Stranger Things Shows Off Impressive Behind-the-Scenes Process of Vecna Makeup Effects

By Patrick Cavanaugh

The first three seasons of Stranger Things delivered audiences a variety of unsettling and otherworldly threats, but with Season 4 of the series, the humanoid Vecna became the major villain, with the figure taking on a more human-like appearance. This meant that, while the demogorgon or the Mind Flayer could be conjured with CGI, the series took a practical approach to Vecna, which required actor Jamie Campbell Bower to undergo an intense makeup process. You can check out a glimpse of the entire process in the video below and watch the final two episodes of Season 4 of Stranger Things when they premiere on July 1st.

The new season of the series is described, "It's been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time -- and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down."

Special makeup effects designer Barrie Gower recently broke down how Vecna was brought to life while speaking with Bloody Disgusting, detailing that the initial application took more than eight hours, though the makeup team ultimately were able to make the transformation take closer to six hours.

Even with the impressive makeup effects, there was still some digital trickery to craft the character, as Gower pointed out, "There would be a little bit of VFX augmentation in post, but it'd be things we couldn't necessarily achieve practically, like giving a subtle movement to Vecna's vines on his body. They would be removing the nose of the actor and his pupils as well, even though he wore contact lenses. We knew there would be quite a nice collaboration with VFX, but it was interesting to join the show, and they already had this blueprint of how they wanted Vecna to look."

As if enduring the makeup application wasn't exhausting enough, Bower was then also tasked with giving a frightening performance.

"We decided not to go down the route of having a guy in a monster suit, a guy in a rubber suit because we knew there would be an awful lot of interaction with him and the cast, a lot of dialogue, quite a lot of strenuous work. He did all of his stunt work, his own stunt work, "Gower admitted. "There was not a stunt Vecna on Stranger Things. When you do a character like this, you would usually have a stunt guy of a similar frame who would also be put in the makeup. Jamie did all his own stunts for this show." 

Stranger Things Season 4 – Volume 2 premieres on Netflix on July 1st.

What did you think of Vecna? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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