RISE TO STARDOM BEGAN WITH TWILIGHT AND HARRY POTTER
Jamie made his feature film debut in 2009. He had a supporting role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This was where he first showed off his impressive set of pipes, too. In the same year, the actor landed a role in the Twilight saga, playing Caius – part of The Volturi.
The actor has a very strong resume. Jamie Campbell Bower has made appearances on Camelot (2011), Harry Potter – he was a young Gellert Grindelwald in Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – (2010), and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013). His voice may also be recognized as Skiff in the children’s animated series called Thomas & Friends.
After a decade in the industry, he interpreted the character of Christopher Marlowe in the American drama series, Will. He reprised Grindelwald in 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
BECOMING STRANGER THINGS’ VECNA
In 2022, Jamie made his debut as the ultimate villain of The Party, Vecna. The 33-year-old interpreted the role of Henry Creel and Peter Ballard, who then became Vecna in the fourth season of Stranger Things.
According to Men’s Health, the entire process of transforming the star into Vecna, adding the prosthetics and tons of makeup, took a total of eight hours. After filming his parts, it took an additional two hours to remove it all again.
The actor revealed the end result was so scary, that actress Millie Bobby Brown (who plays Eleven) ended up crying after she saw him for the first time.
“I walked up to her [as Vecna] and she burst into tears,” Jamie shared. “She wouldn’t look at me and she was visibly just disgusted by the whole thing… After she cried and I made it obvious that she knew it was me, one of the things she said was that ‘I knew it was you when I could smell cigarettes,’ because I’m a smoker.”
Shortly after the season premiered, his fame skyrocketed internationally, with many wanting to know more about who was behind the villain.
Apart from being an actor, Jamie has an interest in the world of music. He was the frontman and singer of the band Counterfeit, who released their first album in March 2017, which was followed by a US tour.
After three years, Jamie announced the band would go their separate ways. However, he began his solo career by releasing two songs from his mini-album titled Prologue (Live from the Altar).
In 2022, the singer returned with three new songs, two released in May, coincidentally on the same date the first volume of the fourth season of Stranger Things came out. Later in August, the actor released his third and final song, I Am, receiving funny reviews from fans.