David Harbour Says Goodbye to Stranger Things: “After 10 Years, It’s Time to Move On”

David Harbour is finally saying goodbye to Stranger Things, and honestly, he’s pretty okay with it. After nearly 10 years of playing Jim Hopper, the actor says it’s time to move on. He shared his thoughts during a chat with Scarlett Johansson for Interview magazine.

When Johansson asked if he was feeling any relief now that the show is ending, Harbour admitted that even though he loved the early days, he eventually started to feel stuck.

“When I started I loved it so much,” he said. “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.’”

But as the seasons went on, things changed. Harbour said it got to a point where the story started to feel repetitive.

“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,” he explained. “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.’”

Stranger Things first hit Netflix in 2016 and quickly became a massive hit. Now the fifth and final season is set to drop on November 26 this year. And while fans might be emotional about the end, Harbour sounds ready to start a new chapter.

Johansson, who’s been part of the Marvel world for years, said she knows how hard it is to stay with one character for so long. She mentioned how it can limit your choices and how it starts to define who you are.

Harbour totally got it. “It’s the same thing with this show,” he said. “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.’”

So while Stranger Things is ending, Harbour seems excited about what’s next, and finally getting the freedom to try something new.

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