Don’t expect to see David Harbour on the small screen after Stranger Things Season 5: the actor is quitting TV and focusing on “original movies.”
Harbour has been acting for two-and-a-half decades. Like many American stars, he got his start in Law & Order, before queuing up appearances in Kinsey, Brokeback Mountain, War of the Worlds, Revolutionary Road, Quantum of Solace, Pan Am, End of Watch, The Newsroom, and The Equalizer.
Then came 2016, easily the most significant year of his career: his debut in Stranger Things as Hawkins’ chief of police, Jim Hopper. Since then, he’s nabbed roles in Hellboy (shhh), Extraction, No Sudden Move, Violent Night, and joined the MCU as Red Guardian.
He’s aware everyone knows him from Stranger Things, and that’s okay – but as the Netflix behemoth barrels towards its endgame, he’s ready to be recognized as more.
David Harbour is quitting TV after Stranger Things Season 5
In an interview with Insider for Gran Turismo, conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Harbour discussed looking ahead beyond Stranger Things and how his approach to finding work has evolved. “I have always been waiting for the man roles,” he said.
“My 20s never worked for me. For guys like me, we’re always waiting to be 40, even when we’re, like, 19. We’re waiting for the hairline to go. Those are the guys that I admired growing up, and those are the guys I wanted to emulate.”
In the interview, Harbour was delighted to be compared to Gene Hackman, and that singular acting force – as opposed to solely being part of an IP’s appeal – is his ultimate aspiration. “I hate the word ‘brand,’ but I want there to be something you get when you see a movie I’m in. You’ll get an emotional experience. You’ll get surprised,” he said.
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He wants to “make original movies that go to the movie theaters” and hopes people soon see him as David Harbour, not just the guy who plays Hopper. “I think about that a lot… It’s a funny position I’m in, which I never thought I would be in,” he explained.
“The first year of Stranger Things, I remember having a discussion with a publicist and her saying, ‘Maybe you don’t want to be associated with the show so much,’ and I was like, ‘Why? I love this show. I love the character.’ And I do love the show. And I do love the character. But I don’t want to be just that character. I don’t want to be just that guy.
“I think about George Clooney leaving ER. Now we just see him as George Clooney. But there was a time when it was, The guy from ER is doing a movie with Nicole Kidman. I’m trying to navigate some of that, and it’s tricky because you don’t want to sh*t on the people that love you for this thing that you did that you also love.
“But at the same time, you kind of want to leave the nest. I got more in me. I got different stuff in me, and I want you guys to see that. I don’t want people yelling ‘Hopper’ on the street every five minutes the rest of my life.”
You can find out more about Stranger Things Season 5 here.