David Harbour tells us this season of Stranger Things is the best yet.
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00:00All right, I'm gonna throw down here cuz we have trained you
00:03Stu, we give you eight or actually last year nine hours of content
00:08Yeah, and you binge it all in a day
00:12No, I learned and it's like when give us time
00:18We are excited ladies and gentlemen having our studio actor David Harbour
00:25I'm so excited. I said good afternoon when it's
00:27There are a bunch of footlongs outside
00:32Which is like
00:34The night-in-the-morning footlong though. Do you know pinks in hollywood? Yeah, I do. That's that those from there
00:41Oh, well, then bring me one
00:47It's not a classic breakfast fair, but it works. It's very good. We never actually get breakfast food here
00:54It's always it's always a dinner thing, but it all works
00:57We've been up since 345
01:01David, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? I'm from white plains, New York. No, well, yeah
01:10Like 45 minutes out from the city, you know suburban
01:14Very boring place to grow
01:15If you work in the city
01:17It's a nice area to be in
01:19Yeah, exactly. I mean I
01:21Couldn't stand it when I was growing up because this is like that suburban thing, you know
01:26And you're like 14 years old and all you want to do is act out
01:29And so I would take that metro north train down to New York though
01:33Oh yeah, when I was like 15 and you know, you could back then you could do a lot worse things than you can nowadays
01:41We could go to bars and they didn't have any of the rules they have nowadays
01:46So was it wasn't the creative arts that were driving you to the city?
01:49It was the party
01:50I would tell my parents that I was going to the metropolitan museum of art
01:54So yes, the arts were driving if my parents are listening
01:59Well, we're thrilled to have you in here
02:01We're massive stranger things fans, and we're also just massive fans of your
02:06uh, your body of work, which is just so much great stuff
02:10And and I think you've described yourself or have been described and I think you're the epitome of that guy for so long
02:16Yeah, who just is always oh this guy's in it. This is gonna be good
02:19Yeah, you know, and we have a sense that you've you've curated the things that you're in and whether that's the truth or not
02:24You just always end up in good stuff and uh, and stranger things is just such a
02:30No one could have figured this this bizarre pop culture bank shot that took place
02:34Yes, and that they they went with except for perhaps winona ryder. Yeah, moderately known
02:40And and it just took off. So yeah, when you got the script for the first time, I understand
02:45It blew you away, but did you think you were gonna get it? You couldn't have had an idea would be what it has become
02:52No, yeah, the complete opposite. Yeah, be honest
02:56I mean for the first thing is you get the script and I thought it was a really good script
02:59And so the my first thought was there's no way they're gonna choose me to be like the male adult lead in this
03:05They'll get somebody who's a star and so I kind of blew off the audition a little bit
03:09I mean, you know, I do what I do but there was a relaxation in the audition where it was like
03:14You know those the situations where you think like this will never happen
03:17So I might as well just do what I want to do and that must help
03:21Because it makes you more relaxed. Yeah, no expectations, you know, you don't have a goal. You're just like doing what you do
03:26Um, and then I wound up getting it and it was uh, you know incredible and then as we were shooting it
03:33I remember around episode four or five having a bit of a breakdown and thinking
03:41None of this works really really really yeah, yeah
03:44I mean because I remember you know
03:47I mean hoppers a really messy guy in many ways like everything from his body, uh to
03:55You know his personality
03:57Well, the very first my when my impression of your character was like this guy's a douchebag because he comes and says my kid is missing
04:05He's like, ah, he's out running around or whatever. I'm like, oh my god. He's gonna be that guy
04:10Yeah, he's more complex than that, you know, and really cares, but you're right. He kind of had that really messy
04:17Attitude about him, but he's his care the character morphed
04:19So initially you thought that wasn't gonna translate
04:22Yeah, and so like around episode I think it was five though. We were doing a scene and I and you know
04:26I'm neurotic and occasionally I'll ask people like what'd you think what you think right up to my
04:31Hair person this woman sarah who's love lovely person, but I was like, what do you think?
04:36What do you think and she just turned to me and just took her out and she was like
04:39Yeah, I don't think it's gonna work. I was like what you mean the whole thing
04:44Thanks for the confidence
04:47Well, I I understood where she's got you know
04:49You're in a bubble down there and you just have these days where you're like what we're doing is stupid
04:54Nobody's gonna like it and then before the show came out. There was no
04:59Advertisements no
05:01And and I couldn't get an interview like this on a popular radio
05:06Like nobody wanted to talk to me about this show. That was the beauty of it
05:10I found out about it through word of mouth
05:14And so it started to catch and it was it was that now you're this actually speaks to you were a child of the 80s
05:20Oh, yeah, and a lot of people remember
05:23All of this this this it's
05:25It's at once a tribute to the work of stephen king and it's this pop culture
05:30Maelstrom of things that are all pulled together and spielberg
05:32Right to spielberg and shot in a way that all the things that we love
05:37But but done it in a in a great way so there'd be no way to know it
05:40But the fact that it did happen that way organically, I think made it more firmly entrenched
05:44And that's why we're well rabid for season three you and the netflix season one marketing department
05:51Had the same thought because that's what you know
05:53That's what they claimed was that I don't know if that's just a way of getting out of spending any money on the show
06:00And they claimed that that was kind of their strategy was to have people discover it and I have to say
06:04It is very gratified
06:06It was very gratifying to have it be something that wasn't hyped at all
06:10Uh, and just to have people stumble across it on netflix and then the social media aspect of it
06:16They just told their friends and it was all over like facebook and twitter like what is this?
06:21Yeah, and uh, I think in this world where everything is so hyped
06:24It's nice to have ownership and discover something that almost feels like a little pearl you found in an oyster like a surprise, you know?
06:32So let me ask you then here's the conundrum now
06:34Now it is a thing. I know now we're talking about it
06:36Right, right, but but where season two is always everyone's like going get what season season two kicked ass
06:43And it was I guess what happens in season three
06:48We jump the shark
06:51My character gets on water skis
06:56And there's a great white shark in the lake all right who knew yeah in hawkins lake are you wearing a leather jacket?
07:02I am
07:04Okay
07:06No, honestly
07:08Honestly, I just finished because they just sent me
07:12uh, because they like to send the the finished episodes to everyone else before me, right
07:19But I they just sent me all the episodes. I just finished them last night. Yeah, actually and uh
07:24Uh, it is so damn good. Yeah, the trailer is so damn good and you like
07:34Oh, the end is uh
07:37How does it end? What happens? Okay, so here's what happens
07:41You're making up the charts
07:42By the way, I would like to correct you on one little thing prior to this. Um, the the first season coming out
07:49We totally would have had you on our show. You're alive. No, no, no, no, no
07:53You are in some of our favorite things
07:55When when the first trailer for black mass came out
07:59And the dinner scene with you and johnny depp and and i'll just sort of leave it at that because I know you wanted to hit on this
08:04Steve
08:05We're gonna go we're gonna go over all your stuff
08:07We're big fans, but but yes, no you with he casey's right. We were fans before stranger things
08:13It just it just cements the adoration
08:15But uh, but but but to that point you you you go through these things
08:20This has been your your your quantum leap. Yeah, you know, I mean, but you you were that kind of guy
08:25You were on broadway and and you you know working that that whole deal when you when you went in to to um
08:33I know you had an issue with working with kids initially, right?
08:36Because kids can be a liability right initially because I find
08:41You've got to get the right I I'm so quick to hate a kid in a thing
08:45I
08:47I do know what you mean. I know exactly you gotta get you gotta get a hailey joel osmond
08:52You gotta get somebody who really get and we got like six of them. Yeah, I know
08:57I know and and so they they know the old thing is never work with uh animals or kids
09:02Yeah, but you and I are the same age, right? So so when I look at the this are you 75?
09:07You were born on my brother's birthday in 1975
09:14I turned 44 on the 4th of july so wait wait wait
09:18I was born on your brother. My brother's born in 73. Oh
09:21Oh, I was like wow two months apart
09:25How did that happen something with test tubes and cloning or something it's right out of stranger things
09:32Upside down you and I and nick actually as a matter of fact, we're all contemporaries
09:36So we grew up with the with the same movies
09:37So
09:38um, there are movies that came out in the 80s
09:40Uh that still work today that have kids in them because they were so good the goonies is one yeah stand by me is another
09:47Sandlot is another one that came a little bit later on okay, and and so I like in
09:52ET yeah, yeah as a matter of fact, yeah
09:55Um, so Barrymore like a little tiny drew Barrymore amazing, right?
09:59So and we had the the creator of the sandlot in here a couple of years ago
10:03And he actually I think they had a whole other cast of kids and he was like, you know what?
10:07I need to get older kids to play younger because they weren't doing it right and yeah interesting
10:13And so I mean our kids are kind of all over the map. I think when we started
10:18I think
10:19Millie was the youngest and I think she was 11
10:23Years old and then I think caleb was the oldest and I think he was maybe 14
10:29Um, so they do span a little bit but in general
10:32They are kind of aging with the show like Millie in particular is you know, she started out she was 11 years old now
10:39she's what like?
10:4114 or something she's a young woman
10:43It's a little weird to see but it's natural well, but it's weird for you. It's weird for hopper too. Yeah, it's like a nightmare
10:52I love that you enter Preston's point about the character this character and I think some of I like
10:57Complex I like villains where you can sort of see why they are what they are and and they're not just you know
11:04Mustache twisting and I like heroes
11:07That sometimes get pissed off and have have luggage and that's what how hopper came into the to the deal
11:14You know the whole paternal aspect of him was not revealed and it becomes it becomes revealed in an organic way
11:21How much how much of of your input helped create that genesis for for hopper?
11:26I mean the you know, they have they had an amazing character
11:31Already created when I came in but they were they also are very collaborative. So, you know, I have ideas and I understand uh
11:41men that are
11:43Broken and disappointed in life
11:47Other people are disappointed in uh, so I had some insight into that right
11:52Um, and so we you know as we were developing him in the first season
11:55And one of the fun things was as we developed in the first season and as we thought, you know
12:00We were all sort of neurotic. We thought now this isn't going to have much of a life after this season
12:05But we would sit around on set and just have fantasies about like
12:10You know, what would be amazing like right we could run this thing like what what could be cool?
12:15And I think that the some of those discussions
12:19Especially in season one
12:20You know, one of the fun things was like
12:24We really loved the character of hopper and we also really loved this character of 11 and we were like
12:30You know, there's clearly like he had a daughter who died and so he has a lot of trauma around that and she had a papa
12:36Who was come manipulative and who used her right?
12:41And so wouldn't it be great for these two characters to try to heal their trauma together?
12:46And do it in a very chaotic way where they
12:48You know
12:49Which was season two
12:50Yeah, so that led into season two
12:52Yeah
12:53You know, and then there's stuff that we're even responding to going into
12:57It's season three
12:59um
12:59Yeah, yeah
13:00No, david I loved you on uh newsroom and and I love you and this and and stranger things and they're very different
13:06Role very different and and the writing on which is aaron sorkin show and on the newsroom is it's so fast-paced
13:12And so a lot of your characters built on the fast-paced nature of the entire show and how quickly the dialogue is delivered
13:17Whereas on stranger things, it's the spaces between the notes, right?
13:21It's a lot more drawn out and you can be a much more subtle actor. Do you have a preference?
13:24Does it matter to you or yeah, like the work when the work is good?
13:28No, I mean, I
13:29I do feel like with the newsroom stuff like I feel like the gestalt like the larger piece is very good
13:35But as a component in it, you don't have a lot of freedom to do
13:40You don't you don't have a lot of ownership in a weird way. And so with stranger things
13:45There's a lot more ownership. I mean you get to you get to explore a lot more behavior
13:49A lot of times like sorkin stuff and a newsroom is is very much about the point you're making
13:56You know on the page whereas with stranger things
13:58You may say something and mean something entirely different or you may say something and then behave entirely
14:05And there are these pauses and these drawn-out things, especially with your character
14:09I love that. I love the way the character is like you take a lot of time
14:14What's up with you? Why?
14:15You get drawn in as a result. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I mean, I you know, that's my
14:22My whole thing with acting has always been that
14:26You know, a lot of it human behavior is always very complex and sometimes a lot of times
14:31I think people say something that and then they behave entirely differently
14:36And that's sort of how I've seen the world since I was a kid
14:38Is I've always been confused by human beings because they would say things like I love you
14:42And you'd be like, I don't know you know, I think you want me to stay
14:47I don't know what you want, but you don't just love me
14:50So yeah, so that's always the complicated thing that I want to explore with human beings
14:55And I think that the great thing about the Duffers are they really love actors
15:00They really love, you know, what we bring to it and they really want, you know
15:05So they'll have something in their mind that's very specific and then we'll come in and mess it up
15:09And they'll they'll be like this is even better than what we and that sort of collaboration is what you're always looking for
15:15You mentioned taking a lot of time
15:18Netflix took a long time to get this next season back
15:23I was curious what you all right
15:25How you feel about that as an actor listen here's here's the problem, right?
15:30It's not a problem. It's a problem with you guys
15:32I swear there's a problem with the world, okay
15:35We have all right. I'm gonna throw down here because we have trained you
15:40We give you eight or actually last year nine hours of content
15:45Yeah, and you binge it all in a day
15:51And it's like give us time take your time
15:55Once every two months
15:57When you should be watching an episode
16:00It's crack
16:01Look, it's I know for me too for me too. I mean, it's yeah, sorry
16:05No, no, no and as soon as it's over you're like when's the next one?
16:09After the first day it comes out you watch the whole season
16:12I mean like I want to know when there's more and you'll see like
16:16You'll see as you watch this season. I mean
16:18The problem is like
16:21I agree I wish we could bring them out to you every couple months, you know
16:24But the problem is and especially when you watch this season if you really just watch each episode and you see
16:31The camera work the story work the production design like
16:36Every single one of them is an hour-long movie
16:38That's been true of the whole series of them. Yeah, but we eight eight movies in a year and a half
16:45Is like pretty good
16:47Compared to like well, let me let me ask you going to your film work, which we should love in case you brought up
16:53Black mass and and you you know
16:57You've worked on the other side of the table from johnny tepp is menacing a whitey bulge as you could possibly imagine
17:04And I was reading an interview with you where you say
17:07The performance you you know, it really works like when you legitimately if you're supposed to hate somebody
17:13If you actually sort of legitimately hate the person in that in that scene
17:17That you can tell when someone's going i'm going to pretend. I hate you
17:19So when johnny tepp is looking across at you and he's delivering the secret recipe sequence
17:26Are are you kind of getting a nerd?
17:29Yeah, I mean there's very personal
17:32War going on i'm terrified of johnny. I mean
17:37But uh, but you know it's so yeah, I mean
17:41It's a funny thing like you meet people and you work with them almost immediately like that was
17:46Johnny and me like it was we just met that day and we just have that scene, but no that was your first scene
17:51yeah, and that was actually my first scene in the movie wow wow um and uh
17:56You know you sit down with a person and so what what I try to do is like
18:02Just get very personal with them early on you know, I mean yeah, like you try to really see
18:07What you get from this human being and then you use what you can use?
18:11It's almost like you're you're there with another chef and you guys just have like ingredients spilled out and you're like
18:17Okay, what am I going to use from you?
18:19Like, you know, you have this set of ingredients. I have this set of ingredients
18:22What can we and I mean I do feel like the thing about acting is that when it's and look
18:27I do it sometimes and sometimes I get scared of doing it, but uh
18:30when it's when you bleed
18:32uh
18:33Other people feel it more. I think right right
18:36Ernest Hemingway has this great quote where he's like writing is easy. You just sit at the typewriter and bleed
18:41I'm like, yeah, that's true
18:43Like when you actually are in the room if you if you actually are hurt by someone
18:47Uh, it registers as as differently
18:50Viscerally than if you're just sort of like pretending right and I think in that scene you had uh soy sauce and garlic
18:57Oh, man, you found out I spelled the secret
19:02Can I ask you a question because real quick? I just want to reset david harbour if you're just tuning in stranger things season
19:07Three coming up on netflix july 4th, uh with that particular movie
19:11Listen, you you've been an actor for a long time. That's what you majored in college
19:15You get into it because you love it. I I don't I assume that you didn't get into what you're doing now to
19:21Receive awards and all that sort of stuff. However with that movie
19:25I felt like johnny depp should have at least been nominated for best actor in every single award show and he wasn't
19:33Yeah, I mean that stuff's all political, you know
19:36We and then we you can see there there are signs and it's always been the case for example
19:41I always point to the fact that paul newman should have won for the verdict and they gave it to him for the color of money
19:46Yeah, I know exactly. Yeah, it's like we screwed up. So here you go
19:49So that's I think it's pacino too, right? Yeah, he was nominated the godfather godfather to like all these movies
19:55And then they give it to him for a scent of a woman, which is like
19:58Okay, but like it's no dog day afternoon. Like come on like no, you're right
20:02You're attica attica
20:04It was just on the other night. It holds up. It's still great. Uh, david
20:08I wanted to go back to to the kids on the set on stranger things you're watching these kids grow up. They're they're great actors
20:13um, yet they are
20:16um, they're going up into this this world of a career
20:19um, i'm wondering if you
20:22If you're just letting them do that or do you occasionally have a little bit of advice you try to by osmosis kind of give to them
20:28Are you a parent? I am. Yeah, three. Yeah, one of his sons is right behind us. Oh, really?
20:34Hey, do you listen to your dad?
20:36Yeah, whatever
20:39Because you're in the room
20:42No, it's uh, like of course like whatever. I mean, I actually don't have kids. So I have uh, six uh, you know
20:51Or seven if you include joe keery, um, but like like little kids who I like adore and love and of course
20:59I'm protective over them and I want them and
21:01I mean it is a hard road and especially nowadays with all the interaction with
21:08Fans and stuff like that and the fact that you know, there's a fickle light of fame and of
21:15people that like you
21:16I mean, I look it's professional sports players and like, you know
21:19You have a bad season and you got people in the stands going like you're a bum
21:23And we we have the same thing because of social media exactly that's you're just you're just
21:28Inviscerated that's the thing. Yeah, I you know, I so I feel for these kids to be thrust in the limelight so quickly
21:35And to be you know, they are beloved
21:38Um, and look I hope that they never have a day of not being beloved
21:43But I but I will say I don't think that's the case
21:46Um, I don't think that's possible for any human being
21:48I mean, we go up and down the world loves you. They hate you. I mean, it's just the nature of fortune, right?
21:54It's like a fickle wheel. It just spins
21:56Yeah, it spins but you feel the hate more than you do the love for some absolutely it's so true, right?
22:01I mean you have to learn though
22:03You know that my my dad years ago just I think he would say always consider the source always consider the source
22:10And when you do that it helps, um
22:12Mitigate and tamp down that stuff, but it's hard though. Yeah, because you're you're you get into this because you as you said
22:18You go to the hairdresser. How am I doing? And uh, you don't want to hear you're not it
22:22It's it doesn't look like it's going well. Yeah, and you think that I think because you know
22:27We're on tv or whatever it is like
22:30I I think it too
22:31I mean i've written things on about people on twitter like celebrities and stuff
22:35but you think that like
22:37Those people are immune because they are so like blah
22:40And then you're just like no like you just i'm just a human being like anybody else
22:45So if you come up and say like you're the worst like I you know, yeah, it hurts. I mean, you know
22:51You're like I am
22:52Yeah, it's I am the you know, but uh, but but and it is true like the amount you can just rack up, uh
22:59Love and it just you know scroll through that or the minute somebody goes like
23:04I don't know you like your hairdresser
23:06Yeah, exactly
23:07Well, I I tweeted out. Oh, jay's on twitter now and I tweeted out
23:11I did bring up the double murder thing, but I said he looked good
23:15I I tried to okay. I still even with oj people. Yeah, I tried to do that
23:22Going back to stranger things. I I love the the the concept of the of the town of hawkins
23:27It's very stephen king-esque like castle rock. Yeah, it's just this area. That's concentrated weird things are happening all the time
23:36You've also got this cast that's growing up. This could go on for quite a while
23:40um, you know and and only you and and the guy the the people that are uh the writing this show know whether
23:45It's a definitive end at the end of season three. We don't know
23:48But this could keep this train could keep riding for a while could it?
23:51Yeah
23:53All right
23:55All right, like a shaky witness
23:58I'm gonna reach with a glass
24:00We know you sip of coffee. We know you we know you got to run a real quick question about uh black widow. You were indeed filming that
24:09No, no, no, no
24:10Yes, I mean, I mean, I don't know if i'm filming right now, right, but uh, but yes
24:15Yes, okay that we are shooting that movie
24:17I just wanted to make sure because you know reports and imdb and no, no, no
24:22I I you know, there's a lot of misinformation on that as well, but I will say that uh
24:27Kate shortland is directing
24:30uh, this movie black widow, which I am in and it is
24:33Incredible awesome. We love we love the subject matter scarlet. Yeah, we're and we're thrilled you're in it
24:39We're we're huge fans of what you do and uh, it's just very intriguing. So yeah
24:45No, it's I think it's really gonna be a good one. Yeah, yeah
24:48Yeah, I mean and these marvel guys are like, you know, they're just the best in the business like kevin feige and these guys
24:53These guys are just so good at what they do. So you really feel it on set too. It's like this real
25:00You know, these guys are just really good at telling stories
25:02They take something that could be lighter than air and and really you just evaporate and they make it something that has gravitas to it
25:08Which is amazing exactly stranger things season three is on netflix july 4th dude. I'm really happy that you're like a super nice guy
25:15Oh, it's nice to find nice to talk to you guys. Thank you. We appreciate enjoy enjoy the season
25:20It's really and I don't say this. I mean, I'm stand behind the hype. It's like it's gonna take your breath away
25:26Love it. Love it. All right. Let's hear it for david harvard
25:39You