'Stranger Things' star Dacre Montgomery tells kids to ignore their failures. He did

Sonja Haller

"Stranger Things" star Dacre Montgomery was a mess.

The star who plays bad boy Billy shared in a heartfelt post on Instagram this week sharing that he had a lot of failures in his youth.

Among them:

  • He never got passing grades.

  • He was fired from his first job.

  • He was asked to leave drama school.

  • He failed his high school drama exams.

"When I was a kid, I was lost," wrote Montgomery, 24, sharing a picture from childhood with a half-smile on his round face. "I had a really tough time in school. I was a big kid who loved drama."

'I suffered from anxiety'

The arts discipline didn't love him back when he was young. Other areas of academics and school weren't any easier, nor was luck with the ladies.

"I wasn’t popular or a gifted sports player. Girls were never interested in me. I suffered from anxiety from a young age. I was distracted and I wasn’t focused," he said. "But I had a dream, I was lucky – I knew what I wanted to do. And every night I went home and I focused on THAT."

He also dishes on creating monsters: 'Stranger Things': Lip gloss was secret ingredient to getting Billy to look so sweaty

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When I was a kid, I was lost. I had a really tough time in school. I was a big kid who loved drama. I never got passing grades, I wasn’t popular or a gifted sports player. Girls were never interested in me. I suffered from anxiety from a young age. I was distracted and I wasn’t focused. But I had a dream, I was lucky - I knew what I wanted to do. And every night I went home and I focused on THAT. I visualised a future where my dreams became a reality. When I was 15 I failed my high school drama exams. When I was 16 I was told I needed to loose weight. When I was 17 I was told I should go to drama school and train. When I was 18 I was fired from my job. When I was in drama school I was told to leave. When I had a DREAM - I was told it wasn’t achievable. Well, you know what.... I lost weight, I went to drama school and I never stopped wanting it, I never stopped being curious. I never let the failures get me down. Because I believed in myself and I never let anyone tell me otherwise. You can do anything you set your mind to. So, go out there and get it!

A post shared by Dacre Montgomery (@dacremontgomery) on Jul 22, 2019 at 11:26am PDT

A challenge to struggling kids

Montgomery said throughout his teen years his dream of being an actor was derailed both by own doing and by others who didn't believe in him. But he continued to visualize a future "where my dreams became a reality." Even after someone told him "it wasn’t achievable."

He got his act together.

"I lost weight, I went to drama school and I never stopped wanting it, I never stopped being curious. I never let the failures get me down," he said.

He issued a challenge to struggling kids to do the same and to go after that dream. Don't listen to people who tell you it's not achievable, don't look back at your own failures.

"Because I believed in myself and I never let anyone tell me otherwise," he said. "You can do anything you set your mind to. So, go out there and get it!"

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Stranger Things' star Dacre Montgomery talks tough years as a kid