Dacre Montgomery

Dacre Montgomery’s character in the series ‘Stranger Things’ draws inspirations from a few real-life tragedies that Dacre had experienced. According to Dacre, his experience of being brutally bullied in school came extremely handy while shooting for the role.

Dacre has a sister who is 12 years younger to him, and he is extremely fond of her.

Dacre Montgomery was born on November 22, 1994, in Perth, Australia, to Scott and Judith Barrett–Lennard. His father was from New Zealand, and his mother was from Canada. The couple worked together in the Australian film industry, which inspired Dacre to develop a keen interest in movies. He grew up visiting film sets and watching actors perform in front of the camera. His fascination with acting drove him to learn the art.

Dacre was known as a fat kid in school and was bullied a lot. His love for acting gave him strength and made him work toward his dream of being an actor by participating in school plays. His parents were strict with him and did not allow him to go anywhere near a TV until he was a little older, fearing it would have a bad impact on his psyche.

He was not too good at academics and was much more interested in acting and other extracurricular activities. At the age of 12, he went to Vancouver with his parents and met an agent who advised him to lose weight. Dacre heeded the advice and went on a massive weight-loss journey.

He started attending acting classes at the age of 12 and went to the ‘Mount Lawley Senior High School.’ Apart from working in school productions, he continued with his acting classes and soon joined the ‘Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ (WAAPA). Once out of high school, he decided to earn his bachelor’s degree from the ‘WAAPA.’ It was a prestigious university with talented alumni such as Hollywood sensation Hugh Jackman.

Much before he started his program at the ‘WAAPA,’ Dacre had started appearing in short films and TV pilots.

He started his acting career as a teenager and appeared in a few short films, such as ‘Bertrand the Terrible’ in 2010. In 2011, he appeared in the pilot episode of the series ‘Family Tree.’ He disappeared for the next few years, owing to his university commitments. Upon graduating in 2015, he returned to full-fledged auditioning.

Before he got a solid acting assignment, he appeared in music videos for the songs ‘Old Souls’ and ‘Chateau.’ In 2015, he appeared in the short film ‘Godot’s Clinic.’ In the next two years, he featured in two independent feature films, ‘Safe Neighbourhood’ and ‘A Few Less Men.’

The year 2017 brought him huge success, with two major projects. He first appeared as one of the main leads, ‘Jason,’ in the film reboot of the popular kids’ show ‘Power Rangers.’ Dacre portrayed the iconic character with panache and did not let his lack of experience hinder his stellar performance. He was nominated for a ‘Teen Choice Award’ in the category of ‘Choice Movie Actor: Sci-fi’ for his performance as ‘Jason, the Red Ranger.’

In 2016, an announcement stated that he had been selected to play the role of an Australian bad guy, ‘Billy Hargrove,’ in the successful ‘Netflix’ series ‘Stranger Things.’ He joined the cast of the show as a regular character from the second season, and the cult series received further accolades for the performances of the cast. The second season surpassed the first season in terms of critics’ and users’ ratings.

Dacre, along with the cast of ‘Stranger Things,’ was nominated for a ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.’ In 2016, he appeared in the Australian–American psychological horror film ‘Better Watch Out.’ He played one of the leading roles in the film, which was immensely appreciated by critics. The movie was showcased at a number of film festivals. However, the box-office collections of the film were not too encouraging.