Jamie Campbell Bower details primary source of inspiration behind Mr. Whatsit

Jamie Campbell Bower took on a slightly modified role in the final season of Stranger Things — Mr. Whatsit, the alter ego to Henry/Vecna, who initially appeared as an imaginary friend to the schoolchildren of Hawkins.

To play the part, the English actor detailed his inspiration behind the creation of the character, borrowing from the infamous cult leader Jim Jones.

“Jim Jones was an early reference for me,” he told Variety. “He was on the mood board, even with regard to certain things that he’s saying when the kids are all in front of him.”

Jones was the leader of a cult called the Peoples Temple and guided more than 900 of his Jonestown disciples to commit mass suicide in 1978.

“There were points where I thought, ‘Do I say the word ‘you’ or do I use the word ‘we’? We’re a family now,’” Bower recalled his Jim Jones-inspired routine for Mr. Whatsit. “That’s really grim! It totally can remove the idea of autonomy, so definitely there had to be that level of cult leader-esqueness about him.”

Further noting the difference in his approach to the antagonistic role from the show’s previous season to the current, the 37-year-old actor added, “What you saw in Season 4 happened, and it was real. This is very much like, how nice can I be to these poor children to make them feel as comfortable as possible in this world? And how much of my experience am I burying within that?”

He also said that “it’s always a really terrifying prospect” when an actor has to perform opposite another while “your intentions are so deeply buried.”

“There’s a level of real dishonesty in that, and that’s really scary. It’s really hard, particularly opposite a child,” he said.

Jamie Campbell Bower first joined Stranger Things in its fourth season, only to be revealed as the show’s new villain Vecna by the end of it.

He took on the role again in Season Five, which is due to conclude the show with the release of its final episode on December 31.