‘Stranger Things’: David Harbour Admits He Had a Huge Crush on Winona Ryder While Growing up
Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper have all the chemistry in the world on Stranger Things, but David Harbour and Winona Ryder might arguably have more sparks flying than the characters they play. The two are incredibly close in real life, and Harbour says that it’s hard not to fall in love with her. And fittingly enough, the actor admits he had a massive crush on Ryder for years while growing up.
David Harbour says he and Winona Ryder are like an ‘old married couple’
In a Stranger Things panel at Phoenix Comicon, the actor said that he and Ryder were just like an “old married couple.” His young co-star, Millie Bobby Brown, quickly agreed with this statement.
“Winona gets very personal very quick,” Harbour revealed during the panel after being asked what it was like to work with her. “So we were almost like an old married couple right after I’d met her.”
“I agree,” said Millie Bobby Brown.
“And so we would bicker like an old married couple,” Harbour continues, “but we’d also share these really lovely moments. I certainly know for myself that my performance doesn’t work without her. Without her and her performance, my performance doesn’t make sense if that was another actress. I’m so grateful for what she brings and all the heart and passion that she brings to her work.”
David Harbour admits Winona Ryder was his ‘high school crush’ long before ‘Stranger Things’
According to Harbour, he had a massive crush on his co-star while growing up. After watching her in retro classics such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Heathers, he became eternally smitten for the woman who would one day play his on-screen love interest.
Harbour told The LA Times, “She was my high school crush with Heathers and Beetlejuice, and she’s such a great person to work with.” And according to the actor, getting to work with his Hollywood crush was “like a dream.”
“I do feel like there are moments where you fall in love with Winona,” Harbour said in a separate interview with The LA Times. “It feels like a marriage, where we’re willing to go the distance in that way that gets really uncomfortable. I want to do a scene with Winona where I get so messed up that I have to go back to my trailer and cry.”
The ‘Stranger Things’ star says that he ‘adores’ Winona Ryder and that it’s refreshing to work with her
In an interview with E!, Harbour was asked about his relationship with Ryder.
He said,
“I adore her. I think she’s incredible. She’s one of a kind. She is the most unique person I’ve ever met. First of all, she’s brilliant. Her mind is just brilliant. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of all this stuff, especially film. She knows so much about film history and performances, and I just love talking to her about that. And she’s just a warm, warm person. And I think like me, she’s kind of a messy person. Even though she’s a big movie star, she’s very human, and I love that about her. I find it really refreshing to work with someone like that.”
