David Harbour is not only an actor but also an avid gamer. However, World of Warcraft ruined a year of his life, as he recounted in an interview. But a realization in The Sims pulled him out of his obsession.
Many know David Harbour as Jim Hopper, the police officer and father figure of Eleven in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
Besides acting, the Stranger Things star also enjoys playing video games. In an interview from June 9, 2022, he talked about how obsessively he played World of Warcraft back then and how The Sims eventually made him rethink.
Here you can see a trailer for Stranger Things with David Harbour:
“It ruined my life for about a year.”
During the interview, the actor was directly asked about the MMORPG World of Warcraft.
David Harbour then grinned and commented: “Oh my God, the most embarrassing moment of my entire existence.”
He then explained that there was a time when he was such a huge fan of the game that he played it obsessively:
In 2005, I played this game until I dropped! It ruined my life for about a year. I mean, I was like out of my mind. I was totally addicted to this video game.
David Harbour via YouTube
When asked which character he played, David Harbour said: “I was a Night Elf warrior named Norad, and he was the second tank in my entire guild.” With him, he often participated in raids.
Here you can watch the YouTube video where David Harbour talks about his WoW obsession. Jump to 17:00:
In addition to WoW, David Harbour also played a completely different game: The Sims. There, he created a character who was an actor by profession, just like himself.
But while the Stranger Things star wanted his character in the game to train his acting skills, he had other plans:
I remember that my avatar had reached a certain level in his career, and I kept trying to get him to work on his charisma.
He was a supporting actor, but I wanted him to work on his charisma and body skills, and all he wanted to do was sit around and play video games.
David Harbour via YouTube
On the release of Gran Turismo, our colleagues from Filmstarts conducted an interview with the cast. David Harbour mentioned that he had improvised some lines in the film.
At that moment, it dawned on David Harbour that he saw himself in that situation: “[…] I had this vortex moment where I saw my life flash before my eyes”.
Chuckling, David Harbour remarked that he had then “returned to his life” from WoW.
In another interview, the actor spoke about his young colleagues in Stranger Things and explained what he thinks about their immense popularity:
