00:00Hi, I'm Dacre Montgomery, and you're watching In Studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:04We were talking a little, a few minutes ago about you being a fan of the show, of season
00:13one, and then you got cast for season two as Billy.
00:18You sent in an audition tape.
00:19Can you sort of talk about, was that your idea?
00:21Yeah, I just got it and I did it in the day that I received the email about doing an audition
00:26and I kind of thought I need to be able to stand out, you know, because the show was
00:30already such a huge hit three months post-release of the first season or whatever it was, and
00:35then kind of went all out, but I believe in taking risks and it's a competitive business
00:42and you know, I like that I took an artistically big risk, I guess, in many ways.
00:50Part of that was Kiefer Sutherland's, a bit, from Stand By Me, is that right?
00:54Yeah.
00:56One of my favorite movies, and yeah, that was, it's kind of, I feel like Billy has a little
01:00bit of that in him.
01:01Was that one of your influences when you were sort of like crafting?
01:04Totally.
01:05Yeah, well I think when they had given me that scene, they hadn't obviously written too many,
01:09a huge amount of scenes for Billy yet, so they gave me, the other scene was from the script,
01:13what became the car scene with Max in the show.
01:17And then the other scene was obviously Stand By Me, and I think there were certain qualities.
01:21I was given a lot of Jack Nicholson's kind of career, I guess, to look at in general.
01:26I think he makes unusual, unpredictable choices that keep the audience on edge, and I was encouraged
01:31to do something similar.
01:32But the Duffers are great.
01:33I think, I don't really believe in copying someone else's performance, so they were great
01:39about building a new character from scratch, and building the arc right from season two
01:44through three, even when I started discussing the whole kind of course of Billy's journey,
01:49right up until the end of the season you will have all just finished watching.
01:53So you knew from the beginning that this was going to be his arc, basically.
01:57Is that right?
01:58And his end.
01:59Yeah, exactly.
02:00Totally.
02:01What kind of expectations did you have going in, and what was the experience actually like
02:06for you as a fan of something to then be part of it?
02:10I think you have to separate yourself in some way from the fandom portion in the world so
02:14you can contribute to the story in a real way, do you know what I mean?
02:20Like separating yourself in some way, shape, or form.
02:23In terms of the actual experience, it was fantastic.
02:26I mean, that's it, it's such a tribute to the Duffers being such a collaborative artist.
02:31That's why the show is so successful, I think, in many ways.
02:33Yeah.
02:34Because the sort of handcuffs feel like they're off, and you feel free, and you feel like
02:37you can create, and it evolves as you go through the process, rather than feeling like it's
02:43concrete from screenplay, you know, through to post.
02:48It doesn't feel concrete, it feels like it's ever moving and changing.
02:52And I think I admire Netflix for being a new, relatively, company that is able to give their
02:59artists that outlet to be able to change throughout the process.
03:04I admire that.
03:05Yeah.
03:06So it's better than my expectations.
03:09And you were asking me before about watching it, can you separate yourself?
03:12I think you can, because I think, as a lover of film and television, cinephile, my, when
03:19I look at product, I look, the best film and TV is something that successfully creates escapism
03:25for me.
03:26And I think this show is able to do that, and that's why I'm able to separate myself.
03:31Even though it's an ensemble cast and there's different storylines happening, I'm able to
03:34separate myself because of the cinematography and the score, and everything is just so fully
03:39realized, I think, yeah, I think that's what makes it what it is.
03:43It's so good.
03:44What Stranger Things is.
03:45It's so special.
03:46Yeah.
03:47And I know Billy's kind of, like, bad guy, but I found, in season two, I found him really
03:52refreshing, because we kind of, I mean, we had Steve in season one, but it's totally different,
03:58you know, it's a very different type of character, but if you're going to have some sort of archetype
04:02of, some form of, like, you know, the bad guy or antagonist or whatever, but I still
04:08found it refreshing, and then especially towards the end of season two, when you sort of understand
04:14why he is the way he is, you know, the scene with his dad and everything, that was really
04:20eye-opening for the character.
04:22Did you know that also in the backstory?
04:25It wasn't written.
04:26I actually asked the Duffers.
04:27I said, he can't be bad because he's bad.
04:29Like, we're all human beings, right?
04:30And I was interested in humanizing the villain, and they'd spoken a lot about that, and they
04:36wrote that scene after we'd already shot episode four.
04:40They wrote that into the script after I had that conversation with them.
04:43I love that.
04:44And I think it was really good, because, no, there's, you know, what we're interested
04:47in is the gray area between good and bad.
04:49That's what's interesting, right?
04:50That's what drama spawns from, for me.
04:52And, but I don't feel like there is, like, we're all human beings, and I think sometimes
04:58the question is, well, how do you separate yourself and play that character?
05:02That's such a bad person.
05:03And I think, well, there's qualities of that person in me, and vice versa.
05:07And I think it's about finding empathy for the character that you play, no matter what
05:11it is.
05:11And that's how you can humanize the villain, which was a quote that I think, you know,
05:17Stephen King had once given, that the Duffers had refreshed, to me, a lot throughout the
05:23shooting process in season two.
05:25How do you expect fans are going to be reacting now after season three?
05:30And is it sort of similar, do you think, to season two?
05:33Or do you even, do you get fan, like, do you hear about fan reactions to your character?
05:38Not a huge amount.
05:39I'm not great with social media and all those sort of outlets.
05:42But I am interested to sort of see how they'll respond.
05:48I'm excited.
05:50I thought it was a great season, even though we see Billy immersed in this fantastical
05:55kind of sci-fi component this season.
05:57I tried to treat it like, so he's possessed, right?
06:01He's Billy the Flayed or whatever.
06:03But I did a lot of study on people with bipolar and split personality disorder and how one
06:08personality has the spot and control over the being and how the other personality can be
06:13suppressed.
06:14And in this season, I try to treat Billy like a lackey band and he's so taut and torn.
06:21And I tried to play the Flayed Billy in my physicality and the real Billy behind the eyes.
06:25And at the end, we see that lackey band snap.
06:27And I think it's actually a really redemptive ending and a really fantastic payoff for the
06:32character.
06:32And I'm lucky that I had that arc.
06:34I'm lucky to be a part of the series.
06:35Yeah, because it's also, you know, it's a little sad in the first couple of episodes
06:38when you see, like, Billy with Mrs. Wheeler at the pool and he sort of pushes her away.
06:43So you can tell, you know, there's that human side to him who doesn't, you know, at first
06:48you have this flirtatious thing, which we could also talk forever about Billy and Mrs. Wheeler.
06:53I won't do that to you, though.
06:55But yeah, you can tell it's just, you know, there's this very innocent woman.
06:59And then also with Max, you know, there's a scene where he's talking to her.
07:03So it's like there, you can tell that there's that struggle inside him.
07:07But I kind of also want to go back a little bit because I found out you've been acting
07:12basically your entire life, right?
07:14Well, I've been giving it a red hot go, but I don't know if I've been lucky of late.
07:19But yeah, I had a long time where I was giving it a go.
07:22When was it that you wanted to be an actor?
07:24Do you remember what, was it a movie or?
07:26Both my parents work in the film industry and I grew up on set.
07:30And I don't know, I think I fell first in love with the adrenaline of a film set.
07:35It's like a family, you know, 14 hours a day every day and you just like you live for that.
07:39There is nothing else.
07:40And then I fell in love with escapism, which is what I touched on earlier.
07:43My dad used to take me to films.
07:45And just being, finding films on occasion that took me places that don't exist, I was fascinated by.
07:52And then I told my parents, look, I want to be in front of the camera.
07:55Luckily, I had really encouraging parents who for that 10-year period when I didn't book anything
08:00and I wanted to go to acting school and so on and so forth, they helped me and paid for everything
08:06and stuck it out, you know.
08:08And I think a lot of families might think, look, now it's time to move on and try something else.
08:12Oh, well, they probably understand, you know, sort of what you're going through since they
08:17are part of the film industry.
08:18They're like, you know, this is what you want to do, this is what it entails.
08:22And they probably have a little bit more of an understanding than most parents, you know.
08:25Yeah, I was lucky.
08:26Yeah, yeah, totally.
08:27Because, yeah, you went to like proper drama school also.
08:30In Australia.
08:31Yeah, yeah.
08:31The first piece of luck, I guess, that met the preparation was getting into school.
08:36And I had a lot of growing up to do.
08:38I think if I booked a role before I got into university, I think I would have really messed up my chances.
08:43So it was good.
08:44Your chances at what?
08:45I don't know, having a real shot at a career and being really mature and motivated.
08:49And I don't think I had work ethic that I do now in the same way.
08:53You fell in love, you know, you learn, you have a heart broken, a bit of everything.
08:57And I think that's all important in terms of growing up.
08:59And I think if I can take that elevated kind of life experience or emotional maturity into my work,
09:05then, you know, I think it's an important thing to come into this industry with a good head on your shoulders
09:12and keep your family and friends around and keep humble and focused, you know,
09:16and read everything under the sun and be really particular about what you pick,
09:21every, you know, opportunity you're given and every next step you take in this industry.
09:26And I'm so excited to finally sort of be given an opportunity.
09:29Yeah.
09:30And now what goals do you have now?
09:32Now that you're, you know, post-Stranger Things world, what are you looking forward to, I guess, for your career?
09:39Yeah.
09:40I'm doing a romantic comedy next, which is a big kind of risk for me.
09:45I think I'm very scared of comedy.
09:47I love to watch it, but I'm scared to play it.
09:49The pace is different from drama.
09:51The world is different.
09:52I think it's a really good ego-stripping exercise, this next movie I'm going to be taking part in,
09:57to take the piss out of myself a bit, I think, to not take myself so seriously.
10:01Yeah.
10:01And really unburden myself with that insecurity, I think, in a way, is really important.
10:06I've been working on a podcast for two and a half years, which comes out next week.
10:10Is that the spoken word?
10:12Yeah, it's really random, but very exciting.
10:15And I had all this beat poetry that I compiled over the years
10:18and had all these amazing musicians come together and compose scores
10:22and I narrate it.
10:25So that's been really cathartic as well.
10:28I don't mean to get too kind of meta, but it's been a good eye-opening experience too.
10:35And I think Stranger Things has been fantastic because it's opened up avenues, you know,
10:40even just to use quite a millennial example like Instagram,
10:45to be able to access all these people around the world,
10:48like a plethora of different artists, musicians.
10:50You know, I don't know the music world other than being a fan.
10:54I don't have any stake in that world.
10:57And to have these musicians open up their hearts and kind of go,
11:00it's really random, this Australian guy is sending me this content
11:03and he wants me to compose X, Y, and Z to it.
11:05But people have been really receptive, and I'm lucky about that
11:09because there are a lot of far more talented people in me than me in the world
11:13who don't get those kind of opportunities.
11:16Yeah.
11:16You know.
11:17What was maybe a challenging scene for you playing?
11:20Because it's also pretty physical.
11:22I mean, even in just the first or second episode, I think,
11:24is where you're getting sort of like dragged down those stairs and into that basement.
11:28Was the physical stuff challenging for you?
11:29And if not, what was?
11:31I love the physical stuff.
11:32I love learning from the stunt guys.
11:34I think they're incredibly talented athletes,
11:36and they're so particular about where everything should be
11:39and the timing of everything.
11:40And I think it's an art form in itself.
11:43I just saw John Wick 3, not to go off topic.
11:46No, you're fine.
11:48And, yeah, so I'm a big fan of kind of really getting stuck into that sort of stuff.
11:53There's a scene in episode four in the sauna,
11:57and it's a hugely physical and emotional scene halfway through the season.
12:02And I took all my prosthetics and my wig and everything off at the end of the week
12:08of shooting that scene.
12:09And I was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises,
12:12and I took all the skin off the top of my toes.
12:14I mean, just kind of invest in it.
12:16So much fun in a lot of ways.
12:18And I just, yeah, I find new things to fall in love with about this every day.
12:24Okay.
12:24Well, speaking of your prosthetics, we interviewed,
12:28one of my coworkers interviewed, Gaten.
12:30Yeah.
12:30And he was saying it's not fair, I think, that you have to,
12:34that you had a hair piece.
12:36He had to grow his hair out, like, naturally, and you got a head piece.
12:39A lot of them have to live with it, yeah.
12:40Even when they leave set, everyone's living with it.
12:43It's good I can put on a hat and grow a beard.
12:45Yeah.
12:45You know, whereas you can see Joe Keery from a mile away
12:48facing the other direction.
12:50It's just, you know what I mean?
12:51That's true.
12:52What's a favorite scene of yours?
12:54The final scene.
12:56Okay.
12:56Between Millie and I at the end, I really enjoyed.
12:59How long did that take?
13:00Three days.
13:01Oh, gotcha.
13:02So much fun.
13:03Huge set component, huge CGI component.
13:06Yeah.
13:06And then what's it like when you step off the set at the end of that last?
13:10I think you have to be able to strip it, you know what I mean?
13:12Sure.
13:13If you've got a partner to go home to or friends or family, I feel like you can't take that
13:17kind of energy back.
13:18Yeah.
13:18That's what I mean by empathizing, finding empathy for the character or similarities.
13:23So you can leave and kind of...
13:24I remember I had this, you know, super kind of eccentric drama teacher at university, and
13:32she used to say, like, pretend you're washing water over your face.
13:37And I was at school, I was like, oh, that's such, like, drama or whatever.
13:40And then I get off set, and I'm like, I sit in the car on the way home, and I'm imagining,
13:45like, the water running down my head, and it's kind of nice.
13:47You know what I mean?
13:48Yeah.
13:48Because you have such long days, I don't...
13:50I feel like that short time when you see your partner or whoever, you can't kind of bring
13:54it back.
13:55We've all enjoyed watching you.
13:56As Billy, you seem like a great, super talented actor.
14:00Really excited to see where you go from here.
14:02Thank you so much for being here.
14:03Thank you guys all for watching.
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