David Harbour

Career 1994–2013: Early years

From 1994 to 1997, Harbour performed with The Theater at Monmouth at Cumston Hall in Monmouth, Maine, where he acted in Shakespearian productions such as The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale, and Hamlet. Harbour began acting professionally on Broadway in 1999, in the revival of The Rainmaker. He made his television debut that year on the television show Law & Order, playing a waiter. He appeared again in 2002 in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a child murderer. He had the recurring role of MI6 agent Roger Anderson in the ABC series Pan Am. In 2005, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Nick in the revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Harbour is also known for his role as CIA Agent Gregg Beam in Quantum of Solace, as Shep Campbell in Revolutionary Road, and as Russell Crowe's source in State of Play. He also received praise for his role as spree killer Paul Devildis in a 2009 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. His other film credits include Brokeback Mountain, The Green Hornet, End of Watch, and Between Us. In 2013, he had a small role of a head doctor in the television series Elementary. From 2012 to 2014, he also had the recurring role of Elliot Hirsch in The Newsroom.

2014–present: Breakthrough and success with Stranger Things

In 2014, Harbour played the recurring character of Dr. Reed Akley in the first season of the historical drama series Manhattan. In 2015, he was cast as Chief Jim Hopper in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things. For that role, he has received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2017 and 2018) and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2018). He won an Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2017) along with the rest of the cast.

Harbour starred as the title character in the superhero reboot film Hellboy (2019). He portrayed Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow (2021), and reprised the role in Thunderbolts* (2025). He also had starring roles in Christmas action comedy film Violent Night (2022), and in the Neill Blomkamp sports film Gran Turismo (2023) based on the PlayStation video game series of the same name.

Personal life Harbour had relationships with Alison Sudol and Julia Stiles. Starting in 2019, he was in a relationship with English singer-songwriter Lily Allen. They made their red carpet debut during the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. They married on September 7, 2020, in Las Vegas in a wedding officiated by an Elvis impersonator. The couple shared a Brownstone house in Brooklyn and worked with the architect Ben Bischoff. In December 2024, The Telegraph alleged that Allen and Harbour had separated, after Allen's dating profile was reportedly spotted on the exclusive dating app Raya. Other reports state that the couple had separated in early 2025. After the release of Allen's fifth studio album West End Girl, she stated that it was partially based on the "demise" of their relationship and Harbour's alleged infidelity.

In an interview with The Guardian on his role in Black Widow in July 2021, Harbour said he was a socialist: "I don't know that there's anyone who could disagree with socialist ideology". He elaborated: "The idea of a kindergarten-type society where we share things is my ideal society—as opposed to this world where we're hunting and killing and destroying for our own personal hoarding, our own personal greed."

Harbour struggled with alcoholism in his past and has been sober since he was 24, after hitting "rock bottom" as he faced homelessness, loneliness and thoughts of suicide. He began drinking as a teenager and the habit worsened during college. He decided to stop drinking after feeling "very lonely and needing a different direction in my life", and has said, "I enjoy consciousness too much now" to drink again. Harbour enjoys watching Let's Plays and speedruns of old video games. Harbour is a fan of the NHL's New York Rangers. He is a former believer in the paranormal.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2004 Kinsey Robert Kinsey 2005 Confess FBI Agent McAllister Brokeback Mountain Randall Malone War of the Worlds Dock Worker Deleted scene 2006 The Wedding Weekend David 2007 AwakeDracula 2008 Revolutionary Road Shep Campbell Quantum of Solace Gregg Beam 2009 State of Play PointCorp Insider 2010 Every Day Brian 2011 The Green Hornet D.A. Frank Scanlon W.E. Ernest Simpson Thin Ice Bob Egan Originally released as The Convincer 2012 End of Watch Van Hauser Between Us Joel Knife Fight Stephen Green 2013 Snitch Jay Price Parkland James Gordon Shanklin 2014 X/Y Todd A Walk Among the Tombstones Ray The Equalizer Frank Masters 2015 Black Mass John Morris 2016 Suicide Squad Dexter Tolliver 2017 Sleepless Doug Dennison 2019Hellboy Hellboy Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein David Harbour III / Jr. / Frankenstein Short film 2020 Extraction Gaspar Turtle Journey Father Turtle Short film 2021No Sudden Move Matt WertzBlack Widow Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian 2022 Violent Night Nicomund the Red / Santa Claus 2023 We Have a Ghost Ernest the Ghost Gran Turismo Jack Salter 2024 Night of the Zoopocalypse Dan (voice) 2025 A Working Man Gunny Lefferty Thunderbolts* Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian 2026 Goat Archie Everhardt (voice) Post-production Nicomund the Red / Santa Claus Post-production Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian Post-production 2027 Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman Post-production John Barrett Post-production Filming

Television Year Title Role Notes 1999, 2008 Law & Order Mike Episode: "Patsy" Jay Carlin Episode: "Submission" 2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Terry Jessup Episode: "Dolls" 2003 Hack Christopher Clark Episode: "Presumed Guilty"2004, 2009 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Wesley John Kenderson Episode: "Silver Lining" Paul Devildis Episode: "Family Values" 2007 The Unit Gary Weber Episode: "Five Brothers" 2009 Lie to Me Frank Ambrose Episode: "The Better Half" Royal Pains Dan Samuels Episode: "It's Like Jamais Vu All Over Again" 2011–2012 Pan Am Roger Anderson 6 episodes 2012 Midnight Sun Ethan Davies Unsold NBC TV pilot Blue Cooper 3 episodes 2012–2014 The Newsroom Elliot Hirsch 10 episodes 2013 Elementary Dr. Mason Baldwin Episode: "Lesser Evils" 2014 Rake David Potter 11 episodes Manhattan Dr. Reed Akley 10 episodes 2014–2015 State of Affairs David Patrick Main role; 13 episodes 2015–2016 Banshee Robert Dalton 2 episodes 2016 Crisis in Six Scenes Vic Episode: "#1.2" 2016–2025 Stranger Things Jim Hopper Main role; 42 episodes 2018 Drunk History Vietnam Memorial Head Episode: "Underdogs" Animals Hawk Voice, episode: "Roachella" 2019 El Hormiguero 3.0 Himself (guest) Episode: "David Harbour" Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "David Harbour/Camila Cabello" 2020 The Simpsons Fred Kranepool Voice, episode: "Undercover Burns" 2021 Big City Greens Rick Voice, episode: "The Van" Q-Force Agent Rick Buck Voice Star Wars: Visions Tajin Voice, episode: "The Elder"; english dub Marvel Studios: Assembled Himself Episode: "The Making of Black Widow " 2024–present Creature Commandos Eric Frankenstein Voice; main role 2024 What If...? Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian Voice; 2 episodes 2025 The Rookie Security Guard Uncredited, episode: "Out of Pocket" Marvel Zombies Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian Voice; 3 episodes 2026 DTF St. Louis Floyd Smernitch Main role; 7 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2024 Alone in the Dark Edward Carnby Voice and likeness 2026 Mewgenics Cat voice variant Voice Total War: Warhammer 40,000 In production

Theater YearTitleRoleVenueNotesRef. 2000 Stranger Steward / Frank / Pato Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway 2001 The Invention of Love Moses John Jackson Lyceum Theatre Broadway 2002 Twelfth Night Antonio Delacorte Theater 2003 Fifth of July John Landis Signature TheatreOff-Broadway A Bad Friend Fallon Lincoln Center Theater The Two Noble Kinsmen Arcite The Public Theater 2004 Between Us Joel New York City Center 2005 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Nick Wilbur Theatre Longacre Theatre Broadway 2006–2007 The Coast of Utopia: Part 1 – Voyage Nicholas StankevichVivian Beaumont Theater The Coast of Utopia: Part 2 – Shipwreck George Herwegh The Coast of Utopia: Part 3 – Salvage Doctor Bazarov 2008 Hamlet Laertes / Ghost of Hamlet's Father Delacorte Theater 2009 Time Stands Still James Dodd Geffen Playhouse 2010–2011 The Merchant of Venice Bassanio Broadhurst TheatreBroadway 2012–2013 Glengarry Glen Ross John Williamson Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre 2016 Cal in Camo Tim Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Off-Broadway 2022 Mad House Michael Ambassadors Theatre West End debut

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2005 Tony Awards Best Featured Actor in a Play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 2017 Actor Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Stranger Things Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best TV Supporting Actor Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2018 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Actor Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2020Actor Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor Hellboy 2025 Critics' Choice Super Awards Best Actor in a Superhero Movie Thunderbolts* 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie DTF St. Louis