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Stranger Things' Jamie Campbell Bower wanted to take a break from playing villains after Vecna
At MegaCon, Jamie Campbell Bower opened up about talking to his therapist after playing Vecna on Stranger Things season 4

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Vecna was one of the most memorable villains on Stranger Things thus far, named after the iconic Dungeons and Dragons foe. And the experience of playing the character left actor Jamie Campbell Bower with a desire to not play another villain for some time. At MegaCon in Orlando, People reported that Bower opened up about the toll that playing Vecna had on him, which he discussed with his therapist.
"We were going through some stuff, and he was like, 'We really need to make sure that you carve out time for you whenever you're working next.' I turned around to him, and I was like, 'Yeah, to be honest with you, man, I just don't think I'll be doing another bad guy for a minute'... Like it f**ks me up. I'm dead serious," Bower said.
Bower was still grateful to have had the opportunity to play Vecna though. The actor said, "It's been amazing, and it's been an incredible journey, to join the show from season 4, to be part of something that so many people love and something I loved as well and still love. But I definitely am ready to hang up the foam latex and wish [Vecna] a slippery farewell."
It's understandable that Bower wouldn't be keen to play another practical effects-heavy villain any time soon. We can only imagine the amount of time he would have to spend with the makeup team to transform into Vecna, and then to take all of it off after a long day of shooting. That's a lot of time to spend within a character, and considering how nasty Vecna is, we get where Bower is coming from with his decision to take a break from villain characters.
As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:
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- There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
- The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
- "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"
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