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Stranger Things Star Dacre Montgomery on Humanizing His Villainous Character


The third season of Netflix's Emmy award-winning series, Stranger Things, is getting a lot of positive reviews, and one of the show's villains takes a darker turn.

The relentless bully Billy Hargrove (played by Dacre Montgomery) returns in the show. In the new season, Hargrove works as a lifeguard who flirts with housewives but his story takes a darker turn starting on the new season's first episode.

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Credit: Netflix

"I was written a really good season for my character," Montgomery told CBS This Morning. "And to have this story arc I think is complex because I think bad people are most oftentimes misunderstood and I think my duty here was to empathize with that character."

Season 3 features scenes of Montgomery showing his character's parents. This is in response to Montgomery's suggestion to the show-runners to make his character more human.

"I just think humanizing the villain is the most organic way to represent someone," the actor said. "We can't be good and bad, we all have qualities of both."

Montgomery shared a personal experience with a bully he met when he was younger.

"When you look back at it and you're like, 'That kid was bullying me at school, but he probably had a lot of stuff going on at home for himself.' And I was lucky, I had a good family," Montgomery explained. "So looking back on it, I'm like, 'Well how can I empathize with that person?' Because we all come from different backgrounds and different walks of life and it comes out in different ways and how can I make this person human."

Stranger Things Season 3 is now available to stream on Netflix.

Related: Stranger Things Star Millie Bobby Brown On Filming Eleven's Most Emotional Moments

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