'Stranger Things' creators reveal their first choice to play Hopper before David Harbour: 'He just came...'
There's no denying the fact that casting plays an equally important role in both movies and television. Oftentimes, the right casting choice can go a long way in helping the audience really connect with the character. Moreover, for long-running shows spanning multiple seasons and arcs, much depends on the satisfactory casting of series regular characters. In retrospect, David Harbour has certainly made the character of Chief Jim Hopper his own on 'Stranger Things', and today it's virtually impossible to imagine any other actor playing the role, given Harbuor's heartfelt portrayal. However, he was not the first choice to play the role.
'Stranger Things' creators Mark and Ross Duffer recently appeared on the celebrity interview podcast known as 'Happy Sad Confused', hosted by Josh Horowitz. In a clip from the podcast posted on the official Instagram page, the Duffer brothers are asked to reveal who their "first choice" to play Hopper on the Netflix series was. Moreover, Harbour himself posed the question to the creators in a pre-recorded question shared by Horowitz. Harbour remarked, "Hello, Duffer Brothers. I would like to know the casting process of Hopper. I’m pretty sure I was second choice, and I don’t know who I was second choice to — maybe I was third choice?"
Harbour further added, "But would you please answer the question of how I came to be cast as Chief Hopper, and who had to say no to allow me to do that wonderful, incredible role." Horowitz then speculated that the first choice to play the tough but caring Chief of Police from Hawkins may have been Josh Brolin. The reason Horowitz speculated so is that the Duffers themselves hinted that the actor was merely a friend of Harbour's. Matt Duffer explained, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, it was Billy Crudup, which is a very different– like, everything happens for a reason, right? So it’s like, once it kind of clicks into place. But yeah, Billy Crudup passed. I don’t think he was doing much TV at the time."
The creator further added, "And then David just, honestly, he just came in, and one of our casting directors thought he could be great for the role. He came and read, and he just did one take. We weren’t even there, we just saw the tape, and it was just so clear, instantly: this is Hopper. And we just cast him right then and there." Harbour went on to star as Hopper in all five seasons of 'Stranger Things' on Netflix. On the other hand, Crudup is now appearing on 'The Morning Show' on Apple TV.
