David Harbour has become a pop culture sensation once again thanks to his role as Hopper in Stranger Things, which inevitably led to him bagging a part in the MCU as well. His hero, Red Guardian, which was the Soviet government’s equivalent of Captain America, made his debut in Black Widow and will appear in the upcoming Phase Five project, Thunderbolts.
Appearing in two major and relevant franchises at the moment, Harbour couldn’t possibly become more notorious if he wished. But it seems that becoming an action hero all over again in your mid-40s isn’t something particularly appealing, especially if your physical condition has anything to say on the matter.
Recently sitting down for a chat with /Film to promote his latest movie Violent Night, wherein he portrays Santa Claus, Harbour was asked if he realizes that he’s doing a lot more action choreography ever since appearing in Stranger Things, and he revealed that while he’s getting more accustomed to the “language” of such projects, it’s not as easy as it would’ve been when he was 25.
“It’s just hard, because I’m not 25 anymore. I mean, it’s like, my knees and my shoulders are not what they once were. But I’ve come to certainly appreciate guys that can do it a lot more, and it’s something that I enjoy doing as I get into the art of it. And the great thing is, it’s not quite fighting because it has a visual element to it, but it’s almost like dance, because you’re dealing with a stunt guy and you’re really working with each other, they’re making you look good, and it becomes this interesting dance in the same way that acting is.
You’re portraying something but trying to make it aesthetic. So yeah, it’s something that you get more facile with the language, but it’s always tiring.”
While Red Guardian was, at best, a comic relief character in Black Widow, the man still got to do a lot of punching and kicking, as superheroes do. No doubt the MCU will even expand on that for his future appearances, so perhaps it was a good thing that Harbour decided to box again, if for nothing besides being more prepared for all the demanding choreography in his future projects.
“When I started doing Red Guardian, I started boxing outside and I got into the boxing world and started boxing. But then in this, it’s more jujitsu, it’s more legs and things like that, which I’m not very good at, at all. So it becomes easier because you do it more and you have more facility with the language of it, but it becomes harder because as you get better with it, they expect you to do more. And the great thing about when actors can do choreography is that they can shoot your face while you’re doing it and it’s more exciting for the viewer. So they’ll try to get you to do more and more, which they’re trying to get me to do.”
Violent Night will open in theaters tomorrow.
Published: Dec 1, 2022 01:34 pm