Published: 9:33 AM PST, November 11, 2023

David Harbour says he and the rest of the Stranger Things cast are getting ready to head back to set to film the fifth and final installment of the hit Netflix series. 

Harbour, 48, talked with members of the media Thursday evening at the BoxLunch Gala and shared that filming for the show — which was delayed by the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike — is now just “a couple of days” away. 

The actor has portrayed the lovable and gruff Sheriff Jim Hopper on Stranger Things since season 1 hit the streaming app in July 2016. Harbour’s character quickly became a fan favorite and the show helped to launch the actor into a new level of stardom after an already successful career. 

Talking with Variety, Harbour said that the cast and crew of the sci-fi drama series will have to get back to Hawkins, Indiana — the fictional city where the show is set — as they are already behind schedule. 

“I mean, we got to film that last season of Stranger Things, don’t we? I got to be down there, like, in a couple of days. We got to get going — we’re late,” he said. 

Harbour later told People that he got a call from producers about resuming production a mere 10 minutes after the strike ended.

“They literally called me, I think it was 10 minutes after the SAG thing on Twitter,” he said. “The first AD [Assistant Director] is like, ‘So, get the flight for you on Monday, right? We’ll be acting in Atlanta.'”

The fourth season of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix in two parts in May and July 2022 and the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, confirmed in August 2022 they were in the early stages of writing the fifth season. Several outlets reported that filming was set to take place over the summer but was interrupted by the respective WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. 

Harbour, who took over the title of BoxLunch Giving Ambassador from fellow actor Simu Liu, ended the night’s event by announcing he would match BoxLunch’s $100,000 donation to Feeding America. 

Talking to the crowd, Harbour joked that as Liu has left the position, the Shang-Chi star can now focus on his main job. 

“Guess your job is no longer Giving Ambassador, you got to go back to beach. That’s Ken’s job, it’s beach,” Harbour joked, referencing Liu’s role in Barbie. 

The Gran Turismo actor said he decided to double the donation because she couldn’t be outdone by his predecessor. 

“I did not want a very handsome young actor who was last year’s ambassador to outdo me in any way,” Harbour said after the gala. 

Aside from his role on the Netflix series and his new philanthropic title, Harbour has a busy year ahead as after filming has wrapped on Stranger Things, he will have to jump back into his role as Red Guardian within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Harbour was supposed to shoot Marvel’s Thunderbolts film over the summer before the SAG-AFTRA strike postponed production. On Thursday, Disney announced that the movie — which was originally set to hit theaters in 2024 — has been postponed to July 2025. 

Thunderbolts is an Avengers-level team-up including the universe’s anti-heroes and stars veteran MCU actors Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olga Kurylenko and Wyatt Russell, and adds Marvel newcomers Steven Yeun, and Ayo Edebiri. 

In February, Harbour talked with ET about the upcoming MCU project and said he was excited to reunite with Pugh — who starred alongside him in 2020’s Black Widow — as well as the other new and returning MCU actors. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of fun to be had,” Harbour added of the impending team-up. “I’m really excited about it. I was wondering if I would be brought back, or how I would be brought back. And this really is beyond my expectations of cool.”

For a full breakdown of upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows and movies, click HERE. 

RELATED CONTENT: