("Rock You Like a Hurricane" plays)
This is Dacre Montgomery, who's perhaps better known as Billy Hargrove,
the biggest [bleep]hole in Hawkins, Indiana (next to probably the Mind Flayer),
and a character that fans of the series have, oddly enough, latched onto with a relentless passion,
as evidenced by articles like this one from The Cut...
"Everyone Hates This Stranger Things Character, But They Love His Butt."
- Would you check out that ass? - Just look at it go.
So, what was Dacre Montgomery doing before everybody lost their minds?
Well, he was pursuing an acting career since the age of nine in his hometown of Perth
in Western Australia where he was voted in high school as "Most Likely to Become a Hollywood Celebrity."
His first acting job was, well, as a bully in the short film 'Bertrand the Terrible'.
- Sorry we missed your Dad's funeral, Cassie. - We would have loved to have seen it.
(laughing)
Some years later, after an appearance in the music video "Old Souls" for the band "Make Them Suffer,"
and a fun, out-of-control character in the short "Godot's Clinic,"
he had a brief appearance in the thriller 'Better Watch Out',
and although he's kind of a jerk like Billy, he has a really funny scene
where he's kind of building himself up in the car getting ready to talk to an ex-girlfriend.
- Hey. Hey Ash. Hey. Hey.
- It's good to see you. Yeah. Yeah.
- Mm mm mm. Yeah, we cool! [bleep] yeah! Yeah!! Yeah!!!
Then came 2017, which is definitely Dacre's year.
in addition to "Stranger Things", he was the red Power Ranger, Jason Scott, in the new 'Power Rangers' movie.
There's so much to love about Dacre's performance as Billy Hargrove in "Stranger Things".
One highlight of Billy is how dangerous and unpredictable he is, which Dacre credits
directly to the Duffer brothers telling him to look at Jack Nicholson's terrifying performance
in 'The Shining' for reference.
But later on, we see an unexpected depth to Billy in this scene when his Dad bullies him.
It gives us an insight as to why Billy is the way he is: he's bullied, so the cycle of abuse continues,
and Dacre somehow pulls off bringing humanity to this otherwise monstrous character.
An antagonist that the audience loves, hates, and loves to hate?
According to the fans, Dacre Montgomery has done his job well. Keep rockin', Billy. Keep rockin'.
www.NoSmallPartsShow.com