David Harbour‘s Chief Jim Hopper is a key figure in Stranger Things‘ fictitious town of Hawkins, Indiana, eventually coming to serve as surrogate father to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and helping to unravel the central sci-fi mystery of the Upside Down. However, the twice Emmy-nominated actor was not the original choice to play the role, creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer revealed.
The Duffer Brothers opened up about the tidbit in a new interview from Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused. The podcast host presented the writer-producers with a question from Harbour, who was curious to know the casting process.
“I’m pretty sure I was second choice, and I don’t know who I was second choice to,” the actor said in a video question. “Maybe I was third choice? 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.”
After shooting down Horowitz’s guess that it was Josh Brolin — based on the fact that the original actor is one of Harbour’s friends — Matt Duffer said, “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.”
(As mentioned in the interview, Crudup is now a series regular on Apple TV’s The Morning Show, for which he earned two Emmy wins. A year after Stranger Things first premiered, he also featured alongside Naomi Watts in Netflix‘s short-lived psychological thriller series Gypsy.)
“And then David just — honestly — he just came in and one of our casting directors thought he could be great for the role,” Ross Duffer added. “But 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.”
Stranger Things debuted to instantaneous success on Netflix in 2016, concluding its five-season run in 2025. It has won a dozen Emmys and will once again be eligible as a contender this year. The series has additionally spawned an animated spinoff, Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85, recently renewed for a Season 2, as well as a Broadway prequel show that was taped for future feature release.
