‘DTF St. Louis’: David Harbour on Wearing a Prosthetic for His Role in HBO’s Limited Drama

HBO‘s latest series, DTF St. Louis, is sure to keep viewers on their toes as the limited drama revolves around three adults experiencing a middle-aged malaise in the suburbs.

When one of them winds up dead, a mystery is set in motion. As teased in the trailers for the forthcoming series, David Harbour‘s Floyd is the unlucky man in the trio, which includes his wife Carol (Linda Cardellini) and coworker Clark (Jason Bateman). How is their complicated love triangle going to drive Floyd towards his demise?

That’s for viewers to uncover as the season unfolds, but one aspect of his character that certainly stands out is the fact that Floyd is a little self-conscious, especially after gaining some weight in the years since he first met his wife. In order to achieve the look the show needed, Harbour donned some prosthetics.

“It is used a bit for comedic effect, but also I wanted it to play as he uses food in a certain way, and to play as the reality of a guy who’s not getting hits on these sites, and various things,” Harbour explains to TV Insider, refrerring to the titular app Clark introduces Floyd to to make potentially sexual connections with local strangers. “We wanted to highlight some of the struggles that he has.”

HBO

“The prosthetic itself was incredible,” Harbour continues. “It’s so funny. I keep thinking back to the prosthetic because… I don’t know that I really needed it. I mean, it only added [a little bit]… I could have really just bulked up a little bit more, and I think I would have been fine, but it was nice to have, because there’s something about having a mask that allows you a freedom.”

As Harbour describes the process, he shares, “When it was just under my clothes, it was just a suit that I could zip up myself, and it’d be easy, take it off during lunch. But then, when we had to see it, even just the belly part, they had to put on the whole thing, and it took about an hour.” According to the star, this involved a new prosthetic every day, “they’re printed out of latex. It was about 30 pounds, so it’s like a vest [that came down and] wrapped around to the love handles a little bit.”

Related

'DTF St. Louis' Trailer Teases Twisted Love Triangle

To attach the prosthetic, Harbour notes it required spirit gum, sharing the team who helped make the look come to life, “put it down [the vest] then I’d wear it for a nice like 14-hour day of shooting. Then at the end, you’d have to peel it off, and it would be all sweaty.” In other words, not a super glamorous process, but one that’s effective onscreen.

Let us know what you think of Harbour’s look onscreen in the comments section, and don’t miss as DTF St. Louis‘s mystery unfolds week to week on HBO.

DTF St. Louis, Series Premiere, Sunday, March 1, 9/8c, HBO and HBO Max