David Harbour jokes about learning from ‘Stranger Things' castmates

David Harbour has reflected on what it was like working alongside the young cast of Stranger Things, and his answer, characteristically, started with a punchline.

Asked at a Thursday FYC event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery what he had learned from his younger co-stars over the course of the show's five-season run, the twice Emmy-nominated actor's immediate response was a deadpan: "Uh, nothing." 

He quickly warmed to the question, though, and what followed was a genuinely touching tribute to the child actors who made the series what it was.

Harbour described the first season, which debuted on Netflix in 2016, as a "magical experience" and a "miraculous time" in his life, one that he holds with particular fondness, even if he acknowledged with characteristic self-deprecation that his attachment to Season 1 also has something to do with the fact that "I was thinner." 

On Season 5, which concluded the series on New Year's Eve last year, he spoke with evident admiration for what the Duffer Brothers had achieved.

"It transcends character," he said, describing it as being more about Matt and Ross' vision, something that "became so large and epic in scale and scope and the things that they accomplished cinematically in a TV format, I've never seen done before, and I think is to be applauded and celebrated."

But it was his thoughts on Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp and the rest of the young cast that gave the evening its most memorable moment. 

Harbour described what set them apart from many child actors he had encountered, not technical proficiency or self-awareness, but the opposite. 

"A lot of kid actors that you work with are very actor-y and they really know what they're doing," he said, "and part of the strength of the actors that they formed were that, at their essence, Noah and all these little kids were just kind of kids. Even during takes, they would fart and do things that were, you just couldn't believe that you had the relaxation to do that in front of a camera that was spinning. I was like, 'That's incredible relaxation. I would dream of being able to do that. Not being self-conscious in that way.'"

Director and executive producer Shawn Levy, who was present at the event, couldn't resist jumping in. 

"That's something you learned," he said. Harbour's response: "But I can't do it. I tried, Shawn."

The joking aside, his reflection on the show's legacy was heartfelt. 

"I look back on that season as just being a miraculous time in my life. Hopper was a very depressed individual, it was really tough to go through the acting of that, but the family we created and the story we were telling, I don't know if I've ever felt that enriched by some work that I was doing."

Stranger Things concluded after five seasons having won a dozen Emmys, and will be eligible again as a contender this year. 

The universe continues to expand, an animated spinoff, Stranger Things: Tales from '85, has already been renewed for a second season, and a Broadway prequel has been taped for future release as a feature film. 

For Harbour, though, it sounds like nothing will quite replicate that first season, farting on set and all.