Jamie Campbell Bower, the actor who survived Vecna in Stranger Things' and himself

"He played the wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010) and in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018); he also portrayed Caius Vulturi in the Twilight saga (2009) and Jace Wayland in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013). But the role that has truly catapulted actor as well as singer and model Jamie Campbell Bower, 37, to wider recognition is that of the antagonist in the popular Netflix series Stranger Things."

"However, before becoming the actor he is today, he went through a personal journey full of obstacles: addiction to alcohol and other substances that led to a mental health condition, for which he received treatment in hospital. In July 2022, he wrote a thread on X though he deleted the first part in which he stated that he had been seven-and-a-half years clean and sober, after being in the grip of addiction five years earlier."

"I will say this: without my journey of recovery, I wouldn't be sat here today talking to you, he confessed in November 2025 in Rolling Stone. I wouldn't be doing the job that I do now, and I wouldn't have been able to do some incredible things that I've done."

"Often when I was drinking and using, it was this idea that I'm in charge, he explained. My life since getting sober is so much greater than it ever would be. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you about any of this at all. I would not be in Stranger Things."

Jamie Campbell Bower built a career with roles including Gellert Grindelwald, Caius Vulturi, and Jace Wayland, and gained wider recognition as Stranger Things' antagonist. He portrays Vecna/Henry Creel/001/Peter Ballard under heavy makeup, earning a reputation as a talent to watch and reportedly linked to a possible role in The Rings of Power season three. He experienced addiction to alcohol and other substances that resulted in a mental health condition requiring hospital treatment. He achieved long-term sobriety—stating seven-and-a-half years clean and sober as of July 2022 after being in the grip of addiction five years earlier—and speaks openly yet selectively about his recovery.

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