Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown Details Working With David Harbour

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Millie Bobby Brown is sharing insight into her working relationship with David Harbour.

As a huge fan, I was so touched to hear Sadie Sink talk about filming the last season of Stranger Things with Winona Ryder. She really opened up about how special those emotional scenes were with her, and it just made me even more excited – and a little sad – for the final chapter. It’s clear their connection on screen is something really genuine.

Look, safety on set is always a huge concern, but in this situation, I genuinely felt secure. I’ve been working with this crew for a decade, and I have complete trust in everyone there. It’s a long-standing, collaborative relationship, and that really makes a difference.

Millie, who is 21, explained that the special connection between her character, Eleven, and her on-screen dad, Jim Hopper (played by David), created a unique bond between her and the actor who played him.

She added that working together felt like a father-daughter relationship, which created a strong connection between them. They shared particularly emotional and challenging scenes together, especially during the second season.

Millie spoke highly of her connection with David, calling their collaboration a joyful and fulfilling experience. She explained that working with the Thunderbolts actor helped her grow and improve as a performer.

She explained that working with him motivates her to perform at her best, because she knows he always gives his all as well.

Rumors started earlier this month about why David wasn’t with his fellow Stranger Things actors during interviews for the show’s final season. However, a source told TopMob News that he was never scheduled to participate, as he was busy filming Evil Genius, a new true crime thriller starring Courteney Cox, according to Deadline.

Millie and David showed everyone they’ve resolved their differences by happily posing for photos together at the season five premiere in Los Angeles on November 6th. They were seen smiling and laughing as they walked the red carpet, and David even made a funny comment about Millie’s husband, Jake Bongiovi, which made her laugh.

In a video from TopMob News, David jokingly asked if he looked as good as Jake. He then laughed and said he didn’t, explaining it wasn’t his fault, just how he was born.

The first part of Stranger Things season five is now available to watch on Netflix. Continue reading to learn more about how the show is made.

Before creating Stranger Things, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer worked on M. Night Shyamalan’s TV series Wayward Pines. Their initial idea for the show was actually called Montauk.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that it’s incredibly difficult to convince people to accept a different title once you’ve become fixated on one. He said that when they first suggested Stranger Things, it was a struggle to get others on board.

The creators of the show originally planned to film on Long Island, but it ended up being too difficult to make happen.

Matt told The Hollywood Reporter they chose Montauk as a filming location because of its beautiful seaside environment, its connection to the fictional town in Jaws – which is their favorite movie – and the overall cool vibe. However, they quickly realized that shooting on Long Island during the winter would have been both incredibly difficult and costly.

Atlanta ultimately became the home base for production.

Before Netflix decided to air the show, around 20 other networks turned it down, according to Vulture. Executives at those networks thought viewers wouldn’t connect with a series focused on four child actors.

4. To play Eleven, then 12-year-old Millie Bobby Brown had to say goodbye to her hair.

In 2018, at PaleyFest, the actress shared that shaving her head was the most liberating experience of her life. She explained that letting go of the last of her hair felt like a reveal, forcing her to confront herself without the ability to hide. Looking in the mirror, she understood her purpose was to inspire others, realizing that beauty isn’t dependent on having hair.

I was so fascinated to learn that the actress really looked to Charlize Theron’s performance in Mad Max: Fury Road for inspiration! It’s amazing how much impact a role like that can have. And even more interestingly, she also studied old yearbook photos of her co-star, Winona Ryder, to help shape her character. It shows how much dedication she put into the part!

She mentioned Winona Ryder’s classic pixie cut and said it inspired her to try the style herself.

The British actress shared a surprising source she used to nail her American accent: Miley Cyrus’s Hannah Montana. She told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that the show – and the movie – were incredibly helpful. “Everything about it is amazing,” she said, “and I got the American accent from it.”

The Duffer brothers chose the four young actors who would play the main characters by having them audition with scenes from the movie Stand By Me.

The brothers had a specific vision for the character of Mike. However, that changed after Finn Wolfhard’s audition.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that Mike initially reminded him of the character Mikey from The Goonies. However, Finn Wolfhard brought a nervous, restless energy to the audition, so they tailored the character to fit his personality.

Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin, also had a big impact on the development of his character. According to Matt, they initially envisioned Dustin as a typical nerd, but after meeting Gaten, they rewrote parts of the show to better suit his talents and personality.

After the show gained popularity, Kellogg’s noticed a big jump in Eggo waffle sales, likely due to the character Eleven’s fondness for them. Sales increased by 14% in late 2017, following the release of the second season, and October of that year saw a record number of social media mentions for the product.

In early 2018, David Harbour became an internet sensation when he agreed to take a fan’s senior portraits with her. It started when the fan tweeted asking him to do her photos if her tweet got 25,000 retweets. Harbour responded that he would, with the condition he got to wear the school sweatshirt and hold a trombone. True to his promise, he followed through and took the photos.

He jokingly predicted on Instagram that, 24 years later, he’d be crashing someone else’s high school senior photos.

Later that year, Harbour playfully offered to marry a fan if she got 125,000 retweets and a piece of her wedding cake. He quickly became officially ordained and happily performed the ceremony dressed as his character, Chief Hopper.

Fans often speculated that Eleven might be Hopper’s biological daughter, but he ultimately became her father figure. A touching detail in the season two finale revealed Eleven wearing a blue braided bracelet – a meaningful keepsake made from the hair ribbon of Hopper’s deceased daughter – to her school dance.

Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, revealed that her first-ever kiss was with Finn Wolfhard (Mike) during season one of the show. She described the experience as ‘strange,’ explaining that being kissed while surrounded by 250 people watching was overwhelming.

She shared what her co-star quietly said to her right before they had to kiss for a second time on the show.

She recalled that he told her he was about to kiss her, explaining, ‘He said, ‘I’m coming in,’ but he did it like a ventriloquist – it was so strange!’ She shared this story during an appearance on The Tonight Show in 2017.

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who star as a couple on the show, started dating in 2016 and have generally chosen to keep their relationship out of the public eye.

Natalia explained to Refinery 29 that she values keeping her personal life—relationships with family and friends—private. However, she also shared that collaborating with someone you see outside of work can be enjoyable. “It’s always really fun,” she said.

Surprisingly, Joe Keery’s character, Steve Harrington, wasn’t originally meant to survive the first season of the show.

According to Ross, they quickly grew fond of Joe Keery, who played Steve, while filming the first season. This affection led them to create a storyline where Steve teams up with Jonathan and Nancy to help resolve the central conflict. Originally, Steve was intended to be a stereotypical, unpleasant athlete, but Keery brought much more depth to the character.

18. Also slated to perish was Eleven. Yes, really. 

In the book Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Ross Duffer explained that the original plan was for Eleven to sacrifice herself to save everyone. However, when they realized the show might continue beyond a single season, they had to change that ending. They knew the show wouldn’t work without Eleven, and they quickly recognized how talented Millie Bobby Brown was. If Stranger Things continued, Eleven absolutely needed to survive.

The seventh episode of the second season, “The Lost Sister,” nearly didn’t make the final cut. The Duffer brothers told Vulture they worried the episode – which focuses on Eleven’s search for another experimented-on child – would disrupt the show’s flow.

Matt explained that as they started writing the episode, they questioned whether it was even necessary. They seriously considered cutting it entirely, but the planned ending involving Eleven didn’t work without it. Ultimately, they decided the episode was essential to make the ending successful.

20. Eleven’s sibling was written to be a boy, with the episode originally titled “The Lost Brother.” 

Once the audition was open to all young actors, Linnea Berthelsen was chosen for the role. The episode eventually showed Eleven meeting her “sister,” Kali. According to Matt, Linnea and Millie (who plays Eleven) had a strong connection, and Millie specifically requested to work with Linnea.

Nicola Coughlan, known for her role in Bridgerton, originally tried out for the part of Robin. However, she later landed the role of Penelope Featherington. Maya Hawke ended up getting the role of Robin, and Nicola said Hawke was much better suited for it than she would have been.

I always loved what she said about auditions. She explained it’s a really valuable lesson for actors: you have to look at the roles you don’t book. It really helps you realize it’s not about you personally – you’re simply suited for some parts and not others, and that’s okay. It’s so freeing to understand that!

Before becoming famous for her role as Sarah on the Netflix series Outer Banks, Madelyn Cline played the character Tina, a popular but unkind student, in the second season of Stranger Things.

To land the role of Billy, Max’s rebellious older stepbrother, Australian actor Dacre Montgomery created a memorable audition tape. He told GQ he aimed to impress the Duffer brothers with a bold and playful performance.

Dacre took a big risk to get noticed: he filmed himself dancing to 80s hits like “Come on Eileen” and “Hungry Like the Wolf” while wearing very little clothing. He worried it might end his career, but hoped someone would recognize his talent and give him an opportunity. Luckily, the gamble worked out for him.

As the show entered its third season, Deadline reported significant pay raises for the cast. The younger actors saw their per-episode salaries jump from around $30,000 to over $200,000, and potentially as high as $250,000. Winona Ryder and David Harbour were each earning approximately $300,000 to $350,000 per episode, while Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton were making between $100,000 and $150,000.

Priah Ferguson was originally scheduled for just one episode in season two as Erica, Lucas’s feisty younger sister. However, the Duffer brothers were so impressed with her performance that they kept adding her to scenes. As a result, she became a regular cast member in the next season.

Because the young actors were still growing during filming, the costume designers had a hard time making sure their clothes fit consistently throughout the series.

It was quite a challenge keeping up with the kids’ growing feet,” costume designer Kim Wilcox explained to TopMob News. “One child, in particular, seemed to outgrow his shoes every three weeks, needing a half-size bigger! To solve this, we found brands that made their products in a wide range of sizes. We’d buy five pairs of each shoe, so we’d always have a replacement when a child had a growth spurt.”

The Duffer brothers were inspired by classic films like The Goonies, E.T., and Stand By Me, but they made sure their references weren’t too obvious.

When we initially presented the project to Netflix, we created a lengthy, two-and-a-half-minute trailer. It combined clips and ideas from around 20 to 30 films to hint at the world of Stranger Things. However, as Matt explained to The Daily Beast, these were really just the films that inspired us, deeply ingrained in our creative vision. Once we started writing individual episodes, we didn’t spend much time directly referencing other movies. Our focus shifted to simply telling the story and letting the characters drive the plot. Otherwise, it would have felt disjointed and chaotic.

As a lifestyle expert, I often talk about achieving a certain aesthetic, and with this project, the team really wanted that classic, less-is-more vibe – minimizing special effects to feel like older films. We quickly discovered, though, that actually doing that was way harder than we initially thought! It’s a great reminder that sometimes, simplicity is the most challenging goal.

Originally, we wanted to use only practical effects, but we quickly learned how challenging that is – we really gained a new respect for the teams behind films like The Thing and Alien. Practical effects require a lot of time and careful planning. We were writing scripts very quickly, but we didn’t have the months needed to prepare everything. When we got to set, a lot of the ideas that sounded great in theory just weren’t feasible given the time constraints.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this! Apparently, the Duffer Brothers always knew exactly how Stranger Things would end! Like, back in 2015, they had the whole five-season plan mapped out, and now, as we’re getting to the finale, everything they imagined is finally happening on screen. Netflix’s Matthew Thunell told Variety all about it. And get this – each episode of season four cost THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS! Can you even imagine the scale of this? It’s just… everything I ever dreamed of is coming true!

Although the creators of Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers, know how the show will eventually end, they’re not finished with the story or the world of the Upside Down.

In an interview with Variety, the creators revealed they have a spin-off idea they’re really enthusiastic about, but it’s still in the early stages – they haven’t even shared the concept yet. Although they’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, Matt and Ross confessed that Finn had already correctly guessed what the series would be about, describing it as ‘very, very different.’ They emphasized that Finn is the only one outside of their team who knows the premise.

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2025-11-30 21:19