Entertainment
Stranger Things made David Harbour realise how ‘thin’ his ‘existence was without a family’
Hopper’s journey has seen him become a father to Eleven (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)
David Harbour has explained the huge impact starring in Stranger Things has had on his personal life, as the Netflix series made him realise ‘how thin my existence was without a family’.
In 2016, David, 46, was introduced in sci-fi 1980s-set show Stranger Things as Jim Hopper, chief of the police department in the fictional town of Hawkins in Indiana, USA.
As the series went on, he became a father figure to the superpowered Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), eventually becoming her adoptive father.
In September last year, David married Lily Allen, 36, in a ceremony in Las Vegas, becoming a stepfather to her two children.
During a recent interview about Stranger Things, the Black Widow star outlined how Hopper’s storyline mirrored his own, as he recognised he had a ‘deep need for family’, just like his character.
‘TV definitely helped me in my life. I’m very much a New York sort of city rat. I like my freedom, my independence. And then it was really this part that did change a lot of that perspective. The show sort of opened my heart in a lot of different ways, and one of the ways that it did was it started to make me realise how thin my existence was without a family,’ he said on the That Scene With Dan Patrick podcast.
David emphasised how just like Hopper, his ‘subconscious was sort of crying out’ to take on a paternal role.
Will we see Eleven and Hopper reunite in season 4? (Picture: Netflix)
‘The fact that this guy was maturing into a father sort of, was something clearly that my subconscious was sort of crying out to do,’ he said.
‘I think it’s partially why things are successful is because there’s some unique alchemy between the performer and the role. And I feel like there was something in Hopper that had this deep need for family and there was something in me that had it too, but that I wasn’t even aware of.’
David said he’s ‘so grateful’ for his relationship with Lily (Picture: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
He added that as he continued to explore this side of Hopper’s character in Stranger Things, he was able to do the same in his real life, stating: ‘It was a nice test run.’
David recently opened up about married life with Lily, saying that he’s ‘so grateful’ for his partner.
More: Netflix
‘I’m so grateful that I’m not alone anymore, and that I have someone that I can tell everything to and who can tell me everything,’ he said.
It’s currently unknown when season four of Stranger Things will drop, as the production experienced delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stranger Things is available to watch on Netflix.
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