David Harbour Opens Up About the Final Season Premiere

David Harbour, who has portrayed Jim Hopper on Netflix’s Stranger Things since 2016, shared emotional reflections at the season 5 premiere in Los Angeles on November 6, 2025. Speaking with PEOPLE, Harbour called the event “bittersweet” as he reunited with cast and crew.

“It’s beautiful. The fans, the people that love the show, what we’re trying to do this season, how we really want to pay it off, we really want to tell this story,” Harbour said.
“And then at the end of it, it’s also like I just see all these people that I’ve loved and known so deeply for 10 years and we have to move on and let go. And that is life.”

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How the Role Shaped Harbour’s Career

Harbour also reflected on how playing Hopper has impacted his career:

“None of that would be happening without this role. This role changed the landscape. It was like an earthquake in my life,” he shared.
“We shot that season. I loved it. It was so simple and kind of low budget when it started, and then people just fell in love with it and really attached to it, and it just blew up in a way that I never imagined.”

He added that Stranger Things has opened doors for him to explore other projects and expand his artistic opportunities.

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Busy Schedule and Upcoming Projects

Harbour arrived at the premiere straight from filming Evil Genius, directed by Courteney Cox and co-starring Patricia Arquette. He also recently wrapped Violent Night 2 and has started production on Behemoth! opposite Pedro Pascal, marking a particularly busy period in his post-Stranger Things career.

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On-Screen Bonds and On-Set Tensions

At the premiere, Harbour shared a heartfelt moment with costar Millie Bobby Brown, who plays his on-screen daughter Eleven. They laughed and hugged on the red carpet, with Netflix even posting a video highlighting their emotional interaction.

This reunion comes days after reports that Brown filed a harassment and bullying claim against Harbour prior to the final season’s filming, which reportedly prompted a multi-month investigation. Reps for Netflix, Brown, and Harbour have not commented publicly. Harbour and Brown have worked together since the series began filming in September 2015.

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What to Expect in Season 5

Stranger Things season 5 Volume 1 premieres November 26, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix, followed by Volume 2 on December 25, and the finale on December 31.

The season is set in fall 1987, with Vecna “vanished” and the government placing Hawkins under military quarantine. Eleven is forced back into hiding, and the full group must come together for a final, epic battle.

“To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time,” the official synopsis reads.