Hellboy star David Harbour talks physique, fan interactions and finding humanity in the spawn of Satan

Originally published on April 11, 2019

When it comes to David Harbour's career as an actor, it's definitely taken a few strange turns — and not just because of his popular role as police chief Jim Hopper in the hit supernatural series Stranger Things.

Harbour started as a classical actor, starring in Broadway plays like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but he's appeared in everything from television dramas like Law & Order to acclaimed films like Brokeback Mountain and Revolutionary Road. Now, he's taking on the titular half-human, half-demonic anti-hero in the new Hellboy reboot.

In a conversation with q's Tom Power, Harbour explained that he tries to find the humanity in every role, even when that character is the demonic spawn of Satan created by evil Nazis. For Harbour, Hellboy is just a man with an unusual upbringing who's now struggling to connect with others.

"He's an adopted kid ... so all these psycho-dynamics, I start to explore ," said Harbour. "He wants to be a force for good."

It's that kind of exploration of the human connection that drew Harbour to acting in the first place. Despite doing a lot of physical training for Hellboy, Harbour said perfecting his physique for a role always comes second to the craft of acting.

"I think it's kind of an unrealistic and kind of an annoying fantasy. I'm a little tired of that," said Harbour regarding people's curiosity for his physical transformation for the role. "I was very gratified when Stranger Things came around and people were like 'Oh, you can like be a normal guy and be sexy.'"

These aren't just principles Harbour follows in terms of his acting career. He tries to live by them as much as he can, even when interacting with his audience — especially after entering an enthusiastic sci-fi community with Stranger Things and now a more established fandom with Hellboy.

Harbour has been known to go through great lengths when interacting with his fans, whether that's taking senior high school photos with them or officiating their weddings.

"I don't really actually want to do something that's easy," he said about socializing with fans. "I want to do something that's going to annoy me. It's going to take at least a couple of days out of my life. That brings me a lot more joy than the selfie on the street."

Hellboy is out in theatres on Friday, April 12.

— Produced by ​Vanessa Greco. Written by Miguel Santa Maria.