Matthew Erick White of Stranger Things Makes Broadway Debut

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Matthew Erick White discusses being welcomed by the Broadway community, how he prepared to bring James Hopper Jr. to the stage, and more.

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Matthew Erick White is currently making his Broadway debut as James Hopper Jr. in Stranger Things: The First Shadow after originating the role in the production’s first workshop!

White is best known for his performance in Fathom Events’ The Blind, with additional credits that include “NCIS: Origins” (CBS), “Criminal Minds: Evolution” (Paramount+), “Station 19” (ABC), and “The Young and the Restless” (CBS). Matthew is also the creator and host of the entertainment podcast “In the Mix with Matthew Erick White ”.

In BroadwayWorld's Debut of the Month feature, White discusses how it feels to revisit the role and how he prepared for his Broadway debut, his favorite onstage moments, and being embraced by the Broadway community. Read the full interview and see photography by BroadwayWorld's Jennifer Broski here!

This may be your Broadway debut, but it’s a return to the role—you originated the role in the first workshop! What has it been like to revisit the show at this stage in your career and now bring James Hopper Jr. to Broadway audiences?

Very different! It’s a very different goal now, as well. When we were doing that original workshop, it was still unclear if the show was going to come to Broadway. That was kind of our way of selling, and pitching, and giving a great opportunity to meet the whole creative team, with Sonia Friedman , and Netflix, and 21 Laps and everyone. But the goal there was one hard week of work to try to get this project that they cared so much about made. And it was like, ‘Okay, let’s do this!’

Coming back, oh my gosh, what is it, three years later? It granted me the opportunity to come in with a very clear idea of who I thought this character was, and who I wanted him to be. And then six weeks of breaking all that down and developing it in a way where you can create a character that can be connected with not just over one performance in one week, but every single night, eight shows a week for the coming twelve months.

So, it required a lot more maintenance, and a lot more stamina, but I was lucky enough to have that workshop to come in knowing, ‘Okay, I know that this is how they’ll want me to approach it.’

James Hopper is such an iconic character within the Stranger Things universe. How did you approach honoring what audiences already know and love about Hopper while also making the role your own?

It just comes through a lot of studying. I lucked out, I had about six weeks of rehearsal before I jumped in and was put into the show, and in that six weeks was a lot of David Harbour research, and a lot of Hopper research. I already had a really firm grasp on Hopper, but it became learning through a lot of osmosis of David Harbour ’s performance, which is just a powerhouse in the show. But also studying a lot of his stage work, and a lot of the physicality that he carried himself with on stage that allowed me to bring that to my performance.

And then, luckily enough, Hopper was always the guy I wished I could be in high school. He’s a lot cooler than I actually am in person. So, I think my own personal touch on that is, he is who I thought all those older guys in school were, with their leather jackets, and who I wanted to be.

It’s cool you studied his stage work as well, you really did a whole deep dive.

Hopper is so connected with David Harbour as a person, it happens to anyone, you see how the characters mold with who the people are in certain ways, and physicality was a big one for me, ‘How does he walk?’ ‘How does he carry himself in full body, not just in a 55mm frame?’

What do you remember most from your first night in the show?

Nothing! No [laughs], I’m very proud of myself for one thing, which was, I knew I wasn’t going to fully process anything I did in that first night. So, I had a conversation with myself where I went, ‘Okay, tonight you have one job. It’s to do the job. And do it right, and do it well. And if you do that, at the very end of last scene, I give myself permission to breathe, and enjoy bows.’

So, I remember the whole show my shoulders were up to my ears, in terms of tenseness and trying to get through it. And I was actually very proud of how we got through the show. And then when I walked off my final scene, my knees buckled, and I just went down, because my body finally released all this tension that I had. And I had the opportunity to go out and experience that opening night bow. Our opening night audience was stacked, it was so stacked! So, I lucked out with that ovation as well. I got to pretend that some of that standing ovation had something to do with me as well.

Of course it did! And there’s something special about coming in with an audience that’s already excited about the material.

It’s been very interesting to see, because it’s not just people who are excited about the show, or all the wonderful spin-offs that the Duffers are doing, but people who love The First Shadow. Which, when I originally did it, was still kind of an up-in-the-air idea, or a thing that had gone up in London, and people had loved it there, but people in the states hadn’t really experienced it yet. So, when I got here to New York and saw the fanbase of not just the show, but our show, and how it had grown, it was really beautiful to see.

Absolutely! Do you have a favorite onstage moment every night?

You know, I lucked out with my scene partners. Our Bob, Juan Carlos , and my Joyce, Shea Grant , all of our sequences, they call them the Dad Sequences, we’re running around onstage like crazy people. When I first came in for rehearsals, I was horrified of these sequences, because I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is a full-blown physical workout with blocking specific to the centimeter, on top of these insane performances, and incredibly grounded performances that they are giving.’ I was very nervous, and Juan and Shea really took care of me, because they’re both year-one cast members, so they knew how this machine worked already, and I was the new kid on the block. They really took me under their wing, and took care of me.

And now those onstage moments are very simple, and almost elegant between us, because of how gracious they were with me when I first came in. So I would have to say those sequences are my favorite, mostly because they’re my two favorite scene partners I’ve ever worked with.

On that note, coming into this company, this well-oiled machine, tell me a little bit more about what your rehearsal process was like, and how it’s been working alongside this amazing company.

My rehearsal process, we had about five or six weeks of rehearsals, only two or three of which we were actually going to be onstage. So, the other stuff was in a separate studio. I came in with a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do with Hopper, based off the workshop, and all my research, but then I had the added bonus of working with our Associate Director, Tavia, and Stephen Daldry [Director], who I’ve known for quite a few years now. And the rehearsal process was much simpler than I expected, not because of anything I had to do with it, but our entire set crew and creative team made the technical aspects I was most worried about relatively seamless for me, which allowed me to focus on giving a grounded, honest performance that audiences would enjoy.

So, no matter how tiring or stressful it may have been emotionally, I have nothing to complain about, because this entire company and entire crew made it as easy as humanly possible for me to step in to something that on the outside looked incredibly daunting. So, it’s really all thanks to them that I was able to step in as quick as we were able to.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

Honestly, I don’t have much to say other than thank you! Especially to you guys for even choosing for me to be a part of this. The entire Broadway community, having come from film and TV, I was nervous! And they’ve really welcomed me with open arms, the fans, everyone in all the other shows… the care, and most importantly, the enthusiasm they’ve had for me, and you guys especially over at BroadwayWorld has been very exciting for me. So all I can say is thank you, and I’ll never be able to say it enough, but I can promise to keep working my ass off every single day for you guys, and keep giving my 100 every single night.

I also want to shout out a special person in the cast who’s been very helpful to me, our Victor Creel, Nick Rehberger , he has been a friend and a mentor, and it’s veterans like him in this Braodway community that have shown me the ropes so that I can give my best every day.

New production photos have been released from STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW, featuring the new cast for Year 2 of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production. Check out the photos here!

Things are so very rightside up right now for dozens of actors who are about to join the ensemble company of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The Year 2 cast officially takes the stage at the Marquis Theatre (some for the first time and some in new roles) on March 31. Watch in this video as the cast talks about their new roles.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Debut-of-the-Month-STRANGER-THINGS-Matthew-Erick-White-is-Giving-100-Every-Single-Night-20260528)._