David Harbour, an Emmy and Tony Award-nominated character actor best known for his portrayal of the police chief of a small town in Indiana on the Netflix drama series. Strange thingsHe is the guest of this episode of Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards talks Podcast.
Harbour, who received two Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nominations Strange thingsrecently added two more Emmy Award nominations to his name. In June, he was nominated for his work as a producer and supporting actor on the HBO limited series DTF St. Louisa very unusual, very funny, and surprisingly poignant show about two friends in present-day middle America — one played by Harbor and the other played by Jason Bateman — who are simultaneously experiencing existential crises.
During the conversation in THRIn the Los Angeles offices, the 51-year-old reflected on suddenly going from decades of barely making ends meet to starring on the most popular show on television, and the toll the struggle and fame had on his mental health. He talked about what attracted him to it DTF St. Louis As his first major positionStrange things The project, and what he feels it says about modern-day masculinity. He teased what he plans to do next, including reuniting with him Strange things Star Millie Bobby Brown.
You can listen to the full conversation via the audio player above or read excerpts — lightly edited for clarity and/or brevity — below.
About mental illness…
“I sometimes wonder about mental illness, whether it’s a real illness, as they say, or whether it’s a relapsing condition like homelessness or something like that… It comes with certain components that feel like an illness, sure — I still think I’m mentally ill even though I have more money! But a lot of people say, ‘I wasn’t mentally ill.’ I was just broke.” And I feel like there’s something about, “The greatest sin in America is poverty.” There’s something about being broke in the East Village, and worrying about being able to pay the rent, that puts stress on the nervous system. I also think that the artistic life is a choice — you go into areas that other people don’t have to go, and in a sense you say, “I want to go there.” I was fighting with my father when I was 14. This may sound kind of pretentious, but we’re talking about Van Gogh and he’s like, “Oh, I love those paintings; But I would never want to live the tortured life that he lived.’ And I’d be like, ‘How can you not, Dad?’ To draw that, to draw Starry Night? The guy who paints Starry Night, that’s the guy you want to be. And he said, ‘No, it’s not.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ There’s just some people who gravitate toward those things.
In New York versus Los Angeles….
“There were times when I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is the city or not.’ ” [L.A.] What he wants from me or what I have to give him. New York has always been receptive to what I have to offer, except for that damn reviewer [referenced earlier in the convo]And many of my successes came as a result of my return to the theater… A lot of Hollywood things came out of that theatrical work. So, I never thought about giving up acting, but in terms of my relationship with film and television and with the city? I never thought I was pretty enough to do that. I never thought I would look good in film. I’ve always thought I looked weird.
On getting Strange things Right when the situationThe NBC series in which he appeared has been cancelled…
“I was 40 and I needed to get some money together — at 40, I needed to get some money together. I didn’t have another season of that[[the situation]. And then this script was sent[[Strange things]and I read it and I really thought it was great — so I immediately said, “There’s no way they’re going to choose me.”
In the first season of Strange things A surprise to everyone, including Netflix.
“You should have seen this premiere. I joked with Ted Sarandos a little bit about this at the last premiere we went to, because the first season was such a joke. It was some place in Los Feliz that looked like a bar, and we were showing it to a couple of people, and then Netflix, to throw us a bone, dressed a couple of people up as lab technicians with rubber gloves to walk around and scare people. I was like, ‘This is not what you guys do for a real show.’ Mind you.’ I guess they didn’t know what they had. They now claim to me that they were doing some sort of very sophisticated covert marketing, but I think they didn’t know what they had.
On sudden fame, the weekend begins the first season of Strange things decreased…
“I became famous overnight. I was doing this play, and at that time, [a few] People were always turning up to see me in plays – there was one guy at the stage door saying: ‘Hey David, you were great in this.’ We loved you in…”Oh, thanks, man.” It was really nice. And this time, it was a Saturday night, and there were 20 people waiting for me, and I was like, “Wow.” They were like, “We just watched this show[[Strange things].’ On Sunday night, there were about 50 people waiting for me, and I was like, “What the hell is going on?” They’re like, “Sorry man, we’re all good.” Strange things ‘Fans – we didn’t even watch the play, but we heard you were here!’ I said: Oh my God, what is happening? “I think I’m still getting it.”
And about the development of his relationship with something strange sOver the course of its five seasons over a period of 10 years..
“Your relationship with the material, your growth as a human being, what your interests are — that all changes. The other thing is that I wasn’t a producer on the show.” Strange thingsYou just get the scripts, that’s what you get. They were very open to changing things, working on them, etc. But at the end of the day, it’s a show that’s much bigger than me… We’d always talk a little bit about each upcoming season, and I’d also send them an email — which I’m sure they hated, or maybe didn’t read — with all my thoughts. It’s like, “Oh, this is David’s thoughts email.”
On compilation DTF St. Louis As his first postStrange things project…
“I wanted to work with adults rather than kids. And I wanted something that didn’t have monsters except the specter of middle age, like the underbelly. I’m in the genre world — I have Stranger Things, I have Marvel, I have Doctor Doom, apocalyptic events. I just wanted to go to the grocery store with my screen wife and do something very ordinary about very ordinary people and just show extraordinary lives in that setting, so that’s really what attracted me to it… The other thing is that I wanted to bring together groups of people over the last 10 years that I’ve been in this circle, and I have a lot of friends and people that I know I’m in.” I respect them and they respect me, and I wanted to bring them together… There are certain topics I want to talk about, there are certain ideas I want to support… I really liked the first season. White lotus – He kind of startled me, when he was in the pool doing the monkey thing – and I was like, “What are we doing in civilization?” What do we Americans do? I’m just starting to think about it.
to the Television Academy’s enthusiastic response DTF St. Louis…
“The fact that there were 13 nominations across the board for this show? And all the actors on it were nominated? It kind of embraces us in a way that I really appreciate. It’s very emotional for me. So I take the time to enjoy it and appreciate it, and I also take the opportunity to say, ‘Here’s some other stuff you guys got…’
Likely to continue DTF St. Louis…
“There could be more dtf. Who knows? It was successful. I don’t know how HBO feels about that. More than anthologies[eg[likeWhite lotus]. “Nothing has been decided.”
About his upcoming meeting with Millie Bobby Brown…
“We sold a show to Netflix and it’s me and Millie again. It’s a spy thriller. It’s going to be a series for Netflix. It’s written by Jack Thorne, who wrote Adolescence Who wrote all that for her? Enola films. It’s really very cool. It’s an idea that came from a book that Jack, A24, and I all put together. I’m really excited about that… She’s a partner. She’s someone I love, wow brown. We’ve been through a lot, have a deeper understanding of each other, and both want to explore similar things… We talked [during this interview] About how when I was 35, I gave up on the idea of being on a talk show. I think she’s going through a different stage in her life. She’s just a big star, so she’s not giving anything away, but I think she’s looking for what she wants to say as an artist, rather than looking for all the brands and all the stuff. And I was excited that she came to me and we talked about it, and I came to her and we talked about that, and we came up with this really interesting thing. She’s someone I really care about, and it’s been an interesting journey, because I’ve known her for a long time. I’ve been her fake father for years and years. I think there’s something that we have to serve the fans, especially that fan base of Hopper and 11, which has been something dynamic… So, what can we do with Hopper and Eleven, or Millie and David, in terms of moving forward with this partnership? This is exciting for me.”
