'Stranger Things' in Cabbagetown Park as David Harbour look-alikes compete

A few weeks ago, copies of posters started cropping up on poles across Kirkwood, Grant Park and beyond with a collage of images of David Harbour, the actor who played Chief Jim Hopper in the Netflix series “Stranger Things” and currently stars as Alexei Shostakov (aka Red Guardian) in Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*.”

The posters were advertising a look-alike contest May 4 in Cabbagetown Park.

“Are you big, burly, mustached and more? Are you bored? Come to this,” the poster read. “Yes, I’m serious.”

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Credit: Yvonne Zusel

Credit: Yvonne Zusel

The organizer was a mystery. There was no contact information. Only a clue: The prizes would come in the form of “Grindhouse House Cash.”

A call to Grindhouse Burgers led to a tip from the manager. The organizer might be one of the burger joint’s regular competitors at weekly trivia night, which pays out in gift certificates, he said over the phone.

Indeed, it was. The tip helped track down organizer Johnnie Hernando, a regular champion at Grindhouse trivia night. As a professional axe-throwing instructor, former Derby girl and cosplay fan with a self-admitted crush on David Harbour, Hernando has just the right kind of spunk and humor to plan such an event.

She said she had seen similar competitions around the country for actors like Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White and Pedro Pascal.

“I was like, that looks really fun,” she said.

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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At Cabbagetown Park on Sunday, she stood on the elevated lawn holding a neon blue karaoke microphone to welcome about a dozen attendees. Her husband, Stephen Rouse, was by her side handing out sake juice boxes and beers.

Rouse was dressed to compete. He wore aviators and a Hawaii resident shirt like the one Chief Hopper wears on his date (that’s-not-a-date) with Joyce in “Stranger Things” Season 2, Episode 3.

Rouse was one of only three contestants who showed up and was markedly shorter than the other two.

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“One of these Davids is not like the other,” Rouse joked while standing in a lineup next to his two towering competitors, Brian O’Connor, who lives near Cabbagetown Park, and Trevor Rogers, who drove out from Marietta to compete.

Rogers had been sent a photo of the event poster from a friend urging him to go. He wore khaki pants, a long-sleeve sheriff shirt, a Hopper-style hat given to him by his grandfather and a groomed mustache. Rogers, who won the completion as measured by crowd cheers, admitted he may have had an advantage.

“I worked with Harbour in the past,” he said. “As a stand-in and photo double.”

His claim, unconfirmed, could be true. He certainly looked like Chief Hopper.

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In second place, O’Connor wore a Hawaii resident shirt similar to Rouse’s.

When asked why they decided to throw the look-alike contest, Hernando and Rouse had a few reasons. In a post-pandemic world, they wanted to bring people together for community connection. It had “been far too long” since they threw an event like they used to regularly, Rouse said. The weather has been beautiful.

“Plus, the silly part of me was hoping that because Harbour’s in the area a lot that he would hear about it and pop up,” Hernando said. “But that’s a very far-fetched dream.”

Harbour did not show up.

“We’re not disappointed,” Rouse said. “We made some new friends. Our friends got to come out. And honestly, a beautiful sunny day where you can drink in the park is always a good day.”