David Harbour

David Harbour plays Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. His bluntness and tired humour make Hopper feel like a person with an existing life before the mystery arrives. He doesn't begin with the benefit of knowing what kind of story he has entered.

Harbour's film work includes Revolutionary Road, End of Watch and Black Widow, in which he plays Alexei Shostakov, the Red Guardian. He also plays Occam in Manhattan.

The Hopper performance gives Stranger Things a useful adult perspective. Harbour can make a practical investigation feel credible while allowing the character's impatience and private worries to complicate it. His scenes with Winona Ryder work because the two characters do not begin by responding to uncertainty in the same way.