Stranger Things: Duffer Brothers imagined these actors would play Hopper and Joyce

When the Duffer Brothers started pitching Stranger Things, they did not imagine David Harbour and Winona Ryder playing Hopper and Joyce.

Can you imagine anyone other than David Harbour and Winona Ryder playing Hopper and Joyce in Stranger Things?

Apparently, the Duffer Brothers originally had a few actors other than Harbour and Ryder in mind to play Hopper in Joyce in the Netflix original series, according to a report from The Independent.

At this point, it seems blasphemous to even suggest anyone could play these characters better than Harbour and Ryder. The Duffer Brothers picks are interesting, though, and I think they would have worked.

According to the report, the Duffer Brothers put together a portfolio for their pitch to different studios, and in that document, they mentioned they would look for actors like Sam Rockwell and Ewan McGregor to play Hopper and actors like Marisa Tomei and Naomi Watts to play Joyce.

Obviously, that changed after Netflix picked up the show and Harbour and Ryder were brought on as the leads in the series. It’s interesting that those actors were the ones the Duffer Brothers pictured to play these characters.

More from Stranger Things

• Why Stranger Things won’t be back in 2024
• Stranger Things season 5 starts filming soon and features a ‘real ending’
• Jamie Campbell Bower returns as Vecna in scary trailer for Stranger Things VR
• Wallets out for Stranger Things Day: All the new merch you can get right now!
• Everything to know about Stranger Things: The First Shadow (and how to get tickets!)

Rockwell and McGregor would have been excellent in the role of Hopper. Again, I don’t think anyone would do it better than Harbour, but Rockwell and McGregor would definitely bring something a little different to the role. I would love see Rockwell and McGregor play, like, Hopper’s cousins or something in future seasons. They all sort of look similar, and it’d be awesome to see A-Listers like those two in Hawkins.

Marisa Tomei and Naomi Watts would also make a great Joyce Byers, in my opinion, but no one is bringing Joyce to life like Ryder. She just fits so perfectly in this role, and I have a hard time imagining anyone else in this role, especially with all the 80s nostalgia. She just fits as Joyce so perfectly.

It’s still fun to imagine how different the characters and the show would have been if these actors were cast. From what we know about the Duffer Brothers, it sounds like they take into account what the actor feels about their character, so surely these characters would have changed a lot with different actors playing them.

Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy, mentioned in a recent interview with TV Insider that he was able to talk with the Duffer Brothers about his character and give suggestions about what should happen. Some of the things he suggested were kept in the show, so we have to assume this happens with most of the main characters.

It’s been rumored Stranger Things 4 will start production later this year. We’ll let you know more about the future of the series as we find out!