Image via Miguel Discart & Kiri Karma / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Jamie Campbell Bower at a panel, October 2025.
Tomorrow, Jamie Campbell Bower walks into Middle-earth as an elf. It is the last thing anyone would have guessed for him four years ago, when he was the most feared face on Netflix.
Bower plays Celeborn in The Rings of Power season 3, which premieres on November 11. Celeborn is Galadriel's long-lost husband, a hero, and a long way from the monster that made Bower famous. He told Winter Is Coming he wanted the role to be the opposite of Vecna in every way.
The monster of Hawkins
Most people met Bower as Henry Creel, the orderly who turned out to be Vecna in Stranger Things season 4. The make-up took up to eight hours a day, and the voice he found for the part stayed with viewers long after the credits.
He came back for the fifth and final season in 2025, and the role earned him the best reviews of his career. In December 2025 he even brought Vecna to Broadway, with a surprise appearance in the final scene of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. It was his Broadway debut, and it lasted one night.
The part changed how Hollywood saw him. Before Vecna, he was the pretty boy from three fantasy franchises. After it, he was a character actor who could carry a show's darkest story.
Image via Kevin Paul / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Jamie Campbell Bower at San Diego Comic-Con, 2026.
| Quick Facts | Jamie Campbell Bower |
|---|---|
| Full name | James Metcalfe Campbell Bower |
| Born | 22 November 1988, Hammersmith, London, England |
| Age | 37 (turns 38 on 22 November 2026) |
| Nationality | English |
| Zodiac | Scorpio |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Profession | Actor, singer, musician |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Education | Bedales School, Hampshire |
| Parents | Anne Elizabeth Roseberry (music manager), David Bower (Gibson Guitar Corporation) |
| Siblings | Younger brother Samuel (born 1994) |
| Partner | Elena Taber (since 2025) |
| Best known for | Vecna in Stranger Things; Celeborn in The Rings of Power |
A London childhood
Bower was born in Hammersmith, London, on 22 November 1988. His mother manages musicians and his father works for the Gibson Guitar Corporation, so music was in the house from the start. He played the violin as a child, taught by the Suzuki method.
He went to Bedales School in Hampshire, and spent his teens with London's National Youth Music Theatre and National Youth Theatre. He has mild dyslexia, which he has talked about openly since a 2007 interview.
His break came through a friend. Actress Laura Michelle Kelly put him forward to her agent, and at 19 he was cast as Anthony Hope in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Three fantasy franchises before he was 25
Bower's twenties were a run through the biggest fantasy series of the time. He played Caius, one of the Volturi, in The Twilight Saga: New Moon in 2009, and came back for both Breaking Dawn films. He played the young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in 2010, and played him again in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.
In between he took the lead in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones in 2013, as Jace Wayland, and played King Arthur in the Starz series Camelot in 2011. He also played the poet Christopher Marlowe in the TNT series Will in 2017, and spent a season in the West End as Joe in Bend It Like Beckham in 2015.
Not everything landed. HBO announced him for a Game of Thrones prequel, Bloodmoon, in January 2019, then decided not to make it. He kept working anyway, with films like Six Days of Sistine in 2019 and Horizon: An American Saga in 2024, and years of voice work as Skiff in Thomas & Friends.
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope |
| 2008 | RocknRolla | Rocker |
| 2009 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Caius |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | Young Gellert Grindelwald |
| 2011 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 | Caius |
| 2012 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Caius |
| 2013 | The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | Jace Wayland |
| 2018 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | Young Gellert Grindelwald |
| 2019 | Six Days of Sistine | Jean-Baptiste |
| 2024 | Horizon: An American Saga | Caleb Sykes |
| 2024 | Witchboard | Alexander Babtiste |
| 2024 | Emmanuelle | Sir John |
| Year | Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Prisoner | 11–12 (6 episodes) |
| 2011 | Camelot | King Arthur (10 episodes) |
| 2017 | Will | Christopher Marlowe (10 episodes) |
| 2015–2020 | Thomas & Friends | Skiff (voice) |
| 2022–2025 | Stranger Things | Henry Creel / Vecna (seasons 4–5) |
| 2026 | The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | Celeborn (season 3) |
The music never stopped
Acting is only half of Bower's work. He fronted the London punk band Counterfeit from 2015 to 2020, as lead singer and guitarist. The band put out its first album in March 2017 and toured the US, then split in November 2020.
He went solo after that, and in April 2024 he formed a new band, BloodMagic. He put out the solo single "Waiting for Your Love" in March 2026, and in July 2026 he joined Biffy Clyro on stage at Finsbury Park to sing "Machines".
He modelled too, in his early years. He worked with Burberry, Dior, Hugo Boss, Fendi and Saint Laurent, and walked for Tom Ford at Milan Fashion Week in 2024.
Image via Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Jamie Campbell Bower at San Diego Comic-Con, 2013.
Life off screen
Bower splits his time between London and Los Angeles. He dated Bonnie Wright, his Harry Potter co-star, from 2009 to 2012, and the two were engaged for a time before they split. He was then with Lily Collins from 2012 to 2018. Since 2025 he has been dating social media personality Elena Taber.
He has spoken plainly about his past with alcohol and mental health. In July 2022 he wrote that he had been in active addiction twelve and a half years earlier, and had ended up in hospital for his mental health. He said he was then seven and a half years clean and sober, and that each day was a chance to start again. His old band Counterfeit released a song, "It Gets Better", on the same theme.
What is next
Celeborn is the role in front of him now, with The Rings of Power season 3 landing on November 11. He also has the horror film The Haunting in Wicker Park coming, and True Haunting, in which he plays Ed Becker, is in post-production.
He turns 38 on November 22, eleven days after the season 3 premiere. It is a good birthday week for an actor who spent years being cast as the dark stranger, and is now playing the good elf instead. Fans of the other big fantasy prequel can read about Stranger Things: Other Worlds too, the 1950s-set series coming in 2028.
FAQs
How old is Jamie Campbell Bower? He is 37, born on 22 November 1988 in London. He turns 38 on 22 November 2026.
Who does Jamie Campbell Bower play in The Rings of Power? He plays Celeborn, Galadriel's long-lost husband, in season 3, which premieres on November 11, 2026.
Is Jamie Campbell Bower Vecna in Stranger Things? Yes. He played Henry Creel, also known as One and Vecna, in seasons 4 and 5 of Stranger Things.
What is Jamie Campbell Bower's net worth? He has never shared a figure, and the numbers you see online are guesses, not facts. This page does not print one.
Who is Jamie Campbell Bower dating? He has been dating social media personality Elena Taber since 2025. He was previously with Bonnie Wright and Lily Collins.
Does Jamie Campbell Bower sing? Yes. He fronted the band Counterfeit from 2015 to 2020, and formed a new band, BloodMagic, in 2024.
Read More: The Rings of Power Season 3 Trailer: Sauron's One Ring Quest and 11 November Release Date
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