David Harbour has been killing it lately.
The 50-year-old’s imposing physical presence has long made him a natural fit for superhero and genre roles across film and television. From the titular half-demon in the 2019 reboot of “Hellboy” to the Russian super-soldier Red Guardian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and, of course, the gruff police chief Jim Hopper in the Duffer Brothers’ “Stranger Things” — Harbour has built a career on characters defined by their size, strength and grit. Now, after closing the door on the supernatural world in the fifth and final season of Netflix’s sci-fi blockbuster this past holiday season, Harbour is delivering the finest performance of his career in the HBO Max crime dramedy “DTF St. Louis,” and the Emmys should take notice.
The seven-episode miniseries centers on a love triangle involving three adults: local weatherman Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman), ASL interpreter Floyd Smernitch (Harbour) and Floyd’s wife, Carol (Linda Cardellini). When Floyd is found dead at a community pool, surrounded by a poisonous cocktail and a vintage Playgirl magazine, two detectives (Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday) begin unraveling the bizarre chain of events that led to his death. Created, written and directed by Steven Conrad — best known for screenplays such as “The Pursuit of Happyness” (2006) and “Wonder” (2017) — the series has been building buzz and momentum since its March 1 premiere as it heads toward its Apr. 12 finale.
Alison Herman, chief TV critic for Variety, wrote in her review: “It is both an ineffective sales pitch and generally accurate to call “DTF St. Louis” the unsexiest erotic thriller ever made.”
Courtesy of HBO
While the series’ initial draw may be its jaw-dropping sexual escapades, its most memorable moments have come from Harbour’s tender, deeply human portrayal. Whether it’s Floyd performing an ASL interpretive dance at a concert as his wife looks on adoringly or hearing Clark confess, “I loved him,” as we see a flashback that has the 6’3 actor sitting crisscross applesauce, Harbour grounds the character with warmth and vulnerability.
The audience falls for him, too.
The show weaves two parallel narratives with offbeat humor and an unexpected heartwarming realism. Floyd is a devoted stepfather to Richard (Ruf), Carol’s son from a previous relationship, who wears the same vest to school every day and initially seems cut from the same cloth as the troubled children in films like “Mystic River” (2003). But when Richard skips therapy to spend time with Floyd at a park, the moment reveals Floyd’s quiet, infectious goodness — even as a down-on-his-luck man who has gained weight, lost confidence and finds himself in a mountain of debt.
Later, when Floyd meets a date from the “DTF St. Louis” app — a user named “Modern Love,” whose profile photo is David Bowie, whom Floyd mistakenly assumes is a woman — he’s surprised when a man (played by Sarsgaard) arrives. Yet Floyd doesn’t flee or lash out. He stays, listens and converses. When “Modern Love” asks for a kiss, Floyd obliges — not out of repressed desire (or so we’re led to believe), but because, as Clark later tells investigators, “He’s a nice guy.” In a mystery show, it may be silly to say out loud, but this viewer believes that.
Floyd’s innate goodness radiates through Harbour’s performance. It’s as if he’s tapped into the “everyman” warmth long associated with performers like Tom Hanks — “America’s Dad” — channeling it to reach new emotional depths in his acting arsenal.
Courtesy of Netflix
The show began development in 2022 with Harbour and Pedro Pascal attached to star, and was originally inspired by the James Lasdun New Yorker article entitled “My Dentist’s Murder Trial: Adultery, False Identities, and a Lethal Sedation.” By 2024, Pascal was no longer involved, Jason Bateman was added, and the creative direction shifted to a wholly original idea. Harbour serves as an executive producer, alongside Bateman, for Aggregate Films, Lasdun, as well as Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch for Escape Artists, Molly Allen, Bruce Terris, and Michael Costigan for Aggregate Films, Kristina Wenson for Bravo Axolotl, and MGM Television. The ensemble also includes Peter Sarsgaard, Arlan Ruf and Wynn Everett.
In an upcoming Emmy season that will have another HBO property – “The Comeback” – in contention, that title just about perfectly summarizes this moment for Harbour. He’s had a fairly tumultuous year. The Nov. 6 premiere of “Stranger Things” came days after a Daily Mail report alleging that co-star Millie Bobby Brown had filed a complaint of bullying and harassment against Harbour before production began on Season 5. Neither actor commented, and Harbour limited press interactions at the premiere. The report cited a “friend” of Harbour’s ex-wife, Lily Allen — notable given the heightened attention surrounding their divorce and Allen’s new album, “West End Girl,” which references Harbour’s alleged infidelity, including in the song “Pussy Palace.”
In January, Harbour also stepped away from the Tony Gilroy film “Behemoth!,” a project that would have reunited him with Pascal, before he exited and was replaced by Will Arnett.
(Will we ever see this long-sought collaboration between Pascal and Harbour come to fruition that the two talented actors keep trying to execute?)
For a public figure like Harbour, people can see the beauty in this moment.
He’s been open about his journey with mental health. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 26 years old after an intense episode. He told Variety in a 2022 interview that, although there are more conversations today about “wanting an open dialogue about mental illness,” the focus is often solely on the “tragedy.”
As for Emmy strategy, HBO Max strategists and representatives have yet to decide category placements. Several options are on the table, especially with Bateman also in contention with his Netflix miniseries “Black Rabbit,” which was released last September and performed strongly throughout the fall awards circuit. Bateman will be submitted in the lead actor (limited) category for that Netflix series, which has already earned him noms from The Actor Awards (formerly SAG) and the DGA for directing the episode “The Black Rabbits.”
Unlike the Oscars, actors can receive multiple nominations in the same category, though Bateman risks splitting votes if he competes against himself. For example, Lee Grant received double bids for a single performance as an actress in a leading role in 1971 for “Columbo” and “The Neon Ceiling.”
One possibility is submitting the entire “DTF St. Louis” ensemble in the supporting acting categories, where more slots will inevitably be available. Another is placing Bateman, Cardellini and Harbour all in lead and letting the chips fall where they may. Regardless of the final strategy, Harbour’s inevitable nomination will be well-earned. He could emerge as a serious contender for his first Emmy after previous supporting drama nominations for “Stranger Things” in 2017 and 2018. He will be submitted again this year, along with character voiceover work in “Marvel Zombies.”
Harbour’s year is far from over. He’ll remain active in the genre space, reprising Red Guardian in the highly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday” and returning as Santa Claus in “Violent Night 2.” Still, his revelatory turn in “DTF St. Louis” should open the door to more dynamic, challenging roles in the years ahead. Hollywood should take notice.
“DTF St. Louis” airs every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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