“One of the most beautiful things about Shakespeare's Hamlet is when he stops in the middle of the play to ask, 'To be or not to be?' Then, right at the end, he decides to 'let be.' The first season of 'Stranger Things' was Hopper asking whether 'to be or not to be' and the second is to 'let be.'”

American actor

David Kenneth Harbour is an American actor known for his screen work in film and television. He became widely recognized for playing Jim Hopper in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things, which ran from 2016 to 2025, and he received two Primetime Emmy nominations for that role. He has also starred as the title character in Hellboy, as Santa Claus in Violent Night, and as a former racer in Gran Turismo. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he plays Red Guardian, including in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, and he also voices Eric Frankenstein in Creature Commandos. In 2026, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in DTF St. Louis.