“Stranger Things” star David Harbour has unexpectedly dropped out of an acting project.
Harbour, who played Jim Hopper on all five seasons of “Stranger Things,” stepped back from his role in “Behemoth!,” an upcoming drama from “Michael Clayton” director Tony Gilroy. Variety confirmed the news earlier this week.
According to the outlet, multiple sources said Harbour exited the film to rest after the whirlwind of filming and promoting season 5 of “Stranger Things,” which came to an end in December 2025. His role has reportedly been recast, although it’s unclear who replaced him. NJ.com has reached out to Harbour’s team for comment.
“Behemoth!” also stars Pedro Pascal and Olivia Wilde. A logline for the film says it follows “a musician from a family of musicians who returns to Los Angeles” and serves as “a love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it.”
Harbour’s departure from the film comes after the actor has received some bad press in recent months. Lily Allen’s album “West End Girl,” which was released in October 2025, paints an unflattering portrait of Harbour while detailing the demise of their marriage.
One month after the album dropped, the Daily Mail reported that Millie Bobby Brown, who played Harbour’s adopted daughter Eleven on “Stranger Things,” had filed a complaint accusing Harbour of harassment and bullying on set. The alleged claims, which reportedly did not include any accusations of sexual harassment, allegedly led to a months-long investigation.
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Days after the report made headlines, Brown and Harbour posed for photos together at the “Stranger Things” season 5 world premiere. They smiled and hugged, putting on a united front amid rumors of bad blood between them. Neither of the stars ever addressed Brown’s alleged bullying complaint.
More recently, TMZ reported that Harbour was seen taking a man’s hat and running off with it at a pub in Encinitas, California, in December 2025.
“What the f–k did I do to you, dude?” the man reportedly asked as Harbour ran off with his hat, yelling, “C’mon, dude, f—ing get me.’”
Harbour’s “Stranger Things” fame has put his personal life under a microscope, but the actor told Variety in November that the show has “opened a tremendous amount of doors” for him as well.
“I’m interested now in what happens after ‘Stranger Things,’ in terms of walking through those doors,” he said. “I have this new HBO show coming out in January, [‘DTF St. Louis, which stars] me and Jason Bateman, and all this other stuff in the pipe now, so that’s more where my focus is on right now.”
“Stranger Things” is available to stream on Netflix.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nj.com ’
