By Hope Sloop

When I sat down recently to talk with David Harbour about his performance in DTF St. Louis, I had the intention of pausing him mid-answer after my first question and asking him to “speak up” as “no one can hear you.” Those who have watched the Steve Conrad HBO series will understand the reference to a repeated line uttered by Carol (Linda Cardellini), the wife of Floyd Smernitch (Harbour), throughout the course of the show. Having talked with Harbour and his co-stars prior to DTF St. Louis‘ debut in March, I knew if there was anyone who would have a good sense of humor about a DTF-centered bit, it would be the man who not only starred in the show but also executive-produced and developed it for nearly half a decade.

As we hopped on a Zoom to break down the performance that Variety recently said “proves David Harbour is more than a genre star,” I readied myself to butt-in as the Stranger Things alum began by addressing the praise the show — as well as his work on and off-camera — has received. Oddly, as I listened to Harbour humbly and briefly accept the kind words before pivoting to discuss the immense amount of work it took to bring this show to television, I realized I could not interrupt him, no matter how much I believed we would both get a kick out of it. I couldn’t quite understand why at the time, but I’ve since figured it out and it’s pretty simple, actually:

Harbour was (and is) deadly serious about his love of DTF St. Louis, and it’s the kind of passion that stops you in your tracks. It’s also why he deserves to be a serious contender at this year’s Emmys. Moreover, it’s why he deserves to win.

From the very first moment Floyd Smernitch appears on screen, Harbour’s physical presence feels unlike anything we’ve seen him in before. At 6’3″, it’s hard to make the actor, best known for his intimidating, rough and tough characters, feel meek and less than, and yet, the audience is immediately confronted with the realization that we’re meant to feel sympathy (if not outright pity) for this man. That feeling intensifies as we see Floyd explain his weight gain to his stepson (Arlan Ruf), move his body as an ASL interpreter for the local weatherman (Jason Bateman), and dance to “Lip Gloss” by Lil Mama. It’s a physical performance that acting coaches will point to years from now to show just how deeply the whole body needs to be involved from scene to scene, and it’s just one part of why Harbour is so proud of this role.

“I’ve had a lot of people, friends who’ve known me for years, say, ‘I really like the way you used your body in this,’ and I do think it was somewhat of an intuitive process for me. I think Floyd is such a physical character, like he uses sign language as a way to escape his body or to use his body in a positive way,” Harbour explained of finding Floyd’s physicality. “He’s got, obviously, a lot of shame about [having] used to be a Playgirl model. He’s got problems with his penis, he’s got all kinds of issues going on with his body, and so I think he’s almost desperately trying to find ways for his body to live. And that is the sign language and the dancing and then even the friendship and the physicality within the friendship. That’s so affirming for him.”

Though Harbour personally described his moves in the aforementioned “Lip Gloss” scene and several other scenes where his character has to dance as “committed” but “not incredible,” it’s the joy that seeps out of his pores that makes everyone at home laugh with him and not at him. In truth, I cannot think of a single television character in all my years that has brought me so much unbridled joy in such a short amount of time. While the show is a miniseries, with just seven episodes, DTF St. Louis lives up to its “limited series” label, leaving fans wanting and wishing for more. But the more I’ve thought about it, it’s not the story that I wish we had more of, it’s a character like Floyd Smernitch and everything he made us feel in mere weeks.

That desperate need for more is a testament to the work that Harbour put in both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, exploring every inch of this character and crafting his nuances and idiosyncrasies to feel real, relatable, and somehow unnaturally good. Since day one, I’ve described Floyd as the most wonderful character on television in 2026, and having gone back to rewatch the series with the full scope of Floyd’s untimely death (spoiler alert!) being realized, I feel more strongly now about the weight of Harbour’s performance than I did even a month and a half ago when the show finished airing.

Strip away the wildly impressive mastery of ASL that Harbour had to have for the role — the actor says he became proficient enough in the language to carry on conversations with his interpreter while prepping and filming — and take away the dancing, the posture work, and all of the frills that could (and should) play a role in giving him a leg up on fellow contenders in the Supporting Actor in an Limited/Anthology Series category, and you are still left with a quietly haunting performance that deserves its flowers. Funny, earnest, and grounded in the authentic complexity of the human experience, Harbour is in a league of his own this Emmy season as every scene he appears in feels both carefully planned and shockingly genuine.

Contradiction, in my experience, is a normal part of life, and the more we let ourselves hold space for two things to be true, the better we tend to do. I say this as someone who shed a few tears at the finale, “No One’s Normal, It Just Looks That Way From Across the Street,” which had me (and many others) feeling despair and gratitude in the same breath. That all-encompassing reaction is exactly what Harbour and Conrad were going for the moment they set out to make a devastating series about loneliness, and it’s what the actor hopes his performance, and the show in general, will be remembered for years from now.

“There’s something about this where I feel like it pushes you, it opens you; Floyd pushes you, opens you because of what he goes through. But hopefully at the end of the day, you carry with you an enjoyment of the experience,” he said. “I think that so often nowadays, there’s shame of what we need to be or this or that, and the idea of enjoying life, I think, is so important for us all, no matter where and who we are. And so there’s something about creating enjoyable television that you can sort of take with you to remind you of. That is really what I would love people to take from this.”

Toward the end of our chat, I showed Harbour a photo of a TikTok I had come across in prep, which sees one social media user coming to terms with a poignant realization, writing over a photo of an empty backyard, “Heartbreak – when you realize, finally, at age 53, you are Floyd Smernitch.” Much like the tone of the actual show that inspired the post, the written message feels both solemn and silly, with dozens of comments sharing in the sentiment, finding companionship in an unexpected place, and — you guessed it — asking the poster to “speak up” as “no one can hear you.” It gave us both a laugh, but clearly landed with Harbour, who, I believe, realized that regardless of his Emmy chances, this role is a watershed moment for his career.

“All I’ve really ever wanted to do was to touch people and to sort of make them feel heart-warmed and heartbroken, kind of safer in a sense. And understood. And I feel like the fact that people are feeling that through Floyd is just so gratifying,” Harbour shared with a smile.

DTF St. Louis is now streaming on HBO Max.

If you’re new to HBO Max, you can sign up for as low as $10.99/month with ads, but an ad-free subscription will cost $18.49/month.

If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the discounted Disney+ Bundles with Hulu and HBO Max. With ads, the bundle costs $19.99/month and without ads, $32.99/month.