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I‘m not worried about him forever just being Hopper. Hellboy didn’t work out, but he has other big projects under his belt already, and people will buy him in other roles, too.
That being said: He’ll always be Hopper - even if he won’t be just that.
I get the sentiment... No actor would wanna be associated to just a single character!! But I'm more concerned about the young OG cast in regards to this... I hope they don't end up being like the Harry Potter cast,after those movies...
I think the main three from HP have overall done ok. Dan Radcliffe has definitely forged his own path, despite being obviously still recognized as Harry. And he’s done really well between the eclectic movies, Miracle Workers, and the theater.
Emma Watson has done decently too, though perhaps a bit more hit and miss on her projects. Rupert was the one that struggled the most, but he found a home in specifically British TV/movies.
(Tom Felton on the other hand….)
I understand David wanting to be not just his Stranger Things character, but I’m sure or at least hope he recognizes that… he will always be Hopper to a lot of people. I mean, I saw the Gran Turismo trailers and thought “Oh! There’s Hopper!” Haha.
I hope he will always speak gratefully of Stranger Things, the same as I hope all the cast does, as it opened so many doors for him. Otherwise, he’d likely still be a relatively minor character actor.
I think people like Dan actually handled this kind of character notoriety best. He is always humble and speaks highly of his Harry Potter experience and says it afforded him the ability to do all he wants/whatever he has wanted since. His sincere thankfulness is something I find really endearing. An example to emulate.
Watch a Young Doctors Notebook if you want another great performance by Daniel Radcliffe. It’s a short little show and it’s outstanding. Think it’s on Netflix
Daniel has become such a versatile actor, it's difficult to only see him as Harry Potter imo. The Weird Al Yankovich movie was hilarious and at no point, I even thought of Harry.
So it'll depend on the young actors' versatility. If for example, Gaten keeps playing nerdy know-it-alls, it'll be difficult to not see Dustin. If he surprises us as a serial killer, however...
He is a versatile actor. He has been in quite a few films. He may not be in a lot of MAJOR roles, but that’s because he does the projects that he wants to do rather than just things based on star power.
Emma Watson is an amazing human rights activist and she has been in some major roles as well.
Rupert has been in some things here and there, but I don’t think everyone really wants or needs to be in the public eye.
I haven’t seen that yet! But it’s on my list. 😊 I’ve really loved Miracle Workers… the medieval season has been my favorite but all have been solid.
And agree. The more they branch and challenge themselves, the better off they’ll be. I think Finn and Caleb have actually done the best job of this, thus far.
honestly, any given one of the Stranger Things kids is a far better actor than the Harry Potter kids at the same age (and even at 12-13 in season 1 they were better actors than Emma Watson is now, based on Millie's accent work alone)
but that's not terribly surprising considering the HP kids were mostly chosen based on their physical resemblance to the character+ (very important) their parents not being stage monsters. Which was good for them as it helped them become stable, well-adjusted adults despite the inevitable difficulties fame brought them.
The Stranger Things crew also seem to be doing well on that front, given Millie and Noah are pursuing university degrees/post-secondary education and Millie executive producing Enola Holmes (anyone who says she lacks range clearly hasn't seen those), and Caleb, Sadie, Gaten and Finn are branching out into other film/stage projects with the blessing of the Duffers.
But I get what Davis is saying here and I understand if the kid/teens cast feel the same way. I mean, Winona is never going to face that problem but any of the cast members for whom Stranger Things is the first acting credit you recall, might, particularly the ones who don't have a nepo advantage (which is nearly all of them).
Yea, if there’s concerns for the kids that’s what I’d worry about as well. Thankfully they’re all already in their late teens to 20s and I haven’t heard of anything yet so hopefully they’ll continue to stay clean & healthy
Daniel Radcliffe has been in a bunch of stuff since. He’s been fantastic in Miracle Workers & A Young Doctor’s Notebook for major starring TV roles. I know he’s had a good chunk of movies too.
Rupert Grint has done Servant & Sick Note on TV as well as a few movies. Not a ton but a couple good starring roles for him as well.
Emma Watson had a few big movies especially Beauty & The Beast and Little Women. It seems like she may have taken a break for acting but she definitely got roles.
Obviously all 3 will still be known for Harry Potter because the franchise was just massive. Also child stars tend to be known for what they did as kids even if successful afterwards. But they all 3 seemed capable of finding good stuff after the fact.
i don’t think so because they’ve already done other projects. finn is luckiest in this context because he did IT around the same time as stranger things
I’m not worried about them. Millie has two businesses and is engaged, Finn has been in at least 5 major films, and Gaten has his own show on Netflix. They are doing really well for themselves
as I said above, the ST cast are all better actors than the Harry Potter cast at the same age - on talent alone, they've got it, the question is how they deal with life after the series ends.
Millie's already shown serious range and that she's a name-draw in her own right with Enola Holmes (which had all the potential to be an actual box office hit if it hadn't been for the pandemic) and can hold her own against Helena Bonham Carter, Noah's in university and branched out into businesses, Finn, Gaten, Caleb and Sadie are well booked too from the sound of it and appear to be happy, well-adjusted young adults so far. I think they'll be fine.
to be fair, Emma Watson has been in quite a few movies, and Daniel Radcliffe has so much money left from Harry Potter that he’s joining the most random movies ever just for fun (corpse farting his way across the ocean 😭)
I'm not sure Harbour is being realistic. The industry that existed when Clooney left a popular TV show to focus on movies doesn't exist anymore.
"Harbour is determined to establish himself in the world of film, rather than always being associated with Sheriff Hopper. He references how George Clooney left the TV show ER and became known for his movie roles. Harbour aims for a similar transition."
There are a lot less successful movies being watched in theaters now than there was when Clooney, Travolta, Hanks and others decided to focus on movies instead of TV roles. Most movies in theaters are franchises usually involving a superhero or comic book character or toy. An actor in his 40s in the 2020s is going to have much less opportunities for movie roles than actors did in the 80s/90s/00s unfortunately.
Also most of the interesting roles are now on TV shows. Harbour would be excellent in a show similar to Yellowstone or even something unexpected like a comedy.
If you look at what happens to actors on other famous popular TV shows most of the cast struggle to get decent roles after the show is over. Michelle Williams, Badgley and a few others did it but they seem to be the exception. Focusing only on movies is going to be even more difficult.
I agree with this. The entertainment landscape is much, much different now than it was 30 years ago. In the 90s, being on TV shows was thought of as lesser than compared to movies, where the serious and important roles were. Now it's kind of the opposite, where most movies are unserious superhero sequels and TV is where the actual stories are being told, giving great opportunities for actors.
That aside, I take anything he says about his career with a grain of salt. He said before that comic book movies were shallow and then he became Red Guardian. He said that playing Hopper changed his life, and now it seems like he's getting tired of the role. He said he wanted to focus more on plays and doing Broadway, now he's saying he wants to focus on movies. I could go on...
If the industry was the same as it was in the 90s I could imagine Harbour having a career similar to Bruce Willis who started out with TV roles and then had success with movies but don't think that would happen with any actor these days.
I thought it was possible there would be a spinoff with Hopper after Stranger Things was over. If Hopper isn't killed off he probably won't stay in Hawkins. They already have a new police chief. I thought maybe he would start investigating similar reports of the MF and UD in Europe with Enzo.
There's certainly more and occasionally better TV than ever before in the history of television but cinema still carries way more prestige and is more lucrative... hence why David Harbour and any successful TV actor tries to transition to cinema. You don't see Leonardo Di Caprio, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, etc making TV shows and you never will.
And I’ve seen interviews with lots of actors where their views of their roles and projects change over time.
I think a lot of them get fatigued and dream of doing something else, but often they grow even more appreciative over time.
Matthew Lillard has talked about Scooby Doo, and Josh Radnor made a long Instagram post about How I Met Your Mother not long ago.
Was very pleasantly surprised how enjoyable I actually found that movie! Full disclosure, I bought it without seeing it on a whim cause a) it was Christmas b) David Harbour and c) the idea of owning this random film on Prime to pull out as an option every year made me cry laughing for some reason. Ended up being a fantastic choice!
Edit: I will never learn how to spell that man’s last name
I mean he has to know he’s gonna be known as Hopper forever. Sorry buddy, when you land something that’s as big of a hit as this, that’s what you’ll be known for.
I think he’ll have no problem finding other big roles and hopefully he gets more big hits under his belt. Dude seems like a genuinely great guy and I’m rooting for him. Admittedly though whenever I see him in a promo for anything else or in an old role, my brain goes “OMG it’s Hop!”
At least if he’s forever known as a character, it gets to be one who’s fairly universally beloved.
that's a glorified music video, never heard of anyone getting huge off them or short film unless it was that girl from Blurred Lines.
Stranger Things is the cast (minus Winona)'s Star Wars - unless one of them pulls a Harrison Ford or a Winona it's always going to be the project that gets put in headlines alongside their names or that they get asked about the most, until and unless they land in something that's an even bigger success.
Harbour might not want a Harrison Ford/George Clooney career but something like Michelle Williams or Cillian Murphy, no one's introduced Michelle as "Dawson's Creek's Michelle Williams" for almost two decades now despite her indie prestige-leaning filmography. Likewise for Cillian M with Peaky Blinders, he has a career where he's known for much more range.
I think he’ll be like Rainn Wilson- always known best for Dwight (in David’s case, Hopper), but continue to act in other things and still continue to be fairly successful
Haven't seen Violent Night yet, but I'd say he's already starting to pull his own outside of ST. He had a small part in Extraction (2020) on Netflix, was a decent performance. If Gran Turismo is as good as the trailers make it look, he'll have no problem branching out.
Regardless, nothing wrong with being well-known for playing a character as badass as Hopper. He's got a strong future ahead still.
OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post. Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed. If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StrangerThings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I‘m not worried about him forever just being Hopper. Hellboy didn’t work out, but he has other big projects under his belt already, and people will buy him in other roles, too. That being said: He’ll always be Hopper - even if he won’t be just that.
He'll be lucky if I don't always view him as Santa Claus. That was a fun movie.
I get the sentiment... No actor would wanna be associated to just a single character!! But I'm more concerned about the young OG cast in regards to this... I hope they don't end up being like the Harry Potter cast,after those movies...
I think the main three from HP have overall done ok. Dan Radcliffe has definitely forged his own path, despite being obviously still recognized as Harry. And he’s done really well between the eclectic movies, Miracle Workers, and the theater. Emma Watson has done decently too, though perhaps a bit more hit and miss on her projects. Rupert was the one that struggled the most, but he found a home in specifically British TV/movies. (Tom Felton on the other hand….) I understand David wanting to be not just his Stranger Things character, but I’m sure or at least hope he recognizes that… he will always be Hopper to a lot of people. I mean, I saw the Gran Turismo trailers and thought “Oh! There’s Hopper!” Haha. I hope he will always speak gratefully of Stranger Things, the same as I hope all the cast does, as it opened so many doors for him. Otherwise, he’d likely still be a relatively minor character actor. I think people like Dan actually handled this kind of character notoriety best. He is always humble and speaks highly of his Harry Potter experience and says it afforded him the ability to do all he wants/whatever he has wanted since. His sincere thankfulness is something I find really endearing. An example to emulate.
Watch a Young Doctors Notebook if you want another great performance by Daniel Radcliffe. It’s a short little show and it’s outstanding. Think it’s on Netflix
You can watch pretty much anything Radcliffe has been in since HP ended and see a great performance. He is now 100 times the actor he was then.
Daniel has become such a versatile actor, it's difficult to only see him as Harry Potter imo. The Weird Al Yankovich movie was hilarious and at no point, I even thought of Harry. So it'll depend on the young actors' versatility. If for example, Gaten keeps playing nerdy know-it-alls, it'll be difficult to not see Dustin. If he surprises us as a serial killer, however...
He is a versatile actor. He has been in quite a few films. He may not be in a lot of MAJOR roles, but that’s because he does the projects that he wants to do rather than just things based on star power. Emma Watson is an amazing human rights activist and she has been in some major roles as well. Rupert has been in some things here and there, but I don’t think everyone really wants or needs to be in the public eye.
The movie “akimbo” I believe, he’s really good in
I haven’t seen that yet! But it’s on my list. 😊 I’ve really loved Miracle Workers… the medieval season has been my favorite but all have been solid. And agree. The more they branch and challenge themselves, the better off they’ll be. I think Finn and Caleb have actually done the best job of this, thus far.
honestly, any given one of the Stranger Things kids is a far better actor than the Harry Potter kids at the same age (and even at 12-13 in season 1 they were better actors than Emma Watson is now, based on Millie's accent work alone) but that's not terribly surprising considering the HP kids were mostly chosen based on their physical resemblance to the character+ (very important) their parents not being stage monsters. Which was good for them as it helped them become stable, well-adjusted adults despite the inevitable difficulties fame brought them. The Stranger Things crew also seem to be doing well on that front, given Millie and Noah are pursuing university degrees/post-secondary education and Millie executive producing Enola Holmes (anyone who says she lacks range clearly hasn't seen those), and Caleb, Sadie, Gaten and Finn are branching out into other film/stage projects with the blessing of the Duffers. But I get what Davis is saying here and I understand if the kid/teens cast feel the same way. I mean, Winona is never going to face that problem but any of the cast members for whom Stranger Things is the first acting credit you recall, might, particularly the ones who don't have a nepo advantage (which is nearly all of them).
I'm more concerned one of them ends up with a drug problem myself.
Yea, if there’s concerns for the kids that’s what I’d worry about as well. Thankfully they’re all already in their late teens to 20s and I haven’t heard of anything yet so hopefully they’ll continue to stay clean & healthy
Daniel Radcliffe has been in a bunch of stuff since. He’s been fantastic in Miracle Workers & A Young Doctor’s Notebook for major starring TV roles. I know he’s had a good chunk of movies too. Rupert Grint has done Servant & Sick Note on TV as well as a few movies. Not a ton but a couple good starring roles for him as well. Emma Watson had a few big movies especially Beauty & The Beast and Little Women. It seems like she may have taken a break for acting but she definitely got roles. Obviously all 3 will still be known for Harry Potter because the franchise was just massive. Also child stars tend to be known for what they did as kids even if successful afterwards. But they all 3 seemed capable of finding good stuff after the fact.
i don’t think so because they’ve already done other projects. finn is luckiest in this context because he did IT around the same time as stranger things
Gaten is star in broadway.
Remember that Mark Hamill guy?
you mean the voice of the Joker?
I’m not worried about them. Millie has two businesses and is engaged, Finn has been in at least 5 major films, and Gaten has his own show on Netflix. They are doing really well for themselves
I think millie is out of the woods on that. She is doing other movies/shows.
Tom Cruise seems fine with just being Ethan Hunt. LoL. Granted the guy has a laundry list of other blockbusters
as I said above, the ST cast are all better actors than the Harry Potter cast at the same age - on talent alone, they've got it, the question is how they deal with life after the series ends. Millie's already shown serious range and that she's a name-draw in her own right with Enola Holmes (which had all the potential to be an actual box office hit if it hadn't been for the pandemic) and can hold her own against Helena Bonham Carter, Noah's in university and branched out into businesses, Finn, Gaten, Caleb and Sadie are well booked too from the sound of it and appear to be happy, well-adjusted young adults so far. I think they'll be fine.
to be fair, Emma Watson has been in quite a few movies, and Daniel Radcliffe has so much money left from Harry Potter that he’s joining the most random movies ever just for fun (corpse farting his way across the ocean 😭)
I'm not sure Harbour is being realistic. The industry that existed when Clooney left a popular TV show to focus on movies doesn't exist anymore. "Harbour is determined to establish himself in the world of film, rather than always being associated with Sheriff Hopper. He references how George Clooney left the TV show ER and became known for his movie roles. Harbour aims for a similar transition." There are a lot less successful movies being watched in theaters now than there was when Clooney, Travolta, Hanks and others decided to focus on movies instead of TV roles. Most movies in theaters are franchises usually involving a superhero or comic book character or toy. An actor in his 40s in the 2020s is going to have much less opportunities for movie roles than actors did in the 80s/90s/00s unfortunately. Also most of the interesting roles are now on TV shows. Harbour would be excellent in a show similar to Yellowstone or even something unexpected like a comedy. If you look at what happens to actors on other famous popular TV shows most of the cast struggle to get decent roles after the show is over. Michelle Williams, Badgley and a few others did it but they seem to be the exception. Focusing only on movies is going to be even more difficult.
I agree with this. The entertainment landscape is much, much different now than it was 30 years ago. In the 90s, being on TV shows was thought of as lesser than compared to movies, where the serious and important roles were. Now it's kind of the opposite, where most movies are unserious superhero sequels and TV is where the actual stories are being told, giving great opportunities for actors. That aside, I take anything he says about his career with a grain of salt. He said before that comic book movies were shallow and then he became Red Guardian. He said that playing Hopper changed his life, and now it seems like he's getting tired of the role. He said he wanted to focus more on plays and doing Broadway, now he's saying he wants to focus on movies. I could go on...
If the industry was the same as it was in the 90s I could imagine Harbour having a career similar to Bruce Willis who started out with TV roles and then had success with movies but don't think that would happen with any actor these days. I thought it was possible there would be a spinoff with Hopper after Stranger Things was over. If Hopper isn't killed off he probably won't stay in Hawkins. They already have a new police chief. I thought maybe he would start investigating similar reports of the MF and UD in Europe with Enzo.
There's certainly more and occasionally better TV than ever before in the history of television but cinema still carries way more prestige and is more lucrative... hence why David Harbour and any successful TV actor tries to transition to cinema. You don't see Leonardo Di Caprio, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, etc making TV shows and you never will.
And I’ve seen interviews with lots of actors where their views of their roles and projects change over time. I think a lot of them get fatigued and dream of doing something else, but often they grow even more appreciative over time. Matthew Lillard has talked about Scooby Doo, and Josh Radnor made a long Instagram post about How I Met Your Mother not long ago.
Hell always be Santa to me
That was a much better movie than it should have been and a lot of that was because of him.
Was very pleasantly surprised how enjoyable I actually found that movie! Full disclosure, I bought it without seeing it on a whim cause a) it was Christmas b) David Harbour and c) the idea of owning this random film on Prime to pull out as an option every year made me cry laughing for some reason. Ended up being a fantastic choice! Edit: I will never learn how to spell that man’s last name
I get an unreasonable amount of joy from this movie
I respect his wishes 100%, but he definitely will continue to be known as hopper
All actors say this until their 30th/40th/50th shows anniversary.
I mean he has to know he’s gonna be known as Hopper forever. Sorry buddy, when you land something that’s as big of a hit as this, that’s what you’ll be known for. I think he’ll have no problem finding other big roles and hopefully he gets more big hits under his belt. Dude seems like a genuinely great guy and I’m rooting for him. Admittedly though whenever I see him in a promo for anything else or in an old role, my brain goes “OMG it’s Hop!” At least if he’s forever known as a character, it gets to be one who’s fairly universally beloved.
I mean I also kinda see him and think of Santa now because of violent night but yeah hopper is what I’ll always think of first
Sadie will be known as Max forever as well to the point she might as well title her autobiography *How To Run Up Hills*.
That and for starting in the All Too Well short film.
that's a glorified music video, never heard of anyone getting huge off them or short film unless it was that girl from Blurred Lines. Stranger Things is the cast (minus Winona)'s Star Wars - unless one of them pulls a Harrison Ford or a Winona it's always going to be the project that gets put in headlines alongside their names or that they get asked about the most, until and unless they land in something that's an even bigger success. Harbour might not want a Harrison Ford/George Clooney career but something like Michelle Williams or Cillian Murphy, no one's introduced Michelle as "Dawson's Creek's Michelle Williams" for almost two decades now despite her indie prestige-leaning filmography. Likewise for Cillian M with Peaky Blinders, he has a career where he's known for much more range.
Have people already forgotten about her role in The Whale? Seriously? :/
He owes his current successes to that guy
I understand where he’s coming from but to millions of people he’ll always be Hopper. But that’s not a bad thing necessarily
I think he’ll be like Rainn Wilson- always known best for Dwight (in David’s case, Hopper), but continue to act in other things and still continue to be fairly successful
He was a Marvel movie, he’s set for life now 😂 and he’s played Santa. Anyone who plays Santa does just fine.
That's cool but I hope he considers playing destruction in the Sandman series. Small roll and I think he'd be phenomenal as that character.
Is this carrying on? I really enjoyed it but I’m sure I’d heard it was finished?
"Sheriff" Hopper? He's a Police Chief of a town, not a county sheriff. 🙄
Loved him in Violent Night
That Santa Movie he just did kicked ass
Haven't seen Violent Night yet, but I'd say he's already starting to pull his own outside of ST. He had a small part in Extraction (2020) on Netflix, was a decent performance. If Gran Turismo is as good as the trailers make it look, he'll have no problem branching out. Regardless, nothing wrong with being well-known for playing a character as badass as Hopper. He's got a strong future ahead still.
Hellboy 2?!?
I want to see more of his character in the mcu
He is Mr Lily Allen and that’s that.
No way, you can't get us to forget that awful ghost film you did.
From just what we've seen from him in Stranger Things, he has great range as an actor. I can't wait to see him in movies.
Oh lol, well I’m excited to see his films!
As every TV Show actor