Dacre Montgomery

Intro

Dacre Montgomery is an Australian actor known for Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things and Jason Scott, the Red Ranger, in the 2017 Power Rangers film. Those roles brought him to large international audiences, but they do not describe the whole of his screen work. A romantic comedy and an intimate possession drama offer other routes into his career. His performances can be approached through the different demands of a franchise ensemble, a developing relationship and a story in which physical behaviour becomes part of the mystery.

Career snapshot

Montgomery trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. The academy's own account of his early screen career highlighted the rapid move from its acting course into Power Rangers, where he appeared alongside Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Banks. Training and professional opportunity sit close together in that chapter of his biography. The role required him to enter an established franchise while introducing a new film version of a familiar hero. It is specifically the 2017 feature performance, rather than an appearance in the original television cast.

The entry point

Netflix announced Montgomery as Billy for the second season of Stranger Things. The announcement introduced him as Max's older stepbrother, with confidence and volatility central to his arrival. That family connection matters when following the series: Billy is connected to Sadie Sink's Max through the blended household, not through a shared surname or a simple friendship. His arrival changed the pressures around the younger characters. For viewers discovering Montgomery through the film work, Billy supplies a markedly different use of physical presence from the heroic responsibilities associated with the Red Ranger.

Screen identity and style

The Broken Hearts Gallery cast Montgomery as Nick opposite Geraldine Viswanathan. Released in 2020 and written and directed by Natalie Krinsky, the film moves into romantic comedy, with an exhibition of objects from past relationships at the centre of its premise. The change of genre offers a useful comparison with his earlier breakthrough roles. In a relationship comedy, scenes depend on conversation, misunderstandings and the gradual alteration of how two people see one another. A viewing path through these films therefore reveals more than a repeated image of the same young leading man.

Collaborations and patterns

In Samuel Van Grinsven's Went Up the Hill, Montgomery plays Jack, who travels to his estranged mother's funeral and meets her widow, Jill, played by Vicky Krieps. The deceased woman's presence begins to affect both of them through possession. The Curb's festival interview described the performance problem as two actors conveying three presences. That premise makes bodily detail especially important: a shift in behaviour can suggest someone other than the person whose face is visible. The film connects grief and unresolved family relationships with the unsettling conventions of a ghost story.

Era reflection

Speaking to ABC Australia in 2025, Montgomery discussed the difficult cold during the New Zealand location shoot and the work he and Krieps did with movement coach Polly Bennett. He described the story in terms of two people trying to understand the damage left by the same person, with each holding a different version of her. That account gives a concrete way to watch the performances without assuming that the supernatural element explains everything. He also identified Jack as his first Australian character, an unusual milestone for an Australian performer already widely recognized for American roles.

Legacy and rediscovery

The photographs here show Montgomery at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 and in a public appearance in 2024. They document the performer rather than illustrating Billy, Jason or Jack in costume. Keeping that distinction visible allows the gallery to accompany the career without making a misleading claim about a particular scene. A short introduction to his work can move from Power Rangers to The Broken Hearts Gallery and then Went Up the Hill, comparing the scale of the productions and the different kinds of relationships each role asks him to establish.

Selected screen roles

• Power Rangers: Jason Scott / Red Ranger — 2017
• Stranger Things: Billy Hargrove — From season 2
• The Broken Hearts Gallery: Nick — 2020
• Went Up the Hill: Jack — 2024 festival premiere

A career in pictures

Two distinct public-appearance photographs show Dacre Montgomery in 2017 and 2024.

At San Diego Comic-Con (2017)

Dacre Montgomery speaking at a panel

Photographed by Gage Skidmore on July 22, 2017.

Public appearance (2024)

Dacre Montgomery surrounded by attendees

Photographed by John Bauld on September 5, 2024. This is an event photograph, not a production still.

Rewatch notes

• Montgomery trained at WAAPA.
• He plays Jason Scott in the 2017 Power Rangers film.
• Billy is Max's older stepbrother in Stranger Things.