David Harbour gushing about working with Winona Ryder on “Stranger Things” will make your heart burst

Whether or not you’re rooting for Joyce Byers and Chief Jim Hopper to end up together on Stranger Things — and some of us don’t — the chemistry between David Harbour and Winona Ryder is pretty undeniable. While Harbour is one of the strongest proponents of an end-game Jopper (Joyce + Hopper) relationship, it’s clear he has a lot of respect for his costar off-screen.

In a new interview with Variety, Harbour opened up about how much he loves working with Ryder and how that might influence the amount of time Hopper and Joyce spend together on-screen.

"The other thing is I just adore Winona Ryder and working with her and that just shows in the work," Harbour explained. "Even when I’m playing Hopper I can’t divorce my personal feelings from loving playing scenes with Winona Ryder. Part of that just comes through, the dynamic that I have with her. The Duffers are writing with that in mind as well. I think that we’ll have to see where that goes in the future."

As for being the biggest fan of a potential relationship between Joyce and Hopper, Harbour revealed that he’s been playing Hopper as having a crush on Joyce since the pilot. But despite thinking Hopper has a bit of a crush on Joyce, he’s glad the Duffer Brothers are giving them time to be friends.

"Look, ever since I read the pilot I loved the relationship with Hopper and Joyce," He continued. "I consider it a little bit like Chinatown, with Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson. These are two lost, broken people who need each other but are so prideful and messed up that they’ll never admit it. It’s great to allow that to play out over several seasons. One of the great things about the introduction of Bob this season was you had a real impediment to anything moving forward between us."

But as much as Harbour would like to see Joyce and Hopper end up together, he’s pretty skeptical as to whether their relationship could actually last because let’s face it, a lot has happened.

"I don’t know that ultimately they’re quite right for each other," he added. "Talk about problems! If Eleven is difficult, imagine him and Joyce. There would be nightmare fights! Him being prideful and emotionally shut down and unavailable." "But I do think he feels something for her, because she knew him in high school, too. Those friends who knew you back in high school when the world was an open book, when we had all this potential — she can still see that in him. He can see that in her. It’s a special connection. I think that’s something that’s very deep between them. We’ll have to see where that goes in future seasons. But I root for some happiness for Joyce and Hopper. If they can find that together, that would be great. But we’ll see."

Whether or not Hopper and Joyce are meant to be or remain the best of friends, we love knowing that Harbour and Ryder are just as good of friends off-screen as they are on-screen!