David Harbour Reveals the Moment He Knew Stranger Things Was Going to Be Big

When Stranger Things first premiered on Netflix just under three years ago, the streaming giant was still in its relative infancy when it came to the world of original content. Because of that, the streamer could push things out with little promotion or without an elaborate press campaign and see whether or not it'd stick with consumers. As with other properties with the streamer at the time, the Duffer Brothers-created Stranger Things flew in under the radar leading up to its premiere before suddenly erupting throughout circles on social media over the course of its first weekend.

That's when series star David Harbour got his first inkling of the impending stardom that would accompany being a lead on a hit show on the world's biggest streaming platform. In fact, Harbour tells us he knew they had something special on their hands after people started binging it the first weekend of release.

"It was really the first weekend that it came out," Harbour mentions. "It was almost instantaneous. Before it came out, there were no ads. There was very little fanfare. Nobody wanted to do interviews. It's so funny because there's so much secrecy now around the scripts, and literally the first season, I couldn't give away scripts."

Harbour then admitted that he even expected the series to flop, just because the awareness wasn't there once it premiered. Thanks to the streaming gods and a massive influencer-based campaign throughout digital media, the response ended up exceeded his expectations, to say the least.

"So I sort of expected it to be a bit of a flop, or I sort of expected it to be just a tiny, tiny show that some people might be fanned out over," admits Harbour. "And then that weekend, it hit like a tidal wave. I got all these texts on my phone from people that I hadn't spoken to in years, just random people from high school, and different things. It was like saying, 'Stranger Things, oh my God!'"

What do you think will end up happening in the third season of Stranger Things? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Stranger Things 3 hits Netflix July 4th. The first two seasons of the series are now streaming.