Jamie Campbell Bower Says Rings of Power Role Is a Welcome Break From Vecna

Jamie Campbell Bower, known for portraying the villain Vecna on Stranger Things, has found a very different kind of role in the third season of Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He plays Celeborn, the long-lost husband of Galadriel, a character he describes as a welcome departure from the darkness of his previous work.

Speaking at the season premiere in New York, Bower called the part "the perfect kind of antidote" to his emotionally taxing experience on Stranger Things. He said he told his therapist at a convention in early 2025 that he would not take another villain role for a while because it took a toll on him. Playing Celeborn, he said, has been "beautiful" and "gorgeous."

Celeborn's character has a complex history in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, with multiple versions of his origins. Bower noted that the ambiguity gave him room to interpret the elf with sensitivity and vulnerability, rather than adhering to a single established version. His performance focuses on the character's emotional state as he reunites with Galadriel.

The third season picks up five years after Season 2, with the war against Sauron already underway. Celeborn appears in flashbacks and later episodes. IGN's review of the first four episodes gave the season an 8 out of 10, calling it a streamlined war story that refocuses on the central conflict between good and evil.