“This Is Hopper”: Duffer Brothers Recall Casting David Harbour After Billy Crudup Passed!

Here’s one for the “what if” books: The Duffers revealed during an interview with “Happy Sad Confused” host Josh Horowitz that David Harbour wasn’t their first choice for Chief Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. In fact, they had initially offered the role to Billy Crudup.

The reveal came after Harbour submitted a loaded video question to the panel asking for the Duffer brothers to talk about the casting process for Hopper, noting that he was “pretty sure” he was “second choice.”

After joking back and forth, the duo conceded that Billy Crudup (Watchmen, Almost Famous) was their first choice but ultimately passed, noting that it was meant to be.

“It was Billy Crudup, which is a whole very different…” they told Horowitz.

“But I’m saying everything happens for a reason, right? So it’s like, once it kind of clicks into place, but yeah, Billy Crudup passed.

“It worked out for everybody,” they added, providing some context: “Yeah, so in the David, just, I’m honestly, he just came in and one of our casting directors thought he could be great for the role, but he came in and read. He just did one take. We weren’t even there. We just saw the tape and it was just, it was, it was so clear instantly that this is Hopper, and we just cast him right then and there.”

In the end, the casting worked out exactly as audiences now imagine it should have, and it’s difficult to picture anyone other than David Harbour as Chief Hopper in Stranger Things.