David Harbour admitted in a recent interview that he lied to fans about the fate of his Stranger Things character following Season 3's cliffhanger ending.
"I knew," Harbour told Total Film, confirming the rumored resurrection of police officer Hopper was always a part of the show's plan. "We knew. We had talked about it. I just wanted to preserve the fantasy for everyone. And it's such a weird position that we're in now with so much media, that everybody wants to talk to you about it."
Harbour explained that he's been having discussions about Hopper's evolution with show creators Matt and Ross Duffer since Season 1. He likened Hopper's character arc to that of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series, saying, "We were always interested in that idea... the Gandalf resurrection -- Gandalf the Grey who fights the Balrog and then becomes Gandalf the White."
"And mythologically, Hopper, in a sense, had to change. I mean, you couldn’t go on the way he was going on," he continued. "He has to resurrect in some way. So it was a great opportunity to do that. So we’ll see a very different guy going forwards. The same guy but in a different vein. It’s a very cool thing to be able to play."
Created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Priah Ferguson, Cary Elwes, Jake Busey and Maya Thurman-Hawke. The first three seasons are currently streaming on Netflix, while Season 4 is aiming to resume production on Sept. 28, after being shut down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(via Gizmodo)