In a new cover story for VARIETY’s Power of Young Hollywood issue, “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard speaks with Executive Editor Film & Media Tatiana Siegel about the end of the series, why his last day on set was a “mindfuck,” and how he predicted a Duffer brothers spinoff.
Wolfhard on his last day on the set of “Stranger Things”:
As Wolfhard was filming the grand finale he noticed a massive crowd gathering, including Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and cast members Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery and Maya Hawke, who all remained in Atlanta even though they wrapped production days earlier.
“I turned around from the monitors, and it was hundreds of people just hanging out for the first time in the same room after 10 years of working. And they were just watching. So if that wasn’t enough of a mindfuck there, it was also like, ‘Wait, that means it’s ending.’”
Wolfhard can’t say much about the finale, but he appears alongside “some” of the “kids,” as he refers to castmates Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp and Sadie Sink.
“There was a moment where there was true joy from everyone because of a moment that happened. When I walked out from doing the scene, it was just one of the greatest moments in my entire life. I didn’t process at the time because it was just so emotional. There was a lot of Champagne.’”
On his (correct) speculation about what a “Stranger Things” spinoff would entail:
“Like David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks.’ Sort of an anthology and different tones but similar universe or same universe. I think set in different places and all tied together through this mythology of the Upside Down. Don’t even talk about Hawkins. Don’t have any mention of our characters. They were toying around with ideas in case Netflix wanted them. I’m sure they do, and I’m sure it will happen, but there’s nothing official. I think the coolest way, the way that I would do it, there has to be labs everywhere. If there was one in Hawkins, there’s one in Russia. Where else could they be?”
“Stranger Things” co-creator Ross Duffer then confirms that Wolfhard is the only one who correctly guessed what the spinoff might be.
“Nobody — not Netflix, not any of the producers, not any of the directors, not any of the actors — nobody else has figured out what the spinoff is. Finn figured out, which is pretty remarkable. We’ve mind-melded with this kid a bit.”
On a “Stranger Things” group tattoo:
Wolfhard tells Variety that a group of 11 cast members considered a group tattoo. Sink proposed a flashlight. Others voted in favor of a simple “7-15-2016” to mark the date that the series first aired. Wolfhard liked the idea of a tiger, in a nod to the Hawkins school mascot.
“No one could agree what to get because everyone had different storylines, and the show meant different things to different people. Honestly, I think moving forward, we might still do it.”
On being single:
“I’m single and like…I feel like that’s something that I’m also kind of thinking about right now is just like…This is the time kind of where I have been doing the most work kind of in my life. So I feel like it’s been kind of…Maybe it’s been subconsciously — what’s the word? — deliberate? — to not have a committed partner. Just because I’m 22, I don’t really want to put my…Also considering how…At the rate that I’m traveling all the time and working and stuff, I just feel like it’s not the time to do that.”
On his anxiety:
“Diagnosed, yeah. Then I started seeing a therapist. It’s something that’s worked for me. I can either try to bury that stuff and just do project after project, not think about it, or be able to ask myself these questions.”
Said questions are not existential in nature: Why are we here? Why do we die? Instead, they involve how he is perceived, either in an intimate setting or on the global stage.
“Death is so abstract to me, I just don’t even know how to start with that. I think about saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing in social situations, doing the wrong thing in my career, disappointing people.”
On trying to stay “normal” as a child actor:
“At that time, my focus was on staying sort of as quote-unquote normal as I could be. I was never really a normal person — whatever normal is, whatever I thought that normal was. But I definitely was aware of how many child actors had it bad, how it ended up so bad.”
On losing out to Asher Angel for the role of the teen version of the titular superhero in DC’s “Shazam!”:
“I was disappointed, but I was never really bummed. I don’t think I’m a very competitive person. Part of the reason why I started acting was because maybe it felt less competitive…It’s really hard not to take it personally because they’re literally not casting you because of you. The way to do it is to separate and compartmentalize. In the last few years, I’ve auditioned for stuff. I definitely don’t enjoy that part. I like proving myself, but it’s never fun to go through the process of ‘You’re too short’ or ‘You’re too this or that.’ Because then you’re just thinking about ‘Oh, what am I?’ And then that’s why actors get so in their head and crazy.”
On Pope Leo XIV:
Although Wolfhard was raised catholic, he describes himself today as “pretty agnostic” but a fan of Pope Leo XIV, whom he dubs “a cool liberal-looking guy who actually cares about people.”
[Photo Credit: Richie Shazam for Variety Magazine – Video Credit: Variety/YouTube]
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