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Stranger Things: The First Shadow star talks playing young Henry Creel on Broadway: “Aside from the night terrors, it’s a joy”

At the Stranger Things on Broadway panel at New York Comic Con, Louis McCartney shared the challenges (and the gifts) of playing young Henry Creel (aka Vecna) 8 shows a week

News by Jim McDermott, Contributing writer

Published on Sun Oct 12 2025

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Asked at the Stranger Things on Broadway panel how he copes with playing the tortured young Henry Creel every night, Stranger Things: The First Shadow star Louis McCartney revealed that it ain’t easy.

“Last year, my partner was really terrified of me, I’d have horrible night terrors,” the actor revealed about playing the character who would one day become Vecna, the big bad of the series lore. Normally a sleepwalker and sleep-talker anyway, McCartney admitted, “through the show, it’s gotten way worse. I woke up once in the middle of the night and sat up like in The Exorcist. And I pointed to the door, and then I went back to bed. I went up again ten minutes later and pointed to the TV. And I did it again, and I did it again, and I did it again, and I did it again, until I was pointing to her side of the bed. There was something I was pointing at for an hour. I didn’t remember any of this, obviously. And she said afterwards, ‘You’ve got to stop doing that.’”

Another time, McCartney shared, “I had a dream that there were four nuns tucking me into bed, and I woke up animalistically screaming—like, nobody should hear you scream like this—‘No! No! Get them off me!’”

“But aside from the night terrors,” he went on, “it’s just a joy.”

Though that sounds like a great one-liner (and God, did we need a laugh at that point), the Tony-nominated McCartney went on detail just how much he’s loved bringing in the show from the West End to New York. “Grappling with new story ideas, new people and their personalities, learning and growing with a new family—it’s been great, it’s been so much fun with this new lot. It’s just amazing.”

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is currently playing at The Marquis Theatre in New York City.

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