‘Stranger Things’ Season 3 Will Take Risks, According to David Harbour

Stranger Things season 3 won’t arrive for another year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start obsessing over it now. David Harbour, who plays sherif/dancing enthusiast Hopper on the hit Netflix series, recently offered some vague info regarding the impending third season, promising that audiences can expect something risky. Plus: just in time for Emmy season, Netflix released a video in praise of Harbour’s memorable performance on the show.

Everyone loves David Harbour. He’s been a dependable character actor for years, and Stranger Things has turned him into a star. As the chain-smoking, mustache-sporting, Jim Croce-loving Jim Hopper, Harbour has endeared himself to a whole new audience. He’s one of the key reasons Stranger Things works so well, and he’s also up for an Emmy award. Since we’re in the midst of Emmy season, Netflix is cutting together highlight reels of their nominees. Harbour is the latest to get the treatment, and this very detailed video is loaded with cast and crew praising the actor’s work, and exploring how he ended up in the role.

David Harbour!

Harbour is also on hand in the video to explain how he approaches the character. As the actor explains it, the Hopper of seven years ago was a much happier guy, but family tragedy has hardened him a bit. And yet, he still has a big heart – a heart that shines through in layers as the show progresses.

The actor is also making the rounds for Emmy-related interviews, which has inevitably lead to the subject of Stranger Things season 3. The new season is current in the midst of filming, and we won’t see it until 2019. Which means we probably won’t learn any specific details for a while. That said, Harbour offered up some vague yet tantalizing information regarding the new season. “The new directions that we’re going, all of us are taking a lot of risks,” the actor told THR. “We’re all a little bit out of our comfort zone.”

New direction, eh? What could that mean? My guess: Stranger Things 3 will be a musical-comedy. I could be wrong, though. Harbour also added:

“I wish I could characterize the [new] season, but to me it’s so big. For example, did you find last season to be darker? There were certainly elements of it that were scary, but I thought there was also a lot of fun, a lot of joy and a lot of silliness, with Steve being a dad and the kids as Ghostbusters. Just taking my story, for example, it’s fun to see Hopper having adopted Eleven. She’s become legitimized in the society, in the world of Hawkins. And he’s a father now. He’s raising a teenage daughter, with all that that entails. So I think that can be pretty funny to see his inadequacies in all of this.”

I thought Stranger Things 2 was pretty good, for the most part. But it didn’t quite capture the magic of the first season. If season 3 really is taking the show in a new direction, I look forward to seeing if it improves things…or makes them worse. We’ll find out in 2019.

The post ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3 Will Take Risks, According to David Harbour appeared first on /Film.