'Stranger Things' Star David Harbour Reveals He Almost Quit Acting — But Here's Why He Came Back

With a starring role as Chief Jim Hopper on Stranger Things — plus his new leading part in the Hellboy reboot — David Harbour has had what any other actor would consider a successful career, but he didn't always feel that way. In fact, around the cancellation of State of Affairs in 2015, he believed that Hollywood was done with him.

In a recent Envelope Emmy Contenders chat in the Los Angeles Times’ video studio, David Harbour talked openly about how he thought he was finished in the TV industry.

“I got the ‘Stranger Things’ script like a week before NBC canceled ‘State of Affairs.’ I really had this moment where I’m like, ‘I’m done.’ My neuroses is very sophisticated: I was like, ‘I am done. Hollywood is done with David Harbour. They are finished.’ And then these two young dudes, these North Carolina Duffer brother dudes sent me the script and they were really interested in me.

"But I was like, ‘This is a lead in Netflix, there’s no way I’m going to get it. This is amazing. There’s no way.’ And the script was so beautiful, well-written, sweet, fun and exciting. It was an indie movie and then you throw in like Jaws, a shark or something. I went in, read one scene and signed on very early.”

And David Harbour's portrayal of Jim Hopper has launched fan art, fan fiction and more tweets than the actor can keep up with. He even admits to reading the fan fiction, especially the shippers of Jim and Joyce, while he was recovering from surgery:

“I just got on Twitter a couple years ago but I never really used it because nobody followed me and then the show came out and it became an onslaught and I got addicted. … I love the passion of the fans. I’ll read it all day — Hopper-Joyce making out. I’ll read it.”

And Jim Hopper isn't the only role Harbour has acquired since the cancellation of State of Affairs. As mentioned above, he's about to start shooting Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen in September, where he'll take on the titular role that Ron Perlman made famous in 2004.

Fans are looking forward to the 2018 Hellboy release almost as much as they're looking forward to the second season of Stranger Things — because it's clear Harbour loves his role. And we're glad Hollywood wasn't done with him.