Whatever Happened To Stranger Things' Heartthrob Dacre Montgomery?

Dacre Montgomery's career was in full gear in 2022, around the time he decided to step back from acting for a reassessment. The handsome actor had just appeared in a supporting role in the Academy Award nominated and Austin Butler-led film "Elvis," so the move was unexpected to say the least. But even though he was away from film and TV for a hot minute, Montgomery was certainly not wasting his time during this hiatus. No, he was plotting his career and letting his creativity flow — and now that he is back to filmmaking, he is doing some exciting new things. And only some of them relate to acting.

Montgomery made his feature film debut in 2016's "Better Watch Out," after a handful of years appearing in mostly music videos and shorts. He gained a bit of notice for his subsequent films — namely "Power Rangers" — but it was 80s-set smash hit "Stranger Things" that really put Montgomery on the map. He played Billy Hargrove, an antagonist featured in Seasons 2 and 3 of the show, from 2017 through 2019, then returned for two episodes in 2022 during Season 4. But what happened to Montgomery after "Stranger Things" and "Elvis," and why did he take an extended break? Though it may not be the traditional move to leave just when one's acting career is heating up, Dacre Montgomery had good reasons for wanting to temporarily ditch Hollywood.

Montgomery took on no mainstream acting roles for three years, and only worked on one project — the psychological ghost story "Went Up the Hill," which filmed in New Zealand during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. This was by design, partially because Montgomery was feeling overwhelmed by the quickening pace of his career. "I've given a piece of myself to every role I've played and that's largely why I've taken time off," he explained to The Australian. "Lately, there's been a lot of personal reflection about what I want in my career. I'm trying to gain a bit more control over where and what I'm working on."

In a separate interview with People, the actor explained that he was less interested in the commercial projects he was being pushed toward post-"Stranger Things" and more interested in arthouse films and character-driven pieces. He has also, on multiple occasions, alluded to a general discomfort with fame. "Traditional Hollywood stars existed because there was mystery, right?," he said to The Australian. "Social media has done away with that. That's a large part of why I dropped off the map for the last five years. I'm not trying to compete with anyone else, I'm living my truth — and hopefully being able to pay the rent while I'm doing it."

Fans of Dacre Montgomery need not worry, as the actor's self-imposed hiatus did not last long. In 2024, he was announced as the star, director, and producer of "The Engagement Party," an intense drama co-starring Lily Sullivan, Abbey Lee, and Arlo Green. This will mark Montgomery's first time directing a feature film, though he previously directed and produced two shorts (and was an executive producer on "Went Up the Hill"), which prepared him for the job(s).

He also learned from his time on set acting, working with legends such as Gus Van Sant and Baz Luhrmann. "I was really getting to a point in my acting career where I was sitting on sets ... saying to the director, 'What do you think about this? Maybe you could try it that way?,'" Montgomery recalled to People. "My thing was just like, I want to be in control of the storytelling."

Montgomery has said it took him five or six years to shift his projects to be closer to his overall career goals, which includes both directing and acting. Now, he told People, "I kind of feel like I'm in a really, really good space with a couple of great movies coming up that fit the bill ... in terms of where I wanted to be." Montgomery's other upcoming acting projects include Van Sant's "Dead Man's Wire" and the horror flick "Faces of Death."