"I think about George Clooney leaving 'ER. Now we just see him as George Clooney," actor David Harbour told Insider in a recent interview to promote his upcoming video game flick, Grand Turismo. "But there was a time when it was, 'The guy from 'ER' is doing a movie with Nicole Kidman.'"
This statement came at the end of the interview, where Harbour revealed that he's ready to leave television behind for good and ascend to the heights of being a film star.
The actor is already carving a niche out in the film landscape, having portrayed Red Guardian in Black Widow, the titular hero in a Hellboy reboot (which is already being rebooted yet again), and an R-rated Santa Clause in Violent Night.
In the interview, Harbour discussed his desire to show more range and acting prowess than what he's exhibited to date, likening his late-career rise to Gene Hackman.
"I'm trying to navigate some of that, and it's tricky because you don't want to s#*t on the people that love you for this thing that you did that you also love," said Harbour on the fans who only know him for his role as Hopper in Stranger Things. "But at the same time, you kind of want to leave the nest. I got more in me. I got different stuff in me, and I want you guys to see that. I don't want people yelling 'Hopper' on the street every five minutes the rest of my life."
Harbour stressed that he definitely loves Stranger Things and the character of Hopper, but at the same time, he has leading-man desire, and he's going to use his late-career surge to make those dreams happen.
The Duffer Brothers previously confirmed that season 5 of Stranger Things would be the last.
However, that was before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA tandem strikes. Stranger Things 5 was originally thought to be aiming for an early-2025 release but due to the failed negotiations with the AMPTP, a late-2025 release date appears more likely.