Stranger Things' David Harbour Was Rejected As An X-Men Villain For A Ridiculous Reason

David Harbour's career was just starting to take off in 2009 when he found himself auditioning for a role in a hotly anticipated comic book movie. After three successful team outings, 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" movie franchise was pivoting to prequels as a means of exploring the lore of the mutant superheroes. Unsurprisingly, the first film out of the gate was "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which was basically a preordained blockbuster with Hugh Jackman reprising his role as the most popular member of Professor Charles Xavier's team.

Though the other members of the X-Men were going to sit this movie out, Fox and director Gavin Hood were keen to introduce other fan favorites from the original long-running "X-Men" comic book series. One such character was Fred Dukes, who is best known by his nickname "The Blob." As in the comics, Dukes would be portrayed as a bloated bruiser of a man who's tough to defeat thanks to his remarkably thick, almost indestructible skin. And Hood thought Harbour would be perfect to strap on a fat suit and play this formidable supervillain.

When Harbour first met for the role, he decided to lighten the mood by pulling up his shirt, showing off his plump belly, and saying, "I got your Blob right here!" His joke apparently failed to amuse the studio and Hood.

In a 2017 interview with The Wrap, David Harbour revealed that his silly gesture cost him the role — which confused him since he didn't need to get jacked to play "The Blob." Per Harbour:

"I just made a stupid joke and then they called me and the director, we met at like a hotel, and he was like, 'David, look, you're wonderful, we really think you're just a great actor, we're just concerned ... we're really concerned.' I was like, 'Why, what's your concern? I'm good to go. I'm available, let's do this!' And they were like, 'No, it's just, you lifted up your shirt and we saw the ... we're just a little worried about your health.' ... I was like, 'Wait a minute, dude ... You are telling me I'm too fat to play The Blob? That's awesome, I have to get the f*** back to New York.' That's my audition — so, I didn't get The Blob."

While The Blob does tangle with Wolverine at one point, it's hardly a grueling battle. Harbour might've been sporting some flab, but I think he was up for handling the combat element of the role. Also, he could've easily gotten in better shape prior to the shoot, seeing as he was going to be wearing a fat suit anyway.

In any event, Fox wound up casting Kevin Durand, while Harbour went on to book a number of memorable supporting roles until he hit the jackpot by getting cast as Jim Hopper in "Stranger Things." And he did eventually get to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian, in "Black Widow" and "Thunderbolts*." I imagine he's pretty happy with the trajectory of his career overall.