David Harbour landed Madonna film W.E. on pure sex appeal
David Harbour brags he was cast in Madonna's 2011 historical romance W.E. because the pop star thought he was sexy
Aux News Madonna
Stranger Things may have kickstarted David Harbour’s cultural moment as it were, but there are those who have been waving the Harbour banner long before he was Hopper. That includes Madonna, who cast him in her 2011 historical romance W.E. because she thought he was hot—according to Harbour himself.
“It was a crazy thing. It was a real cloak-and-dagger type of experience,” Harbour says of auditioning for the part during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “I got a call from a casting director that I knew very well saying they’re putting together a top-secret movie read-through, but you just have to show up at the St. Regis and go in this room and all will be revealed. And I was like, ‘This is really weird and creepy.’”
Ah, the days before Harbour became part of the Marvel machine and learned how cloak-and-dagger things could really get. At the time, all the actor wanted to know is how he got this mysterious director’s attention; he was told that they saw his intimate scene in Revolutionary Road and thought he was “sexy.” For some reason, these clues made Harbour think he was about to meet Ridley Scott or Martin Scorsese. Instead, “I show up at the St. Regis and I get in the room and there’s a bunch of other New York actors there and in walks Madonna, who’s directing this movie. … The first thing that flooded over me, I was like, ‘Wow, Madonna thinks I’m sexy.’”
“It was a truly harrowing, exciting experience,” he says, admitting how much he loved her 1986 “Open Your Heart” music video. “I was 11 years old when I saw that video and so there I am, in this boardroom of the St. Regis, and it all comes flooding back. And I’m there with a bowler cap just like, ‘I’m going to run off with you into the distance.’”
“She is a genius in many realms. The film was not a terrific movie,” he adds of W.E., which also starred Abby Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, Natalie Dormer, and James D’Arcy. Harbour says he knew the film was going badly during filming, “But there were moments! There were dance sequences in the film—of course—they were done by her choreographer. But I remember she’d come in before we started shooting and go like, ‘No. This is terrible.’ And she’d re-do the whole thing and she was like magic when she got in her dance world and stuff she was incredible. I mean, she’s a genius.”
He also fondly remembers attending the director’s birthday party during production, gleefully sharing, “I danced with Madonna to Madonna music. On my headstone, that is it!” Harbour’s a busy man these days, but it sounds like he wouldn’t be opposed if Madonna has a role for him in her upcoming biopic. Something to think about!
23 Comments
L-R: Oscar Isaac, Andrea Riseborough, Madonna, James D’Arcy and David HarbourThat’s the cast? Huh. Maybe I should check out W.E. …
Isaac sure looks like he’s disappointed he wasn’t hired for his sexiness alone.
You shouldn’t. It is really bad. Not like “ha, ha, this is fun” bad but “this is boring and unfun and I want it to stop” bad.
Oh, so you do like watching paint dry?
Right? Pretty stacked cast for a movie I’ve never heard of (but I hear is awful).
Madonna had an eye for spotting up-and-coming talent, I’ll give her that much.
She’s right and she should say it.
For my money, it’s a toss-up between Harbour and Winston Duke for hottest dudes getting big work. I wish Harbour was in, y’know, better movies overall – because I’m always tempted to watch just to get to watch him do stuff.
Your type seems to be ‘guys who could help you move a dining table’
You are, in the strictest sense, correct.
I’d dock my ship in that Harbour, if you follow me.
I was about to day “wow, that’s the most normal I’ve seen Madonna look in ages!” before reading the article and realizing the photo is 11 years old.
Multiple Harbour stories in a week? Are we entering a new period of Harbourwatch!?
Presumably Violent Night promo tour.
I am always in a state of Harbourwatch.
I can’t wait for the unrepentant schlock of Harbourwatch Nights!
Meh, it’s just a mid-90’s rip-off of Kolchak: the Night Harbour.
“David Harbour landed Madonna”…like she’s a mighty salmon?
Yes, exactly like that. You bisected a headline, ignoring the second part, and you nailed it.
Congratulations on the backflips you did to make a mediocre…joke?
Giancarlo Esposito has a similar story about when he did Desperately Seeking Susan. He told it on one of the late night shows… earlier this year, I wanna say? I assume right around the time BCS was ending. Anyway, he was *very* proud of the fact that Madonna seemed to think he was sexy. Like, their trailers were adjoining, or something, with a door between them, and he was thrilled when he apparently caught here “peeking” at him through the door.
For anyone unfamiliar, the movie’s premise is that every single bit of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpsons’ ties to the Nazis were false slanders invented by the Queen Mother. Yeah, that hasn’t aged very well.
And one of the sources of “the truth” in the film is Mohammed Al-Fayed.
For Americans who are unfamiliar with him, imagine if you went to Alex Jones for the truth about anything and played it completely straight.
Creepy old star hired people because they thought they were sexy… and they were thrilled to work for a big star.Huh.
She is clearly unstable and has gotten significantly worse.