David Harbour Talks About the Relief He Feels to Be Done Playing Hopper in STRANGER THINGS

David Harbour has kept busy over the past several years in the Stranger Things and Marvel franchises, both demanding jobs for an actor who has to remain in certain shape, and commit to playing the same guy for many years.

As Stranger Things production has come to an end this year, Harbour sat down to talk about moving on from the beloved show with Black Widow co-star and Marvel alum Scarlett Johansson. In a chat via Interview Magazine, Johansson asked Harbour if he felt relieved to have completed the show. He responded:

“When I started I loved it so much. Buddies of mine who’d done TV shows for many years said, ‘By season three or four you’ll be running.’ And I was like, ‘Never! I love all these guys so much.’ And then you get to a certain point where you’re like, ‘How much more story is there?’

“You’re having to play a lot of the same beat, and there’s a feeling where you’re like, ‘I want to take a risk. I want to do something that people haven’t seen me do before.’ So yeah, after 10 years, it’s like, ‘Okay.’”

Johansson commented on the feeling of working on the same role for six months at a time, and feeling a little cagey when you can’t get a haircut or paint your nails or change anything about your appearance, and Harbour agreed, saying:

“It’s the same thing with this show. There’d be certain seasons where you feel like, ‘I’m going to go in this different direction.’ But as you say, a piece of your psyche is occupied with this group of people and this storyline. I don’t paint my nails, but I get that idea of ‘I can’t get a haircut’ or ‘I can’t shave this freaking mustache.’ [Laughs]”

With Stranger Things wrapped and in the rear view, Harbour is free to move about some new projects, while still fulfilling his obligations to Marvel.

Stranger Things season 5 is set to run this fall, with the first four episodes on November 26, the next three on December 25, and the final episode on December 31.