Actor Harbour says fans can expect ‘Stranger Things’ to get even stranger
It’s no stretch to say that “Stranger Things” is a phenomenon. Riding the ’80s pop-culture revival wave of the 2010s, the Netflix original series follows small-town Hawkins, Ind., in the 1980s and explores its creepycrawly underbelly.
The first season centers on Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) as she searches for her missing son, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), with the help of chief of the Hawkins Police Department Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and some of Will’s friends. It would seem “Stranger Things” has something for everyone: the supernatural world of the Upside Down (an alternative dimension), a teenage love triangle, a telekinetic girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), untrustworthy government officials and plenty of ’80s cultural references.
With Season 3 set to drop Thursday on Netflix, I talked to Harbour about what fans should expect. “Stranger Things” is about to get a lot stranger. This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: The new season is set in the
summer of 1985. What was different in filming this season as compared to previous seasons?
A: A lot. The season itself is a lot different. We take a lot of risks. The thing about doing a show for a third season is that there has to be the staples that the fan base wants, and it needs to also take risks and bring in something new. One of the themes we sort of had was each season surrounding these Americana holidays. The first season is Thanksgiving, the second is Halloween, and the third is Independence Day. So, through the thematic of Independence Day and the American Midwest in the mid-1980s, there’s a lot of content there. And the movies being released and what was going on at that time in this country played into that. The summer season felt like fun, too. The kids have always been in school, so in the summer, maybe the kids will be in camp and teens will maybe have internships and summer jobs. We can put Hopper in short sleeves and stuff like that. There was a lot of fun in that.
Q: The first two seasons were so popular. Did you expect that at the time? Did you expect the show to explode?
A: Honestly, the first season, I was so spun around after the release because there was very little press or fanfare, and I really thought it was going to tank. So, the fact that it was successful in the first season was very surprising to me. The second season, I sort of knew people were anxious to see the show again, and the show just expanded. It just felt like the show got bigger and got a wider base. I thought it was already big after Season 1, so that was unexpected, too. I think this third season, they’re pouring a lot into the marketing of it, and I think people have been waiting to see it.
Q: In Season 2, we see Hopper in this father-figure role, and it’s very fulfilling when we think about his previous family life and his problems. Are we going to see a further relationship with Eleven and him parenting her? That’d be interesting, especially as she becomes a teenager and grows up.
A: That’s exactly right, and that cliffhanger at the end of Season 2 with his adoption papers for her. So, it’s no longer that she is a kid in a cabin that he can treat as he wishes. He’s now an established, legal guardian of this little girl who he is working out his issues with but is also very protective of because of what she’s been through. So, now she’s liking boys and she’s growing up, and it is just terrifying for him. It is something he absolutely hates. He doesn’t want his little girl growing up and making out with boys. I think he starts out this season more miserable than he’s ever been. He’s just a mess. And you’ll see it in Episode 1, where he starts his journey this season, which is really about learning about himself and the deficiencies he has as a man and how to be able to be a better father. And one of the best things about this season and about working with child actors has been seeing that these actors are growing up and so are their characters.
Q: Right. Is it strange to look back on Season 1 and how you knew the children, like Millie Bobby Brown, and to look at Season 3 and who she is to you now? You get to see both the actors grow up and their characters grow up.
A: I remember her in Season 1 with her shaved head, and now she’s bigger and she’s grown right in front of our eyes. I don’t even realize they’re growing up sometimes, honestly. I still see them sometimes as these children. When we started Season 1, I was this scary adult actor, and they gave me a lot of respect, and they still do that. I really notice their growth when I watch the show. It’s like I, as the audience does, get to be a fly on the wall. I’ll be watching an episode and see Noah standing next to Winona, and he’s just towering over her, and it’s quite moving to see the passage of time.
Q: And speaking of Winona Ryder, one of the biggest things in the show has been between her character, Joyce, and your character. Last season, there was someone in the way, but what’s happening this season?
A: That’s been something from the very beginning, and it played into the first season with his kind of resentment — it’s very petty of him — for looking for her child. There’s this deep wound there, and he then tries to be a parent to Will by showing up to doctor’s appointments with him. So, now he’s a single parent, and he’s looking for guidance. There’s going to be a lot of interaction there between him and Joyce, but I’m not sure it’s going to play out the way people expect. There’s definitely some love in the content there, but there’s a great connection there with parenting. If you’re interested in that relationship, we were, too, and we got the chance this season to explore that but in a very unexpected way.
Q: I’m excited to see that relationship. I’m very interested
to know about your process for Hopper’s character work. Part of Hopper has to be making him human in this larger-than-life monster conflict. What do you focus on in making him relatable?
A: It’s interesting because we have a lot of that content out now in film and television where there are these supernatural tropes, like big fight sequences. I think a big part of that is doing it the way the character would do it. Hopper’s not built for this stuff — sure, he’s got courage, and there’s a violence to him — but he’s not a trained fighter, and he doesn’t know anything about the Upside Down. I’m always drawn to protagonists who are incapable of defeating whatever evil they’re facing, so the drama is that you never think this guy is going to win. So, that’s always the important focus for me. It’s not about the capability but what makes him incapable. Another thing is that he’s a father, and he has to carry that with him. He has to carry all of his personality traits and his psyche with him rather than just being an action hero. I think the action and the supernatural kind of take care of themselves and the focus is on the character.
Q: Is there something this season that’s going to be extremely shocking and exciting for fans?
A: Yes! Yes. Episode 8 is, in my mind, the most moving thing we’ve ever shot. I haven’t seen it all together, but there are some people who have, and they said that they were just very moved. When I read it, it was just stunning. It resolved a lot of the things we have been working with but in a very unexpected way. It’s shocking, it’s electric. All of the scripts have been real page-turners, but that episode is very exciting. I think you will be shocked at what happens at the end of 8 and where the series goes from there. It’s very big in the way that we haven’t been before.