Dacre Montgomery Explains Why He Vanished From Hollywood and What’s Next
By Avery Sinclair. Can’t wait to see how this turns out. Dacre Montgomery, best known as the snarling, sunglasses-and-mullet menace Billy Hargrove on Stranger Things, says he intentionally vanished from Hollywood for roughly five years because modern fame killed the one thing actors used to trade in: mystery.
Let us not dress this up. Montgomery, now 30, told The Australian that the era of manufactured mystique is over and social media is the executioner. He told interviewers that the traditional Hollywood star existed because audiences did not have constant access to their off-screen lives, and that loss of privacy shaped his decision to “drop off the map” for several years, according to coverage in the Daily Mail and the original Australian interview. He did not quit because he stopped liking acting. He quit, in part, because the job began to require commodifying himself in ways he was not willing to accept.
That sounds noble, and also like a practical survival tactic. Montgomery admitted he has given a piece of himself to every role he has taken, and after a run on a global hit like Stranger Things, that can add up to identity fatigue. He said he spent his hiatus reflecting on what he actually wants from his career, trying to regain personal autonomy and pick projects that do not evaporate him into a 24/7 marketing persona. He summed it up plainly: he is not trying to out-hustle anyone. He is trying to live his truth and pay the rent while doing it. That quote has the refreshing honesty of a person who does not enjoy posturing.
He will not be in the final season of Stranger Things, but Montgomery has not burned bridges. He told ScreenRant he is excited for the Duffer Brothers to move on to new stories, noting he knows they have other ideas they have wanted to pursue for years. He also offered a warm, realistic endorsement of Sadie Sink, his former costar, praising her talent and predicting a healthy post-Stranger Things career for her. So it is less a renegade exile than a strategic reentry.
Montgomery’s first major return to screens is the film Went Up the Hill, which opened August 15. The timing says something: he needed time to recalibrate, pick a project he believed in, and return on his own terms. That is consistent with a growing trend of actors who take calculated breaks to avoid the mental and professional costs of relentless visibility.
This is not an isolated phenomenon. The piece surrounding Montgomery’s comments placed his story alongside other high-profile departures from sustained public life. Ellen DeGeneres, amid workplace controversies and a messy winddown of her talk show, announced a final Netflix special and later moved to England. Tyra Banks relocated to Australia in part to grow her ice cream business and prioritize family life. These are not quits born of shame; they are repositionings. Some stars are pivoting to private lives or slower careers, or are monetizing outside Hollywood, and they are doing it loudly enough for the rest of the industry to notice.
Montgomery’s narrative is appealing because it mixes self-preservation with pragmatism. He is not moralizing about the industry or pretending he is above commerce; he is saying the terms changed and he opted out until he could enter on better terms. There is humility in admitting that being known for one role can suffocate you, and sense in waiting to choose your next step rather than cashing in impulsively.
So what should we expect? More selective roles, fewer party photos, and an actor who values the boundary between performance and personhood. Will he maintain relevance in an attention economy that rewards constant content? That remains to be seen. But Montgomery’s approach is increasingly a playbook: take time, recalibrate, return with projects you control. That is not dramatic. It is grown-up. And boring to the algorithm, which apparently is just fine with him.
Closing thought: he walked away when fame felt too invasive, and he came back when he could do it his way. That is not a scandal. It is a strategy. And that is today’s dose of reality. You’re welcome.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and The Australian, Daily Mail, ScreenRant, E! Online
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
