Dacre Montgomery, who played bully Billy Hargrove on the Netflix hit series Stranger Things, has opened up about being asked to leave drama school three times in his first year.
Opening up about his start in acting, Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery said he didn’t have the most positive experience, but believes that his “arrogance” was the cause of his problems.
‘I was maybe a little bit arrogant’
Montgomery was interviewed by Austin Butler for Netflix Queue and explained that, despite wanting to be a successful performer, he let his “arrogance’ take over and was almost kicked out of the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Art. He also explained that there was “a lot” going on in his life at the time.
“In the 90s, my mom did broadcasting at WAAPA, and my dad had done a bit of lecturing in the sound department there,” the TV star said about his school, “I was just fascinated by it. My high school was on the same campus, so every day I had to walk through this renowned drama school.
“I’m not going to lie to you: I think there are a lot of ups and downs about drama school. The first year, I got asked to leave the course three times.”
Montgomery had difficulties before joining Stranger Things
Dacre Montgomery, who starred in seasons two and three of Stranger Things, continued by telling the Elvis actor that there were elements of acting that he “didn’t want to learn.”
“I had spent so long manifesting this idea that I wanted to go to drama school, and once I was there, I was maybe a little bit arrogant. I didn’t want to learn Feldenkrais, I didn’t want to learn these multiple vocal techniques. There was a lot of stuff going on in my life: I got fired from my job, my girlfriend and I went on a break — all this stuff happened at the end of first year.
“The staff said, ‘Look, if you want to come back here after the summer, you’ve got to think long and hard about what you’re capable of.’ So I thought long and hard, and I came back, and we had our first public plays, and it was amazing.”
The cast of Stranger Things are ready to say goodbye
Mille Bobby Brown told Glamour last month that she was ready to say goodbye to the sci-fi series after playing Eleven since 2016.
“When you’re ready, you’re like, ‘All right, let’s do this. Let’s tackle this last senior year. Let’s get out of here,” the 20-year-old explained. Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film, and it’s preventing me from creating stories that I’m passionate about. So I’m ready to say, ‘Thank you, and goodbye.’”
She added that people shouldn’t fear; just because the show is coming to an end, it doesn’t mean that the cast won’t still see one another and be friends. “When it ends, I’m going to be able to still see these people.”
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