David Harbour was not the first actor to be offered the role of Chief Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. The part originally belonged to a two-time Emmy winner, who passed on the project.

The Duffer Brothers reveal who their original choice for Hopper was

The Stranger Things casting secret came out during a recent episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, and it was Harbour himself who pushed for the truth. The actor sent in a video question, still curious about his own origin story on the show.

“I’m pretty sure I was second choice, and I don’t know who I was second choice to,” Harbour admitted. “Maybe I was third choice? But would you please answer the question of how I came to be cast as Chief Hopper, and who had to say no to allow me to do that wonderful, incredible role.”

Horowitz guessed it might have been Josh Brolin, given Brolin’s friendship with Harbour. Matt Duffer shut that theory down. “No, it was Billy Crudup, which is a very different — like, everything happens for a reason, right? So it’s like, once it kind of clicks into place… But yeah, Billy Crudup passed. I don’t think he was doing much TV at the time,” he stated.

Crudup’s pass turned out to be Harbour’s big break, and the Duffer Brothers described a startlingly quick casting process. According to Ross Duffer, the rest of the team didn’t even get to meet Harbour in person before making their decision. “And then David just — honestly — he just came in, and one of our casting directors thought he could be great for the role,” Ross explained. “But he came and read, and he just did one take. We weren’t even there; we just saw the tape, and it was just so clear, instantly: This is Hopper. And we just cast him right then and there.”

Harbour went on to earn two Emmy nominations for the part, building Hopper into the gruff, broken, and ultimately tender-hearted sheriff that fans came to love.