“Stranger Things” wears its influences on its sleeves, and they don’t always stem from horror and sci-fi. Case in point — Mr Whatsit (Jamie Campbell Bower), Henry Creel’s smiling, child-abducting alter-ego in “Stranger Things” Season 5, was influenced by the titular host of classic kids’ show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” with Bower studying the series for tips on how to play the type of person young people would trust.
“I spent time watching Mr Rogers, old things like that, movies like The Pied Piper Of Hamelin from the ’50s,” the actor told SFX. “I spent a long time thinking about that and understanding that this isn’t Henry too much. This is a new iteration, a new version.” Originally airing on PBS in 1968, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” is an educational series renowned for promoting wholesome values like empathy, acceptance, and kindness.
Its host, Fred Rogers, was affectionately dubbed “America’s Favorite Neighbor, so he was arguably the perfect model for Bower to study while bringing Whatsit to life. “It was this presentation of what he would be as a human at this point in time,” Bower added. “Then there was this idea of, ‘How do I make this other person feel safe enough to be my toy, my thing that helps me to win?'”
Creel’s history also inspired Mr Whatsit
Prior to becoming the villainous Vecna on “Stranger Things,” Henry Creel was the first subject of Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), who experimented on him and other kids with special abilities. This aspect of Creel’s history also informed his Mr Whatsit persona, according to “Stranger Things” costume designer Amy Parris in an interview with Tudum.
“Brenner was in brown, warm tonal suits early on when he was training all of his numbers, and No. 1 [Creel] was obviously around him the most, so I would think that — even subliminally — Henry would reach for something that was a friendly warm brown color.” Additonally, Parris revealed that Mr Whatsit’s red bowtie was added as a visual nod to Mr. Rogers, who was known for wearing red sweaters on his show. The name, meanwhile, is a nod to Mrs. Whatsit from “A Wrinkle in Time,” Madeleine L’Engle’s classic sci-fi novel that appears as a recurring easter egg in “Stranger Things” Season 5.