When we talk about Stranger Things, it will be wrong to not mention our very own dad figure in the show. Yes, you got that right! I was talking about Hawkins ‘one of a kind’ police chief, Jim Hopper. Commonly known as Hopper in the Netflix hit series – played by the actor, David Harbour. Let me tell you, the fans can not wait to see him in action in Stranger Things Season 5! Seeing that he made an amazing entrance in Season 4, nothing less is expected from him this time.
His acting was phenomenal to say the least. We instantly fell for the character of Hopper as we see him going through hurdles to save his ‘not so normal’ town as well as little Will in Season 1 who disappeared in the Upside Down. Later on, he even took Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) under his wing and adopted her as his own daughter. Basically, giving a former test subject of Hawkins lab his own name; Jane Hopper/Eleven.
However, our hearts literally broke into million pieces when it was insinuated in Season 3 that Hopper probably died in the explosion! Nonetheless, the Duffer brothers’ knew what was best for the show. They brought him back for Season 4 as an American prisoner entrapped in Russia’s Soviet Labor Camp.
It was evident that the whole Stranger Things fandom was delighted to see him! But, what caught our eyes was the insane amount of weight that Harbour lost for this role in Season 4!
Stranger Things Season 5: American Prisoner in Soviet Union
The return of Hopper on the big screen brought a great toll on the actor, David Harbour. Seeing that losing 34-kg weight for his return as Hopper in Stranger Things Season 4 is clearly no joke. And is not an easy task as well!
Yet, he did appear visibly slim and returned as a changed man on the show; shocking the audience with his looks.
David was supposed to return in Season 4, but as a prisoner. The requirement for his role was to lose a huge amount of weight, in order to depict the brutal condition he was put under in Russia. This did put a lot of pressure on him to work on his “dad bod”.
Yet, he went to every extreme to achieve the figure that was needed for his role as Hopper:
- He worked out with his trainer daily.
- His diet only consisted of salads and greek yogurts.
- He did intermittent fasting and what not.
Moreover, the poor soul used to feel hungry during his Black Widow shoot. He confessed this in one of his interviews that:
Just hungry for most of the shoot
Stranger Things Season 5: David Harbour on his “Dad Bod”
After the tweet made by the Merriam Webster dictionary account about the phrase “dad bod”, it was shared with a gif of Hopper dancing. Harbour told CNET that:
“I have a funny relationship with this dad bod thing. I sort of love it and the reason why I love it is actually very serious. I do think that in a certain way, I’ve become a bit of a sex symbol of our time. There are articles about people digging Hopper. But I’m also like a little big and a little chubby. I love the idea of real bodies on television. And I love the idea of making real people feel beautiful and loved”.
Apparently, he has no issue with his chubby body and loves that a realistic image is being portrayed to the audience because of it! And we definitely support him on this!
Stranger Things Season 3: Harbour’s Struggle with his Weight
“All this up and down is not good for the body, and I’ll have to give it up soon”
It’s not about losing or gaining weight but it’s about this constant back of forth of weight change that is giving him trouble, as he shared in his Instagram post.
Considering the fact that he had to lose weight for Stranger Things Season 4 and then he has to gain weight again for his new role as Santa Claus; which would most probably lead him to once again lose weight for Season 5 of Stranger Things;
R”ecently ballooned up again to play jolly ole St Nick in a flick I can’t wait for you to see this holiday season, so I am struggling to fight back down towards a good weight for wherever Hopper ends up in season five”
Geez! All of this sounds hectic to me as well.
Stranger Things: David Harbour’s shirtless scene
David Harbour shared his insight about his shirtless scene in an Instagram Live. In that Live, he discussed his 75-pound weight loss with his trainer David Higgins:
“When I took my shirt off, I wanted to reveal this body that had been hardened by this prison, you know, a guy who was more brutal but was also thinner and had not been eating as well”.
