David Harbour, one of the stars of Stranger Things, has revealed that he was afraid no one would watch the show once it was released.
It might seem silly now considering how enormously popular Stranger Things has become around the world but Netflix’s sci-fi hit wasn’t always a sure thing. In fact, one of the show’s stars, David Harbour, was pretty nervous about the 80s set nostalgia series, worrying if people would even want to watch it.
Speaking to WTF with Marc Maron, Harbour discussed his once cynical outlook on the show’s chances: “I love that pilot script. I thought it was amazing, and I actually didn’t think that I would get cast, and then I wound up getting cast. It’s a big Netflix show, you know? I didn’t think they wanted to take a chance on me… I don’t think they knew [that it would be that big], but still. I didn’t know Netflix was doing that many series. Now they’re doing everything, but at the time it felt kinda like a big deal.
“But when we were shooting it, about four episodes in, I thought ‘Yeah, no one’s going to watch this.’ I thought, you know, ‘I’m not good, and it’s not good.’ And it didn’t help that, we were all working hard, but we were in a bubble. I just thought it was like, you know, in a long line of failures. Not tremendously. I mean, I’m being a little bit hyperbolic. But still.”
Elaborating even further on his pessimistic approach to the show, the actor said: “I had grown very cynical. But so this was one of those opportunities where my expectations were really low. And then we’re in there shooting it, and I do think ‘I look like hell.’ And so before it came out, I was scared. And then, I was actually doing a play with a guy who was on a very successful TV show. And before it came out, like three weeks before it came out, there were no ads in New York. No ads on buses, nothing. And then a week before it came out, no ads anywhere. I talked to [the actor] and was like ‘There’s no ads. Is that a bad sign?’ And he was like ‘They’re burying it. They’re trying to bury it.’ And I was like ‘Oh my god. My one fucking shot, and they’re burying my show.’
“And then it came out, and it was like a zeitgeist.” Harbour said. “They claim now that they did it on purpose, where people claim ownership over it because they discover it and then they tell their friends. And it is kind of brilliant, when you think about it, if that is the case. Because that is what happened.”
The word of mouth surrounding season one of Stranger Things was certainly strong and plenty of people have discussed not hearing about the show at all before release until giving it a chance and then quickly falling in love. Hopefully, Harbour has since learned to have a little more faith in himself and can enjoy the great success he and the show have shared since.
SEE ALSO: Shawn Levy talks Stranger Things future, may extend to five seasons
The third season of Stranger Things will see the return of cast members Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobbie Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery and Priah Ferguson, while new additions include Maya Hawke, Francesca Reale, Cary Elwes and Jake Busey.
