For nearly a decade, “Stranger Things” occupied a unique place in popular culture. Since debuting in 2016, the Netflix phenomenon grew from a nostalgic science fiction thriller into one of the defining television series of its era, introducing audiences to Demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and a generation of young actors who grew up alongside their characters in Hawkins, Indiana. By the time the fifth and final season arrived, the stakes had never been higher. The fate of Hawkins hung in the balance, Eleven faced her greatest challenge yet, and a villain introduced surprisingly late in the show’s run had become the central figure standing in her way.
That villain, of course, was Vecna.
Introduced in Season 4, Vecna accomplished something remarkably difficult in franchise storytelling. After years of increasingly elaborate monsters and mythology, the character quickly established himself as the show’s most personal and terrifying antagonist. While Jamie Campbell Bower’s chilling performance provided the humanity behind the creature, the visual design itself became instantly iconic. In many ways, the success of the show’s final chapters depended on audiences believing Vecna was a threat worthy of everything that had come before him. As the old Hollywood saying goes, a story is often only as strong as its villain.
The responsibility for bringing that villain to life fell in part to Barrie Gower and his team. Alongside his wife and creative partner Sarah Gower, the Emmy-winning prosthetic makeup designer arrived on “Stranger Things” after acclaimed work on “Game of Thrones,” where they helped create the Night King, and HBO’s “Chernobyl.” Yet despite a résumé filled with some of television’s most memorable imagery, Gower was already a fan of the series long before he joined it. His teenage daughter had followed the show from the beginning, and he found himself drawn to the same blend of Spielberg-inspired wonder, horror, and nostalgia that captivated audiences around the world. When Matt and Ross Duffer called about creating Vecna, Gower describes it as “a bit of a pinch me moment.”
The assignment was ambitious. The Duffers wanted a villain rooted in the practical creature effects and horror icons that defined many of the films inspiring “Stranger Things.” There were echoes of Freddy Krueger in the brief, nods to “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and a clear desire to create something tangible that actors could perform against on set. Working alongside concept designer Michael Maher, Gower and his team drew inspiration from everything from exotic sea life to embryonic organic forms, gradually shaping a creature that felt both familiar and entirely original.
What emerged was more than a memorable monster. During our conversation, Gower repeatedly returned to the idea that great creature design is only half the equation. “A good actor can make or break a makeup,” he explains, crediting Bower’s performance as an essential ingredient in Vecna’s success. The character works because the design and performance are inseparable. One provides the silhouette, texture, and visual identity. The other gives audiences something far more unsettling: a recognizable human being lurking beneath the horror.
That partnership became even more important in the show’s fifth and final season. As Vecna evolved into an even greater threat, Gower and his team were tasked with expanding the character beyond the Emmy-winning design introduced in Season 4. The result was a careful collaboration between practical makeup and visual effects, allowing the character to grow in scale while preserving the physical performance at the center of it all. It also reflected a broader philosophy that has defined much of Gower’s career: use technology where it helps, but never lose sight of the artistry that makes audiences emotionally invest in what they’re seeing.
At a time when conversations about CGI and artificial intelligence increasingly dominate discussions around visual effects, Gower remains remarkably grounded about the future of the craft. Whether discussing AI-assisted concept work, the enduring influence of classics like “An American Werewolf in London” and “The Thing,” or the continued importance of practical effects, he consistently returns to the same belief: memorable creatures are created through talent, collaboration, and time.
Gower recently spoke with Awards Focus about joining “Stranger Things,” creating Vecna across the show’s final two seasons, collaborating with Jamie Campbell Bower and the Duffer Brothers, and why the most successful monsters are never just the product of great makeup. He also reflected on the future of practical effects, the rise of AI as a creative tool, and the legacy of a series that spent nearly ten years capturing the imagination of audiences around the world.
Awards Focus: Nice to meet you, Barrie. Now that “Stranger Things” has reached its conclusion, how do you look back on the show’s legacy and the impact it has had on audiences around the world?
Barrie Gower: I see “Stranger Things” leaving a huge legacy. It’s got a massive global following and has become such a huge IP and franchise.
Personally, for myself and my wife Sarah—we run our department together—we’ve only been involved with the show since Season 4. We came on primarily to create Vecna. But “Stranger Things” was a big part of our lives well before that because we’ve got a soon-to-be 15-year-old daughter who was a massive fan of the show from the first season. It was something I sat and watched with her, and I loved the look and feel of it. I love the ’80s, the retro influences, the homages, and that Spielbergian feel it has. It was the era of movies I grew up with, and really the era that encouraged me to do what I do for a living—to work in the film industry and create prosthetic makeup, monsters, and creatures.
The whole premise of the story, the way it’s shot, and how rich the show feels was something I immediately connected with. So when we got a call from the Duffer Brothers for Season 4 to bring Vecna to life, it was a bit of a pinch-me moment. We’d just come off “Game of Thrones,” and I think they were fans of our work on the Night King. We had also done “Chernobyl” for HBO, creating a lot of radiation burns and radiation sickness prosthetics. I think they liked the work we’d done on both of those shows. When it came time to create Vecna, they already had a very strong opinion that they wanted to do something practical, something in-camera, something retro and analog. Their feeling was, “We want our own version of the Night King, so why don’t we approach the people who created the Night King?” It was probably one of the easiest yeses we’ve ever given.
AF: “Stranger Things” occupies a unique space between horror and mainstream entertainment. How did that influence your approach to designing Vecna, a character who needed to be genuinely frightening while still fitting within the tone of the series?
Gower: You hit the nail on the head because that was one of the main briefs from Matt and Ross when we started on Season 4. They were very clear that while it’s a science fiction horror show, it appeals to multiple generations. By Season 4, they viewed it as their “Nightmare on Elm Street” season. Tonally, there were a lot of nods to Wes Craven’s original film, and I think there are definitely influences from Freddy Krueger in Vecna’s design as well.
AF: Once those influences were established, where did the design process begin?
Gower: That made it especially appealing for me because I was a massive Freddy Krueger fan growing up. Again, that’s one of the reasons I got into this business. I grew up reading Fangoria magazine. I used to cut out pictures of Freddy Krueger and had a shrine on my bedroom wall. I even had a huge Robert Englund poster that would occasionally fall off the wall in the middle of the night and scare the life out of me. So when Matt and Ross started talking about references like Freddy Krueger’s enlarged hand and talon-like fingers, those influences immediately resonated with me.
We worked closely with Michael Maher, who is part of the visual effects department and one of the key concept designers on “Stranger Things.” One of the earliest conversations was that Vecna would need to be humanoid and that we would ultimately have to realize him as a practical makeup on a real performer. At that point, Jamie Campbell Bower hadn’t been cast yet. We went through multiple iterations of concept artwork and discussed what could realistically be achieved in makeup versus what might need to be adjusted. For example, early designs made him much taller and more elongated, but without relying heavily on digital manipulation, we needed to modify some of those proportions.
Even once we had concept art, the design process was still evolving. We looked at references from the natural world, particularly exotic sea life, embryonic sacs, and other unusual organic textures. We were looking for colors, translucency, and surface qualities that felt unsettling but believable. Eventually, we built our first set of prosthetics and brought Jamie in for a test in the UK. It was about 26 individual appliances and took eight or nine hours to apply. That was Jamie’s first opportunity to feel the weight of the makeup, experience the movement restrictions, and get used to the mechanical hand and finger extensions. We ended up making adjustments, including shortening the fingers slightly.
The first time we saw the complete Vecna makeup with the contact lenses, dentures, and full paint job was during a camera test in Atlanta about three days before filming. It was the first time the Duffers, Jamie, and our team had seen the finished character in person. We were praying it would work, and thankfully it was a great success. There was a huge sense of relief from everybody involved.
AF: Your work on Season 4 earned an Emmy. When you returned for Season 5, what were the creative goals behind evolving Vecna’s design?
Gower: Season 5 was a completely different challenge. We had about two and a half to three years between wrapping Season 4 and our first day back with Jamie. One of the nice things was that we still had all of the original molds, so we were able to revisit and refine elements of the original makeup. We spent a long time perfecting the paint work because we knew we’d only have a day or two with the original Season 4 version of Vecna.
When it came to what we called Vecna Version 2, there were lots of discussions with the Duffers and visual effects supervisor Betsy Paterson about the scale of the character. There was really only one direction to take him. He needed to feel like a much larger threat than he was in Season 4. The brief was that the essence of the Upside Down was now flowing through him. They wanted him larger than life. They wanted vines extending from his limbs. They wanted negative space in the body where you could literally see through sections of him. There were a lot of discussions about how we would achieve that and how practical and digital effects would work together to create the final character.
AF: When a character becomes a collaboration between practical and digital effects, how do those conversations typically begin?
Gower: We’ve worked with visual effects departments for years, and it’s always about figuring out what should be practical and what shouldn’t. You don’t want to spend weeks building something only to discover it’s going to be painted out in post-production. At the same time, you want to provide as much useful information as possible for the visual effects team.
Matt and Ross were very clear that they wanted Jamie’s performance and facial work to remain as practical as possible. So we created an entirely new head and shoulders makeup from scratch. We still used traditional sculpting methods with clay, but we also incorporated 3D technology and printed vine elements into the sculpture. The head makeup was made up of roughly six overlapping pieces. We added more entwined vines, more depth, and areas of burned and charred skin as a nod to what happened to Vecna at the end of Season 4.
We also created practical appliances for Jamie’s right hand because the Duffers wanted him to retain full dexterity. They anticipated scenes where he might be pointing, grabbing, or interacting physically with other characters. For the rest of the body, visual effects needed a color and texture reference, so we built a printed bodysuit based on the Season 4 design. We also created a glove that fit over the finger extensions and even built what we jokingly called the “Vecna Nikes,” which gave Jamie a little extra height.
Once we tested everything on set, Jamie immediately became aware of how much larger the final version of Vecna would be through visual effects. He felt his body language needed to change. He asked if there was a way to keep his arms from resting naturally at his sides, so we created small pads that fit under his arms and forced a broader silhouette. It became a process of trial and error as we figured out exactly what practical makeup would provide and what visual effects would ultimately enhance. In many ways, it was just as challenging as Season 4.
AF: How much did that reduce Jamie’s time in the makeup chair?
Gower: We were able to reduce the time dramatically because the coverage of appliances wasn’t nearly as extensive. Season 4 was obviously much more complex. By the end of that season, our record was about six hours and twenty-five minutes with a team of four people. For Season 5, I think we got it down to around three hours. Our first makeup test was probably closer to five hours because we were making sure everything was in exactly the right place, but once we’d refined the process, it became much more manageable. It was different from Season 4, but it had just as many challenges in its own way.
AF: You’ve now helped create some of the defining creatures of modern television, from the Night King to Vecna. From your perspective, what separates a character audiences remember for years from one that quickly fades away?
Gower: I think there are a couple of things. One is definitely the strength of the design and how well it’s executed. The artistry, craftsmanship, and techniques used to create a character are incredibly important. But I also think it’s a combination of that and the human being underneath the makeup.
A good actor can make or break a makeup. We were incredibly lucky to work with Jamie. He’d never really worked with extensive prosthetics before and, to be fair, we’d only done one or two full body makeups ourselves before Vecna. When you’re working with an actor for that amount of time every day, the relationship becomes incredibly important. We were regularly doing twenty-one-hour days from the point we started applying Jamie’s makeup, through shooting, and then removing it at the end of the day. It’s a testament to Jamie’s patience, stamina, and good humor that he handled it all so well.
More importantly, he has the acting ability to bring a character like Vecna to life. Season 5 is a real testament to his talent. He’s playing multiple versions of the character and doing some incredibly challenging work. He’s insanely talented and also a genuinely lovely person, which always helps. We were very lucky.
AF: Along those lines, you’re working at an interesting intersection of practical effects, visual effects, and now emerging AI tools. As you look ahead to the next few years, how do you see those technologies influencing your work?
Gower: That’s a really good question. AI is obviously advancing very quickly, and it’s something a lot of people are talking about. We’ve already seen changes in our corner of the industry, particularly with concept development. Traditionally, I’d work with a handful of incredibly talented concept artists, but productions increasingly expect visuals to be turned around almost immediately. You simply can’t always ask an artist to create something entirely from scratch in that kind of timeframe.
I’ve started using AI as a tool rather than a final solution.
AF: So for now, you see it more as an extension of the creative process rather than a replacement for it?
Gower: Absolutely. I’ll generate images that aren’t necessarily what I’m after, but they may contain elements of what I’m looking for. Then I’ll bring those images into Photoshop, manipulate them, draw over them, and continue developing them until they become something original. It’s interesting because it allows you to get somewhere very quickly, but the creative decision making is still happening throughout the process.
Looking at the bigger picture, I’ve seen the industry go through similar shifts before. I remember working on the early “Harry Potter” films with Nick Dudman. As those movies progressed, digital effects became more and more dominant. Then years later we saw a resurgence of practical effects. It’s a little bit like vinyl records. Things have a way of coming back around.
Since starting our company, we’ve worked closely with visual effects departments on almost every project. Right now, I think the most successful approach is a combination of practical and digital effects. Even with AI on the horizon, I still think we’re heading toward a future where practical and digital techniques continue working together very effectively.
I also think audiences respond to craftsmanship. Whether it’s practical makeup, CGI, or eventually AI-assisted work, quality ultimately comes down to time and talent. Some of the best digital characters were created decades ago. At the same time, films like “An American Werewolf in London” and “The Thing” still hold up beautifully today. I hope there’s always going to be a place for what we do.
AF: I think you’re right. Audiences became trained to look for bad CGI, and I suspect the same thing will eventually happen with AI. There may be a period where it’s everywhere, but I wouldn’t be surprised if practical effects experience another renaissance.
Gower: Absolutely. I think everything ultimately comes down to time. Quality comes from talented artists having the time to do their jobs properly. I’m a huge fan of digital effects, and I love great CGI, but when something doesn’t work, it’s often because the artists didn’t have enough time or resources.
There are digital characters from nearly twenty years ago that still look fantastic. Take Bill Nighy’s character in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” That’s still incredible work. Likewise, there are practical effects from the ’80s that continue to hold up. Rick Baker’s work in “An American Werewolf in London” and Rob Bottin’s work in “The Thing” remain benchmarks in our industry. Whether it’s practical or digital, great work tends to endure.
AF: Before I let you go, is there anything you’re working on now that you’re able to talk about?
Gower: “Masters of the Universe” was released today in the UK. That was a huge project for us and one we actually wrapped quite a while ago. We created a lot of large practical characters on that film, and it’s another good example of practical and digital effects working together. We had a great relationship with the visual effects team.
We’re also currently working on Season 3 of “The Last of Us” in Vancouver, so we’re very fortunate to be busy at the moment.
AF: Very exciting. Thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed the conversation and look forward to speaking with you again.
Gower: Lovely. Thanks a lot, Ben.