David Harbour can go to any extent to safeguard his image as he reveals ‘Black Widow’ set details.
David Harbour has risen to great fame since he first portrayed Jim Hopper in ‘Stranger Things’ five years ago. He has had no shortage of roles, be it on television or the big screen. But like most actors, the ‘Black Widow‘ star is always at the risk of being typecast, which, unfortunately for him, came true. What extreme measures did Harbour take to get out of this fix? Surely, leaking confidential photos seems over the top. Read more to know.
HIGHLIGHTS —
- David Harbour’s creative issues
- Harbour leaks ‘Black Widow’ photos
HARBOUR’S ACTING TROUBLES
The two most awaited projects in David Harbour’s basket include Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 and Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ‘Black Widow’ film. Although the two may appear worlds apart for viewers, for Harbour, the roles in both the projects clashed with each other.
In ‘Black Widow’, he plays Alexie Shostakov or as colloquially known Red Guardian. Red Guardian is the Russian counterpart of Captain America. However, unlike Cap’s blue-themed attire, he prefers the Soviet red for his look. Just like Black Widow, he possesses no superpowers, yet this does not deter him from foregoing his retirement to help Natasha seek vengeance. You may be thinking this sounds absolutely distinct from Hawkins’ Hopper but there is a very close similarity between the two. Both of them are inmates in a Russian prison but, obviously, in two different worlds and periods.
After ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3, fans speculated that they had lost Hooper. But a post-credit teaser had hinted at an American being trapped with the Russians. Hopper’s fate in Season 4 was confirmed by none other than himself in a video posted on his Instagram. The clip features Hopper labouring at a Russian facility as a prisoner, just like Red Guardian’s situation in ‘Black Widow’.
As forecasted before, Harbour has been risking his ‘Stranger Things’ persona with other contrasting roles. When he did find himself in creative trouble, the solution he found also appeared on the ‘Black Widow’ set.
HARBOUR TAKES EXTREME MEASURES
In his recent appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, Harbour revealed that he was worried about doing two identical roles. Having finished the filming for ‘Stranger Things’ in 2019, he received an offer from Marvel “to play a guy who starts out in Russian prison”. But David was wary of being “the same guy with long hair and a beard in the same prison”.
To ensure that the two characters remain distinct, Harbour breached protocols on the ‘Black Widow’ set by taking pictures and leaking the set details to ‘Stranger Things’ makers, Duffer Brothers.
“I was taking pictures of the set unbeknownst to anyone and sending them to the Duffer Brothers making sure they didn’t use any of the same colours as the [‘Black Widow’] set”,
Harbour elaborated. “And making sure the looks were different and the outfits were different. I kept sending these photos.”
This is a classic example of an actor trying all means to have his way. Furthermore, to make his two roles stand apart, he also worked on his appearance. While he turned his ‘Stranger Things’ Hopper bald and clean-shaven, Harbour’s Red Guardian carries a thick beard with long hair along with 70 additional pounds. He explained his decision,
“I was like ‘guys, we can’t do this. I mean, I’m coming out with this Marvel movie, I can’t have the beard and the hair’. So we came up with a whole different look for it”.
Harbour’s anxiety was not irrational as fans had started speculating if there will be a Marvel -‘Stranger Things’ crossover. His following looked forward to this possibility, which was not alright with David as he wants to stand out as an actor. His efforts to reveal ‘Black Widow’ set photos may seem extreme. But what kind of actor likes to be stereotyped? He also cleared the air with his overbearing fans by terming the similarities between Hopper and Red Guardian as an “annoying coincidence”. He mentioned, “There is no rhyme or reason for it, I promise you. There’s no crossover event”.
The ‘Stranger Things’ star has done an ingenious job of putting his fans’ worries and his own to rest. It will be fascinating to see if his efforts of leaking ‘Black Widow’ photos pay off. While the release date of ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 is yet to be announced, ‘Black Widow’ will hit theatres and Disney+ on July 9. Harbour will also feature in a new heist film called ‘No Sudden Move’ which will stream on HBO Max July 1 onwards.
In which role are you most excited to see David Harbour? Share with us in the comments!
