“Stranger Things” fans are already preparing to return to the Upside Down when the third season of the Duffer Brothers-created Netflix series launches Thursday. But Dacre Montgomery told TheWrap you should actually be ready for things to go more “sideways” for his character Billy Hargrove than completely upside down. At least at first.
Billy, the older step brother of Max Mayfield (played by Sadie Sink), starts off “Stranger Things 3” as a life guard at the community pool, which sounds sunny and fun, but Montgomery says things takes a dark turn — fast.
“I think it’s good, because it becomes so much more sinister after that and I think it’s a really nice distraction for the first episode,” he told TheWrap, in the interview above, noting things go “sideways so quickly” after that.
Promos have already hinted that Billy is connected to whatever dark force is haunting the fictional Hawkins, Indiana on the show’s third season, but Montgomery was very cagey about how he’s linked to the new monster (which might be linked to the Mind Flayer) and the Upside Down.
“I can’t confirm or deny the Upside Down [connection], but I will say that it gets very dark and I am very lucky that my character has this amazing arc that doesn’t just include this antagonizing element, but has some really human qualities built into it and there is a really lovely payoff later in the season,” Montgomery said.
You should be happy to know Billy will spend less time bullying his little sister this season, as the actor says his arc centers more around “Billy and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) — and that becomes very evident, very quickly, as to why.”
As for how things end for everyone, including Billy, Montgomery definitely couldn’t tell us much of anything, but did say this: “I think [fans will] be happy with the season as a whole, you know, because Billy has this rewarding moment at the end of the season which I want people to hold out for. And I think they just get everything and more than they wanted or bargained for.”
Watch the full interview above.
“Stranger Things 3” launches Thursday on Netflix.