David Harbour, 44, just made his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live and the actor had the audience laughing away with his opening monologue! The Stranger Things actor got things started by explaining that he plays Chief Jim Hopper on the popular Netflix series. “Most people don’t know this, but I put on 20 pounds for the role,” Harbour quipped. “Nobody asked me to do that, but I did that”
“Set is a blast,” he continued, rocking a dark gray suit, blue shirt, and fresh white sneakers. “I get to work with a bunch of kids who are all going through puberty at the exact same time!” The Stranger Things cast includes, of course, teens Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Noah Schnapp who all started on the show as kids back in 2016. “But I’ve done a lot more — I’ve done Shakespeare in the Park. Hellboy.”
David then decided it was time to change things up from the traditional stage-centric monologues, walking right into the audience! “I wanted to do a walk around ones — you know, crack jokes with people!” As David began making his way, he ran into none other than Kate McKinnon, who had some concerns about a mysterious portal that had appeared. “Something’s wrong, look — I think it’s a gate to the Upside Down!” she exclaimed, as David confidently walked through. A demogorgan made a surprising appearance whisking SNL cast member Beck Bennett away. None other than Pete Davidson appeared, prompting David to wonder if he had been hiding there all this time. “Yeah dude, it’s lit!” Pete exclaimed.
When a gate to the 𝕌𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟 appears in Studio 8H… 😳 #SNL pic.twitter.com/ebbgiP1C1x
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 13, 2019
As David continued to make his way, he stumbled upon longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels — working as a page. “Everybody’s gotta start somewhere,” Lorne joked.