Stranger Things star David Harbour has opened up about what went into his body transformation for the Netflix show’s fourth season.
The actor lost 34kg for series four which sees his character, police chief Jim Hopper, being imprisoned in a Soviet labour camp.
The 47-year-old star explained that it took 8 months of “changing diet and exercise plans (or lack thereof)” as he trained with his PT, David Higgins, which he described as “difficult and exciting ride”.
Sharing a series of before-and-after photos on Instagram, David wrote: “Second pic is me and David the week we began, my resistances and fury flaring.
“All told I lost over 75lbs. 265-270 in season 3 and all the way down to 190 when we shot.”
David then revealed that he had recently gained weight to play Santa Claus in the new Christmas movie, Violent Night.
“Recently ballooned up again to play jolly ole st. Nick in a flick I can’t wait for you to see this holiday season,” he wrote. “So I am struggling to fight back down towards a good weight for wherever Hopper ends up in season 5.
“All this up and down is not good for the body, and I’ll have to give it up soon, but it is such a fun part of the job to live in a different version of your skin for a while.”
Before embarking on his weight loss regime, David had previously had to put weight on for his role in Marvel’s Black Widow.
“I was like, ‘Let’s use the weight.’ So I started eating even more. I got up to 280 lbs., and I loved it,” he told The New York Times.
It was around this time that he met Lily Allen, who he eventually married.
“It’s a true testament to my undeniable charisma when I say that my wife met me at 280 lbs. with this beard and this hair,” he said.
“We went on a date at the Wolseley [restaurant] in London, and she really fell for me at my worst, physically and hair-wise.”
But after dramatically dropping the weight, David admitted that his wife had “mixed feelings” about her husband’s new look.
“She honestly has some mixed feelings about it. Which is a good place to be in a relationship,” he said.
“It’s really good to start the relationship from that part, as opposed to being the young, handsome buck and watching yourself degenerate over the years.”