When asked about the fan reaction to the upcoming finale of Stranger Things, Harbour was enthusiastic about the show’s ability to tie together its sprawling storylines — which were stretched thin in the fourth season — while still delivering an emotional punch:
“I've said it before, but I do think the finale is spectacular. I think that it's so satisfying if you've been a fan of the show. It takes a lot of threads that you may have worried about or wondered about — I'm not saying it ties them up into a nice, neat bow, but it gives you the having-eaten-a-big-meal satisfaction that you will crave. Whether that be sad or happy, we don't know, but it will give you that. It will give you that satisfaction as a fan of the show. I don't feel like we're gonna disappoint.”
David Harbour Says Finishing Up on 'Stranger Things' Was "Very Emotional"
Harbour also reflected on what it’s been like to bring this chapter of his life to a close after nearly a decade of filming. He looked back on those fun moments that he shared with his young co-stars, who have grown up before audiences’ eyes over the course of the show, as well as in front of him:
“It's very emotional. Those kids were kids when we started. It's been 10 years of our lives, come 2025. We started the series in the late summer of 2015. We shot, and then it came out in 2016. But we've been shooting for nine years, so those kids, some of them were 10 and 11, and now they're in their twenties, and some of them were 15 or 16. So, you've gone through watching the show, and that was their childhood, shooting it for you. I think that that's very profound when you come to a close.”
The journey to the final episodes included some deeply moving moments during the table reads. Harbour described the raw emotional energy present in the room when they were discovering the fates of their characters.
“I think there’s all kinds of stuff that comes with that, of course," he explained. "When you read that, that stuff just comes out because these kids are actors, and they know how to get in touch with it, and they know how to feel it, and it just pours out of them. It was really beautiful at that table read to watch them have this moment.”
And while behind-the-scenes footage has become a cornerstone of modern filmmaking, Harbour admitted his gratitude that some of the most meaningful moments from Stranger Things Season 5 will remain between the cast and crew:
“As we've been filming, we've had these experiences that are not contrived, which I've been wary of because I feel like so much of this BTS stuff in this business now is so contrived that there's something so nice… And a lot of these things won't be on the BTS because it's just between us what this experience has been. You'll see it in the show. You'll see it in the work. That's always what my focus has been is watch the show, and you'll see the moments between me and Eleven or me and Mike, me and Dustin, me and Joyce. You'll feel all of this because they are such terrific actors, and they bring that out in me. We have all this luxurious love in the room.”
Stranger Things will return in 2025. Meanwhile, you can stream all seasons on Netflix and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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Stranger Things
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.
Release Date July 15, 2016
Creator Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Watch on Netflix
Image via Netflix
English (US) ·