Who is Billy in Stranger Things 2?
Everything you need to know about the Netflix show's new character and actor Dacre Montgomery
Stranger Things 2 new characters guide: Who is Billy?
Along with step-sister Max, “hyper-confident, and edgy” Billy moves into Hawkins in 1984.
We can’t imagine he’s going to be too popular with the main kids: Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have said they introduced Billy into the show as "it was important to [the kids] to have a human villain in there that could disrupt the lives of our characters" (via TV Guide).
Director Shawn Levy also said, “He is a mean guy. He has prejudices that are ugly. He treats his younger sister in a mean, controlling, bully-ish, domineering fashion. So he's just bad."
Billy was inspired by Stephen King’s horror books. “King always has really great human villains,” explained the Duffer Brothers to EW. “The evil in the real world is often as bad or worse than the supernatural evil, so we wanted to introduce a character like that.”
That means that although Billy may appear like a charismatic Camaro-driving drinking game pro, the character also has a tendency to steals peoples' girlfriends and harbours a violent and unpredictable nature.
Who plays Billy in Stranger Things season 2?
Dacre Montgomery. The 22-year-old Australian hasn't always played villains – he took a role in the Power Rangers reboot as Jason (The Red Ranger). He’s also had a brief role in comedy/horror film Better Watch Out.
Here’s a fun fact: he stripped almost naked to get the Stranger Things role. After hearing the show was casting, Montgomery submitted a go-for-broke audition tape: “I had an opening score, opening titles and credits. And I got in like a G-string and danced naked to '80s music with this leather jacket and crazy glasses on,” he told THR.
The bold tactic worked and the Duffer Brothers invited Montgomery to a Skype call, after which they shortly made an offer.
We can’t say it’s a strategy you should adopt in your next job interview though.