Actor David Harbour has received critical acclaim for his role as Jim Hopper in Netflix's sci-fi series Stranger Things. The 47-year-old bagged a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of the chief of police-turned-guardian.
As the final two episodes of Stranger Things season four drop on Netflix, we take a look at the star's real life, from his extraordinary acting journey, his marriage to a British pop star and his struggles with mental illness. Prior to landing the role on the Netflix hit, which debuted in 2016, Harbour had many acting jobs - but none of which have launched him into the limelight as much as Stranger Things.
The New Yorker had supporting roles in films including Brokeback Mountain, The Green Hornet and 2016's Suicide Squad. Harbour also appeared in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace as Gregg Beam, the corrupt CIA section chief for South America and ally to Quantum operative Dominic Greene.
Looking back on his career, Harbour explained to Big Issue magazine the personal circumstances he'd found himself in while auditioning for Stranger Things. He said: “I hit the age of 35 and in my mind, I’d been fairly successful. I could pay the rent on an apartment, have food on the table and I was very happy about that.
"The dream of being on a talk show was always the marker for me and I gave that up at 35. And then it hit very hard a month after I hit 40. I remember going in [for the audition] and I was very upset because I still was in this place where I didn’t have any money, I was worrying about how I was going to pay my rent."
He had doubts about securing the role, adding: "I thought it was one of these situations, which you get a lot when you’re a journeyman actor where they’ve offered the role to a star... I loved the script but I didn’t really invest very much in it.”
Reflecting on the show’s success – it’s won multiple Emmys and received four Golden Globe nominations – Harbour said: “Even when we were shooting it, I felt like, this is a show I would love but nobody’s going to watch." Fortunately, Harbour's doubts proved to be wrong.
He described working on the show as "different from anything I’ve ever experienced in my career" and "magical." Since joining the Stranger Things cast in 2016, he landed roles as the title character in 2019 superhero film Hellboy and Red Guardian in Marvel's Black Widow.
Not only has Harbour's career been on the up, but so has his love life. In 2019, the film star began dating pop singer and actress Lily Allen, 37. A year later, the pair tied the knot at a bash in Las Vegas, complete with an Elvis impersonator to officiate proceedings.
Harbour divulged that being a stepfather to Allen’s two young children has been “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with” but their relationship is now “really, really special”. He helps to look after Ethel Mary and Marnie Rose, Allen’s daughters with ex-husband Sam Cooper.
Asked about his relationship with her children, he said: “I’ve learned a lot about myself. You really have to show up for other human beings in a truly selfless way. I was, like, ‘Whoa, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.’ The relationship I have with them now is really, really special. But, you know, it takes time and effort.”
The actor has also been candid with his experience of living with mental illness. Harbour, who has bipolar, previously told the Big Issue magazine that “being mentally ill is a natural condition of poverty." He revealed that he was diagnosed with the disorder at the age of 26 after an episode landed him in an institution.
Harbour said: “I have been struggling with the medical model of mental illness for a long time. I started to really get into talk therapy around the particular trauma, and I find that narrative and stories, dealing intellectually and emotionally with personal trauma, has been far more liberating to me than hospitals and drugs.”
He added: “I have definitely been in and out of the system. And there were times in my life where very easily I could have ended up on the streets, but I luckily had a family who could support me through those lean and very trying times.”
Stranger Things season four, episode 2 is now available to stream on Netflix
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