Jamie Campbell Bower — things you didn't know about the TV and film star

Jamie Campbell Bower has starred in some of the biggest movie franchises of recent times including The Twilight Saga and Harry Potter. 

Now the actor is about to feature in one of the most popular series on the small screen as he joins Netflix's Stranger Things for season 4. 

The British born star has always wanted to act but he's also a musician and model, with chiselled good looks and an edgy vibe that make him perfectly suited for roles about the supernatural and the darker side of life. 

We know he's a talented and popular actor but here are a few things that you might not know…

Jamie Campbell Bower had to keep his role in Stranger Things secret for almost a year

Netflix officially announced that Jamie would be joining the Stranger Things cast in November 2020, but the actor had known about his exciting new venture for months before.

He told NME.com in 2021: "I was told about it in January of last year, and I had to keep it under wraps for so long. I’m still to this day humbled and blown away by the fact that I’ve been allowed this opportunity. 

“I still have those ‘pinch me’ moments. I’ve done some work already, and just being there is a real experience. There’s just something really magical and really special about working on that job.”

Jamie's Instagram post below also reveals his feelings about his new role. He says: "I am humbled and honored to be joining the @strangerthingstv cast and crew. See you out there. X"

Jamie will play Peter Ballard in Stranger Things, season 4, Vol 1, which is available on the streaming platform from Friday, May 27, with Vol 2 coming on July 1.

So far all we know about the character is that he works in the psychiatric hospital where a murderer called Victor Creel (played by Robert Englund who was Freddy Kreuger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies) is imprisoned. 

His debut film role was with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter

Jamie hit the ground running when he first started his career, bagging his first film role alongside some Hollywood heavyweights including  Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall.

In the 2007 movie, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the young Jamie played Anthony Hope. The film was directed by Tim Burton, Stephen Sondheim provided the music and Jamie was just a little bit daunted by his prestigious castmates. 

He told Observer.com that his first day at work on the project was "terrifying,” and also revealed how ridiculously happy he was when he got the call telling him the role was his: “I was out shopping at the time and I got this call on my mobile. I was just like, 'OH MY GOD!' Honestly, I was like a little girl running around this shop like, 'oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god.'”

He went to boarding school with lots of famous faces

Jamie went to a boarding school called Bedales in Hampshire from the age of eight to 17. It's not a stage school but many famous actors and musicians have also graduated from the same place including Daniel Day Lewis, Minnie Driver and Ted Lasso star Juno Temple was even in the same year as Jamie. 

Singer Lily Allen is also a former student and the band The Kooks. Known for its liberal and relaxed attitude, there is no school uniform and the teachers and pupils all call each other by their first names, which maybe explains why so many of its ex-pupils go on to flourish in the arts. 

Jamie counts Sir Ian McKellen as an old friend 

In 2009 Jamie won a role in the ITV remake of the classic 1960s cult drama The Prisoner. He spent four and a half months in Namibia, Africa alongside his co-stars Hayley Atwell and Ruth Wilson and became great mates with the leading star of the remake Sir Ian McKellen. 

He told the Evening Standard at the time: "What have I learned from Sir Ian? Everything. He did take me under his wing a little bit. He's absolutely lovely and genuine and we are very good friends now. He taught me how to be myself and how to be a gentleman. We went stir-crazy in Namibia for all those months. He was a shining light and kept us sane."

He plays a mean vampire

Jamie's first role in a smash-hit book-to-movie franchise saw him play Caius, an evil Volturi vampire in the second film from the hugely popular series, The Twilight Saga: New Moon. He starred alongside Good Omens actor Michael Sheen who plays the role of Aro the leader of the Volturi.  

He continued to play Caius in both Breaking Dawn sequels and found a legion of dedicated fans in the process. 

He played the same character in two movie franchises

Jamie is the only actor to star in both the Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts franchises as the same character. 

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 he plays the role of the young Gellert Grindelwald, an old childhood friend of the great wizard Albus Dumbledore, but who turned to the dark side and became one of the biggest villains in the wizarding world. 

In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, he plays the young Gellert Grindelwald once again, with Johnny Depp playing the older Grindelwald for the first two movies. The character is then played by Mads Mikkelsen for the third installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which was released in April 2022.

He is also a musician

A passionate musician Jamie has been in bands for most of his life, the latest being a punk band called Counterfeit. Check out the cover of Kerrang magazine below with Jamie looking every inch the rebellious rockstar. 

Since they split in late 2020 Jamie has continued as a solo artist under the name Jamie Bower.  

He is the voice of Skiff in children's animation Thomas & Friends

Jamie may have made a name for himself playing darker roles, but in 2015 he took on a very different character as he provided the voice for sail boat Skiff in the children's feature-length animation, Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.

He told Animation World Network.com: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this project. I grew up with Thomas & Friends so it’s been really exciting to be able to get involved in this new feature special and voice the character of Skiff. It is a great show to be involved in and incredibly fun to record. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first animation and I look forward to everyone seeing the end result.”

And he wasn't the only big name to lend his voice to the iconic children's characters as actor Eddie Redmayne played new character Ryan and legendary actor John Hurt played Sailor John.

Jamie Campbell Bower’s fact file

Frequently asked questions about the star…

Instagram: @bowerjamie

Twitter: @Jamiebower

We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.