Stranger Things star David Harbour says he was "wildly addicted" to World of Warcraft

David Harbour as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things 4
(Image credit: Netflix)

Stranger Things star David Harbour has revealed that he was once "wildly addicted" to World of Warcraft.

Not only are games no longer seen as a pastime for only the nerdiest among us, but more and more, we see celebrities from film and TV declaring their love for the virtual world. One of gaming's most famous fans is, of course, Henry Cavill, who spent lockdown playing The Witcher games on the hardest difficulty setting. He was also once so engrossed in World of Warcraft that he missed a call offering him the role of Superman. And it turns out he's not the only famous face who found it difficult to tear themselves away from Blizzard's MMORPG.

As spotted by PC Gamer, David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, discussed his history with the series during a Geeked Week livestream. Around 17 minutes into the interview, host Felicia Day brings up Harbour's World of Warcraft past, at which point the actor laughs and says, "Oh my god, the most embarrassing thing in my existence".

"In 2005, I played the s*** out of this game," recalls Harbour. "It ruined my life for like a year. I mean, I was like out of my mind. I was wildly addicted to this video game. I was a Night Elf warrior called Norad".

Harbour goes on to explain how The Sims helped him to kick his World of Warcraft habit when he saw himself reflected in his virtual character. "You could be an actor on the Sims," explains Harbour. "You can progress in your career, but what you have to do is, like, work on things. You have to work on your speech and on your body, right?"

"I remember my avatar got to a certain level in his career, and I kept trying to get him to work on his speech. I wanted him to work on his speech and his body, and all he wanted to do was sit around and play video games. And then I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I had this vortex moment where I saw my life before my eyes."

Stranger Things season 4, part 1, recently launched on Netflix, and as well as netting Kate Bush a huge following of younger fans, the series has set an incredible Netflix viewing record. In its first week on the platform, the latest installment of the hit show amassed more than 335 million hours watched. 

If the Upside Down has you in the mood for more scares, take a look at the best horror games to play right now. 

CATEGORIES
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.

Read more
World of Warcraft
My newest MMO hero is World of Warcraft Priest 'Chimneytime,' who got an official "warning" from Blizzard for making too many people get trapped inside chimneys
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 dialogue
Working on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was "one of the most amazing and unusual acting challenges" for its lead character
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Liam Hemsworth as Geralt in The Witcher season 4
Ahead of Liam Hemsworth's Witcher debut, game actor Doug Cockle explains the most important quality for playing Geralt – and it's something Henry Cavill already achieved
Jack Quaid in The Boys
The Boys star and self-proclaimed "huge video game nerd" Jack Quaid says his dream role would be in a BioShock movie because it's "one of my favorite games of all time"
Final Fantasy 14 producer Yoshi-P interview's the series' founding father Hironobu Sakaguchi
After 3 years of playing Final Fantasy 14 "almost every single day," series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi reckons the MMO "might be the game that I've played the most in my life"
Latest in World of Warcraft
WOTLK
Following a high-profile guild quitting WoW Classic Hardcore, Blizzard makes the unprecedented decision to revive MMO characters that die during DDoS attacks "at our sole discretion"
A WoW Classic player chased by a dinosaur in a green forest
"If this is just how it is, then yeah, that's the end": WoW Classic's most famous hardcore guild calls time for now after multiple raiders lose their MMO characters to DDoS attacks
World of Warcraft
My newest MMO hero is World of Warcraft Priest 'Chimneytime,' who got an official "warning" from Blizzard for making too many people get trapped inside chimneys
A purple scholar reads a text in a World of Warcraft library
WoW Classic might be getting a legendary weapon that's been the subject of rumors in the MMO's mainline version for 20 years
Team Liquid clears Chrome King Gallywix
World of Warcraft's latest raid race ends in disappointment after 12 days with a final boss so lackluster the team who won was visibly confused to have beaten it
World of Warcraft Classic Fall of the Lich King
Blizzard boss says keeping World of Warcraft players happy for 20 years is so hard because the MMO is filled with "different demographics that only have so much time in their day"
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"