New season, new cast members. When the Netflix show “Stranger Things” drove new main characters into Hawkins, step-siblings Max Mayfield and Billy Hargrove didn’t find it difficult to get themselves into the fold.
With a lot of spunk and an undeniable dedication to arcade games, Max skated her way into the geeky AV Club, even capturing both the hearts of Dustin and Lucas. While Billy tried to mark his territory as the school’s newly inaugurated king, displaying his masculinity against Steve whom he noted has gone soft.
But there are scenes with the new kids on the block that leave us with questions. For one, what could have Billy possibly done to force his entire family to move to Hawkins? Is the incident connected to why his dad adamantly requires him to keep an extremely close eye on Max? And what is up with that bit where Billy is seen flirting with Nancy’s mom?
It seems like we’ll finally be getting some answers about the show’s human villain in 2019, but it would just require a little more waiting.
“I don’t know how much I could talk about the next season,” Dacre Montgomery tells Super. “Just that audiences can see or gather more insight as to why Billy is the way he is.”
The Australian actor was in the country for the second time to headline the debut of ComicCon Asia last Mar. 24-25 at the SMX Convention Center, but it looks like that’s not the only comeback Dacre has for “Stranger Things” fans.
His role is bound to get more complex as we learn more about him. As Billy fulfills Stephen King’s archetypal secondary villain in “Stranger Things,” fans could also expect this character to grow into a bigger threat, maybe even worse than the supernatural evil—in this case, the Mind Flayer.
“I think the most effective villains in cinematic history are human,” Dacre shares. “Everyone has a reason for where they’re coming from, and, for me, it was more about humanizing Billy. My life experience growing up was a whole different from him, so I tried to create that fictional home life of Billy, and sort of be on his side throughout the season,” the actor adds.
The actor shares he had to uncover the character’s insecurities, as well as his own, in order to give this antagonist the depth and dynamic it required.
“It takes a whole range of things to play this kind of character, but I think it’s about exploring behind the mask, asking ‘are they bad just cause they’re bad?’ and knowing that’s not a thing—that there’s always more to it,” Dacre says.
“And because there’s no supernatural element involved with Billy in season two, he is human. Everything about him is innately human. He is a combination of everything—his upbringing, being a 17-year-old. I had to look into his insecurities—and I have insecurities of my own—that’s bringing out all these bad aspects. It takes some self-analysis, my own upbringing, and even how I act and how I respond to situations and maybe explaining that through Billy,” the 23-year-old actor then details how he processed and empathized with the character.
Dacre also had to look back to the days when he was bullied growing up, and from that end, trying to understand and unveil the mannerisms and behaviors of his childhood aggressors. Finally channeling such cognizance into creating his version of a narcissistic and unhinged teenage antagonist.
We think Dacre also spewed a bit of a clue in there for us, emphasizing that Billy was entirely human in the second season. Making us theorize that maybe the Shadow Monster would find ways to make Billy one of his pawns come season three.
“I’d also like to see Billy with a girl,” Dacre says. “There’s always something about bringing romance into an antagonist’s world. So that would be interesting—a love interest to be able to show him with a whole different dynamic.”
