If the Duffer Brothers had had their way, Stranger Things might have looked very different. In a recent conversation with “Happy Sad Confused” podcast’s Josh Horowitz, the Duffer Brothers revealed their first choice to play the gruff, but loving, Chief Jim Hopper wasn’t actually David Harbour… But it turns out it wasn’t Josh Brolin either, as some fans have speculated. Instead, the Duffer Brothers wanted Billy Crudup to play the role of Hopper on Stranger Things. But “everything happens for a reason,” Matt Duffer shares. You can check out what the Duffer Brothers had to say about casting the role of Hopper and how David Harbour came to have the role below.
David Harbour himself sent in the question concerning how he came to have the role of Hopper on Stranger Things. He asked the Duffer Brothers, “Hello, Duffer Brothers. I would like to know the casting process of Hopper. I’m pretty sure I was second choice, and I don’t know who I was second choice to — maybe I was third choice? But would you please answer the question of how I came to be cast as Chief Hopper, and who had to say no to allow me to do that wonderful, incredible role.”
After Harbour’s question, Horowitz speculated that it was Josh Brolin who was originally meant to play the role of Hopper on Stranger Things—guessing based on a clue that the original actor was one of Harbor’s good friends. And, honestly, the more we think about Brolin as Hopper, the more we like it. But, surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Josh Brolin who was originally meant to play the gruff but kind Hawkins Chief of Police. Instead, the Duffer Brothers shared that Billy Crudup was the actor they originally envisioned in the role of Hopper.
They reveal, “No, no, no, no, no, no. No, it was Billy Crudup, which is a very different– like, everything happens for a reason, right? So it’s like, once it kind of clicks into place. But yeah, Billy Crudup passed. I don’t think he was doing much TV at the time.” And they go on to explain, “And then David just, honestly, he just came in, and one of our casting directors thought he could be great for the role. He came and read, and he just did one take. We weren’t even there, we just saw the tape, and it was just so clear, instantly: this is Hopper. And we just cast him right then and there.”
And the rest, as they say, is history. And we couldn’t imagine Stranger Things‘ Hopper in any other way. The Duffer Brothers mention that had Billy Crudup taken the role, it would have made for a much different kind of character. We would feel curious to know how Hopper was originally envisioned on Stranger Things. But we guess it doesn’t really matter now.