Stranger Things actor David Harbour is trained in wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and his fighting skills are enough to impress even action star Liam Neeson.

David Harbour, known for portraying the gruff police officer Jim Hopper in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, can handle himself in a fight on screen, and even Liam Neeson is impressed.

As the Hellboy and Black Widow star told Total Film in an interview, he’s knowledgeable when it comes to martial arts and more. “”[I’m] trained in wrestling styles and jiu-jitsu. I did a movie with Liam [Neeson] after the Taken series.

He marveled at it,” Harbour said, probably referring to 2014’s A Walk Among the Tombstones, a Danny DeVito-produced action flick in which he plays a kidnapper. “When you’re in your twenties, in your prime physically, nobody’s really interested in you doing that,” he continued. “And then you get to be a little old and crotchety and incapable, and they get very interested!”

 

David Harbour’s Unlikely Tough Guy Characters

Neeson is an action alum who has starred in such genre staples as Taken and The Grey, but Harbour is no stranger to throwing a punch. H

e played Red Guardian in 2021’s Marvel film Black Widow, and will play a grim version of Santa Claus in the upcoming movie Violent Night.

“There’s the Santa we think we know – created by the Coca-Cola company in the ’30s, when they decided that a big, fat guy in a red suit, with rosy cheeks, would sell more Coke – and then there’s the more Krampus-y, Norwegian-spirit version of Santa, and there’s Saint Nicholas, who was the patron saint of lost souls,” Harbour said, describing his role.

Violent Night, which also features Spawn and Encanto star John Leguizamo, recently premiered at New York Comic Con 2022. CBR reported the screening live, confirming the promised high amounts of violence. “I had to screen this movie for my friends in New York!” Harbour said, claiming it was the reason he skipped a trip to Europe.

 

The Suicide Squad actor also spoke about the fate of his Stranger Things character. “It’s funny,” he said. “I believe in a fundamental morality in storytelling, and that characters should get what they deserve.

Which is more complex than just smiles. But I certainly think that Hopper is someone who’s been through a lot. I think he deserves peace, so I’d like to see that achieved.”

Harbour is also set to star alongside Florence Pugh and Harrison Ford in Marvel’s Thuderbolts, in which he’ll reprise his role as Red Guardian — and hopefully show off some of his fighting skills.

The film is set to premiere in 2024, part of the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans can catch Violent Night in theaters on Dec. 2.

Source: Total Film