“When I started I loved it so much,” Harbour said. “Buddies of mine who’d done TV shows for many years said, ‘By Season 3 or 4 you’ll be running.’ And I was like, ‘Never! I love all these guys so much.’ And then you get to a certain point where you’re like, ‘How much more story is there?’ You’re having to play a lot of the same beat, and there’s a feeling where you’re like, ‘I want to take a risk. I want to do something that people haven’t seen me do before.’ So yeah, after 10 years, it’s like, ‘Okay.’”
Harbour is one of many Stranger Things cast members who has appeared in all five seasons. It seemed like his Hopper died at the end of Season 3, but the character was brought back. Across the first four seasons, Harbour starred in 34 Stranger Things episodes. Hopper is arguably the actor’s signature role; he’s earned two Emmy nominations for his portrayal.
Harbour’s comments illustrate the complex relationship actors have with long-running franchise roles. On one hand, being a part of something as successful as Stranger Things is what most actors dream about. Not only does that launch careers into a different stratosphere (opening the door for other intriguing opportunities), it gives actors a sense of security they can fall back on. Elizabeth Olsen highlighted how playing Scarlet Witch in the MCU gave her the leeway to pursue smaller, more character-driven films in between since she knew the next Marvel paycheck was right around the corner. However, acting is a creative profession, and performers enjoy taking on the challenge of pushing themselves by trying different things. Playing the same character over and over again can be quite limiting, especially when there isn’t much narrative ground left to explore. The role loses some of the novelty it had earlier.
