Today, actor David Harbour is best known for his portrayal of Jim Hopper in the Netflix series Stranger Things, the very role that also earned him two Emmy nominations so far. That said, perhaps not everyone realizes that Harbour is also a seasoned actor whose credits include War of the Worlds, Revolutionary Road, Brokeback Mountain, and the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.
Unbeknownst to many too, Harbour once tried to join the X-Men franchise. Sadly, he was turned down due to a very specific reason.
Why Did X-Men Pass Up On David Harbour?
Around the time that they were casting for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Harbour thought it would be a good idea to audition for the role of Fred Dukes, a.k.a. the Blob. At that time, he even thought he already had the right physique for the part. “I auditioned to play the Blob in a Wolverine X-Men movie, and at the end of the audition, I squeezed my stomach and was like, 'I got your Blob right here!'” Harbour recalled during an interview with Women’s Health.
What Harbour didn’t realize, however, was that his appearance concerned director Gavin Hood. “Then I met with the director and he said, 'David, you're a wonderful actor, but we're worried about your health,’” the actor recalled. “I was like, 'What do you mean, man?' And he was like, 'We saw you had some fat, and we're worried you're not healthy enough to carry the suit.' I was like, 'Dude, you're telling me I'm too fat to play the Blob?' The irony was priceless.”
With Harbour out of the running, the role eventually went to Kevin Durand.
He Soon Got Ripped To Play Another Comic Book Character
Throughout his career, Harbour admitted to struggling to land roles simply because he didn’t exactly meet typical casting requirements. “I just always felt like I was an oddball. I was too intense. I was kinda fat. I’m messy. I didn’t fit the mold they wanted,” he told Esquire. “You can either be the fat funny guy or the slim leading man, but the in-between, it confuses them.”
Nonetheless, Harbour got cast to play the titular character in the Hellboy reboot several years later. The role required a lot of intense physical preparation and Harbour was committed to doing it all. The actor even tapped trainer-to-the-stars Don Saladino (previous clients include Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Sebastian Stan, and Blake Lively) to get him into shape.
From the beginning, Saladino knew the importance of making Harbour feel like he could embody the character completely. “He had to feel like he was able to kick some a**,” Saladino explained during an interview with Men’s Health. “And walk on the set and feel like Hellboy.” Harbour’s workout plan included a lot of loaded carries, which helps build up strength while burning fat at the same time. The entire program lasted nine weeks and by the end, Harbour looked like he could take on anything.
And although Harbour got ripped for Hellboy, the actor has made it clear that he didn’t get into this profession to be buffed all the time. “The trend is for us to work out. Then stand up on screen and dazzle the world with godlike perfection,” Harbour explained while speaking with GQ. “But I got into acting because of Walter Matthau. I like the dudes who are less-than-capable seeming, who then overcome odds. That’s much more dramatic, but we have to battle narcissism on every level – this navel-gazing self-love.”
Unfortunately, no amount of weight loss and muscle building could save the Hellboy reboot from failing big time. Harbour would later admit that the film suffered from “major problems.” “We did our best, but there's so many voices that go into these things and they're not always going to work out,” the actor also later told Digital Spy. “I did what I could do and I feel proud of what I did, but ultimately I'm not in control of a lot of those things.”
Harbour may have lost the opportunity to join the X-Men films several years back, but it seems he still gets the last laugh. As fans know, this veteran actor is set to make his big debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the very comic film franchise that his Hellboy failed to match up to recently. As the Red Guardian in Black Widow, he also ended up with something better than a fat suit.
Harbour himself would tell fans that suiting up as the Red Guardian was a special moment. “You know, all this stuff you see in the movie where he comes out and he’s like, ‘Still fits.’ … I mean, that stuff was just me,” the actor said during an interview with CinemaBlend. “It’s just me thinking I look great and them all laughing at me. But you could not convince me in my psychotic break that I did not look phenomenal in that.”
