Jamie Campbell Bower has explained why Vecna’s final words were cut from the Stranger Things finale.
Netflix’s Stranger Things show just recently concluded its five-season run. Created by the Duffer Brothers, the show sees Bower play the villainous Vecna, while the ensemble cast also includes Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, and more.
Why was Vecna’s final line cut from Stranger Things Season 5?
At the end of Stranger Things Season 5, Ryder’s Joyce character is ultimately the one who cuts off Vecna’s head. Bower discussed the moment and revealed what he wanted his character’s last words to be with Jimmy Fallon when appearing on The Tonight Show.
“I wanted to try and convey the words ‘please don’t.’ I don’t know if anyone here has seen The First Shadow, which is the play that they’ve done of Stranger Things and the sort of Henry Creel backstory,” he explained. “And, obviously, Henry and Joyce, within that, have met each other. So when she kind of walks up to him, I felt like, in that moment, the humanity could come through a little bit more, and we could reintroduce that level of potential, maybe he could be saved, at that point.
“When we were doing Season 4, there’s a bit where Eleven turns Vecna around — it’s when we’re in the Snow Ball — and she says ‘hi.’ Just before that, I sort of growl. We were in ADR, and I was like, ‘It looks like I’m saying the word ‘you.’ Can I add that in in ADR?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, sure. Let’s try it.’ I don’t want to step on her line and make it less cool, but let’s try it. We tried it, and it worked. It was great.
“Anyway, we get to ADR for Season 5, and I’m like gurgling. I remember that all I wanted to say was ‘please don’t,’ and we tried it, and it just didn’t work. It didn’t land. But the emotion is there.”
All episodes of Stranger Things are now streaming on Netflix.
Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype.
