It’s not easy to secure a place in the acclaimed cast of Stranger Things, but season 3’s stand-out star Dacre Montgomery went to impressive lengths to win the role of Billy. Debuting in mid-2016, Stranger Things soon became a runaway hit for streaming service Netflix and its pair of creators, Hidden directors the Duffer Brothers, and it’s not hard to see why the series was such an instant success with viewers and critics alike.
A unique mix of horror, sci-fi, small-town mystery and nostalgic coming-of-age '80s dramedy, Stranger Things combined Stephen King with Steven Spielberg in its tale of a missing boy, his plucky group of friends, and the mysterious telekinetic girl they encounter. Stranger Things soon broadened the scope of its story to include a twisty government conspiracy, and with its more ambitious scope came new characters played by notable '80s icons like Sean Astin, Cary Elwes, and Paul Reiser.
However, not all of the names in the growing cast list of Stranger Things were so well-known, and the series served as a launching pad for the careers of young stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Natalia Dyer. Season 2 of Stranger Things saw the arrival of some fresh new faces to join the cast, and among them was Better Watch Out scene-stealer Dacre Montgomery. An Australian actor, Montgomery impressed the creators of Stranger Things with a homemade tape almost as legendary as his fellow countryman Mel Gibson’s Mad Max audition. Filled with Duran Duran dancing, Stephen King nods, and menacing half-naked pouting, Montgomery’s audition nailed the combination of over-the-top cheesiness and a genuinely unhinged threat that the creators of Stranger Things needed to nail in the role of bully Billy.
To secure the role of Billy, the elder stepbrother of Max, a minor antagonist in Stranger Things season 2, and the primary villain of season 3, Montgomery shot his own audition tape which consisted of him dancing shirtless to underrated '80s band Dexy’s Midnight Runners, listening to Duran Duran as he rants in-character, and recreating Kiefer Sutherland’s iconically chilling Stand By Me villain monologue. The unhinged clip, even sans context, captures the goofy, but undeniably menacing, '80s villain aesthetic that the character embodies, with elements of the mean-spirited meathead performance borrowing from influences as diverse as Jack Nicholson’s The Shining villain Jack Torrance and The Karate Kid’s villain/Cobra Kai’s antihero Johnny Lawrence.
Despite the then-relatively unknown status of Montgomery, the audition tape meant the actor got noticed for Stranger Things and the actor’s role on the show grew from a supporting part in season 2 to a pivotal player in the plot of Stranger Things season 3. While the end of season 3 brought the death of Billy, Montgomery at least got to retire the Stranger Things villain with a surprisingly poignant, redemptive self-sacrifice that gave the character a more rounded arc and impactful end – that is, assuming Billy isn’t set to reappear later like fellow Stranger Things season 3 “casualty” Hopper.