David Harbour says he lost about 80 pounds for 'Stranger Things' season 4: 'I don't think I'll ever do that again'

• David Harbour said that he lost nearly a third of his body weight for "Stranger Things" season four.
• The fourth season found his character transported from Indiana to a Russian prison camp.

David Harbour said that he wouldn't want to undergo the physical transformation that he did four season four of "Stranger Things," which involved dropping close to a third of his bodyweight to match his character Hopper's imprisonment in a Russian prison camp.

At the end of the series' third season, which premiered in July 2019, Hopper was captured by Russians and carted off to a prison camp on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia after the show faked out his death. Going from a small town detective to a prisoner feeding on bread and gruel meant that Harbour needed to slim down for the new season, which premiered on Netflix on May 27.

"I lost about 80 pounds from season three — I was about 270 [then], and when we shot [season four] I was around 190," the actor told GQ, saying that he lost the weight in approximately eight months through intermittent fasting and Pilates.

"I don't think I'll ever do that again," Harbour continued.

Harbour has previously spoken about fans' reception to his, and in turn his character's, changing physique. In an interview with CNET Magazine in 2018, he commented on Merriam Webster tweeting an article related to the phrase "dad bod" accompanied by a clip of Harbour, as Hopper, dancing.

"I have a funny relationship with this dad bod thing," Harbour told CNET. "I sort of love it and the reason why I love it is actually very serious. I do think that in a certain way, I've become a bit of a sex symbol of our time."

He continued: "There are articles about people digging Hopper. But I'm also like a little big and a little chubby. I love the idea of real bodies on television. And I love the idea of making real people feel beautiful and loved."

Harbour told GQ that he gained the weight back for his upcoming Santa Claus movie, "Violent Night," which is set for release in December.

"But now, yeah, never again," he said of the weight loss. "The prosthetics are too good."