Finn Wolfhard is looking back on his first taste of fame. It was 2016, and he was 13. The first season of Stranger Things had come out that summer, and he went back to his high school in Vancouver acting like nothing had changed. But things had definitely changed. “People didn’t know how to treat me, especially the teachers. Kids who never even looked at me before were suddenly paying attention or wanting to hang out.” He remembers a girl in the year above who really wanted a photo with him. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t really take photos at school.’ But she wasn’t listening and pulled me into a side hug. I remember thinking, ‘Damn, I have no control over this. This feels crazy.’ So, it was definitely weird at first, and it’s still something I haven’t fully gotten used to.”
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How strange it must be to spend such a big part of your life playing a character that half the world knows and has watched grow up on screen—turning from a wide-eyed, awkward, nerdy kid into a sharp-cheekboned (but still pretty awkward) action hero. No one could have predicted how huge Stranger Things would become or how long it would last, driven by popular demand and then delayed by the pandemic. It finally ended a decade later, at the end of last year, when it was no longer believable for twenty-somethings like Wolfhard to pass as high schoolers.
[Image: Growing up in public … Wolfhard with his Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown in 2016. Photograph: Steve Zak Photography/FilmMagic]
As a result, the kids from Stranger Things have become the defining teens of their era, dealing with the challenges of adolescence both on and off screen, along with many of their viewers. Wolfhard’s co-star Millie Bobby Brown has said that their on-screen kiss in season one was the first time she had ever kissed a boy. It was pretty much the same for Wolfhard, he says. “I’d kissed a girl when I was maybe in second grade [around seven or eight], but it wasn’t real at all.” For Stranger Things, he was just focused on doing a good job: “So, weirdly, I wasn’t nervous about the actual kiss. I just thought, ‘Oh, it’s part of the thing, part of the character.’”
Now 23, Wolfhard is definitely a young man, even if it’s still a bit jarring to see him in stylish, non-80s streetwear. It’s a hot summer day, and we meet in the empty upstairs of a London pub (he’s drinking water). He’s been taking some time off, he explains, vacationing in Europe with his family—and getting recognized wherever he goes. It happens a lot in central London, he says, but people are usually “pretty chill”—and Wolfhard seems the same. “I was in Hackney yesterday, and no one came up to me, which was really nice. I could tell people were recognizing me, but they weren’t asking for photos.”
[Image: Dark star … Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler in the fifth season of Stranger Things. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix © 2025]
As child stars, the Stranger Things kids grew up in a unique online environment, where people write fan fiction about them (as the love interest for Brown’s Eleven and Noah Schnapp’s Will, Wolfhard’s Mike Wheeler has been a popular and often inappropriate subject for this). Etsy creators sell weird merchandise with their faces on it (shoutout to the “Wolfin’ hard or hardly Wolfin’?” T-shirt), and there’s constant online commentary about every change, from their voices breaking to their faces looking different because they’re no longer 12.
Now that they’re adults, they’re even more in the spotlight. Brown, in particular, has been a target for celebrity stalking—and she called out journalists for commenting on her appearance in an Instagram post last year: “This isn’t journalism.”Journalism? It’s bullying.” Meanwhile, Schnapp faced backlash a few years ago for pro-Israel comments and had to clarify his stance. Wolfhard avoids getting into political issues, but he still deals with his share of celebrity gossip. Last year, he went to a London theater to see his Stranger Things co-star Sadie Sink in Romeo and Juliet, which sparked rumors that they must be dating (they weren’t). “People really struggle to see things in a way that isn’t romanticized,” he says casually. “They like creating stories where there aren’t any. But usually, it’s more boring than you think. A lot more boring.”
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Moving on … with Willem Dafoe in The Legend of Ochi (2025). Photograph: THA/Alamy
Does all that stuff bother him?
“For us, there was no choice because we had such public-facing jobs at such young ages,” he says. “I never totally …” He rubs his eyes, trying to find the right words. “… got too caught up in what the internet was saying or doing. But yeah, developmentally, it’s probably not a good thing to read things about yourself.”
Still, he considers himself relatively lucky. “I still had a big chunk of my childhood that had nothing to do with technology or being judged by others. But now I look at Gen Alpha: even though most of them have normal school lives, they all have Instagram, so they all kind of have public personas in a weird way. Being ‘famous’ isn’t that far out of reach because it’s normal for the younger generation to get that kind of dopamine hit at such a young age.” Few of them will have as many Instagram followers as Wolfhard, though—nearly 25 million.
Maybe that’s part of why Stranger Things has such broad appeal: it was a nostalgia trip for adults who remember the ’80s, but for younger viewers, it sparked a kind of “phantom nostalgia” for a pre-internet childhood they never had—where you could innocently ride bikes, play board games together, and do silly things without the fear of being shamed online. Having your hometown destroyed by monsters from another dimension might have seemed like a small price to pay.
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Embracing comedy … with Alisha Boe in When You Finish Saving the World (2022). Photograph: Capital Pictures/Alamy
Wolfhard says his early childhood really was about riding bikes around the neighborhood with his friends. He grew up in an artsy household in a not-so-artsy part of Vancouver. “So we were kind of the outsiders when it came to being into nerdier things.” His mother was a visual artist; his father wrote screenplays and worked in human rights. “There was no shortage of film and music in my house from a very young age. It’s what we all talk about with each other.”
He was inspired to try acting after seeing his brother, Nick—five years older and also an actor—on stage in a school play. He got a few small roles in music videos and local TV shows, then, at 12, auditioned for Stranger Things. Like many of his co-stars, he wasn’t an “actor kid,” he stresses. “That’s probably why we were cast in the first place—because we were closer to our characters at that time.”
It also helped that, thanks to his upbringing, he was familiar with the show’s ’80s references: “I grew up with E.T., Stand By Me, The Goonies, even a lot of John Hughes films, so it felt like familiar territory.”
Wolfhard says emotions were mixed about Stranger Things coming to an end. It had been such a regular part of his life for so long. “That’s what was so great about it. Every year, it was like, OK, I know I’m going to be in Atlanta filming this with the same people for the next however long. It was like my school in a really weird way.” They spent about a year shooting the final season. He shared a house with Gaten Matarazzo and Joe Keery.Ten “Dustin” Matarazzo. “Everyone was having a great time, hanging out … All the cast lived in the same neighborhood. We would go to each other’s houses all the time.”
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Grown-up drama … In The Goldfinch (2019) with Sarah Paulson. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy
There seemed to be a sense of denial. “The vibe was almost like, ‘Oh, we’ll be back next year,'” he says. “But once we got about halfway through, everyone started to realize, ‘Oh. This is it.’ And then everyone really valued the time we had together for that last half. It was pretty depressing for everyone when it ended … but it feels absolutely right that we ended when we did.”
So does he feel liberated? “For sure, yeah. At first I felt really lost, because that’s been your life for so long, and so many of the crew and cast were so integral to who you are and your identity. You almost go through a kind of withdrawal for a little while. Then you realize all those relationships, all those friendships, are around forever.”
Wolfhard has actually been preparing for life beyond Hawkins for some time. He’s done several movies between seasons. Admittedly, he explored similar 80s nostalgia territory in the recent Ghostbusters reboots (Afterlife and Frozen Empire), and the two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s small-town horror story It, though in the latter, Wolfhard played the clownish loudmouth of the group, rather than the sensible “Mike” character. “It’s fun sometimes to be the jerk,” he says.
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Making music … Wolfhard fronting the band Calpurnia at London’s Koko club, 2018. Photograph: Wenn Rights Ltd/Alamy
He has also taken on more “grown-up” drama, like 2019’s The Goldfinch, adapted from Donna Tartt’s bestseller and co-starring Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson. Even if the movie fell short, he was convincing as a sun-hating Ukrainian outsider in Las Vegas, thick accent and all. And in Jesse Eisenberg’s mother-son drama When You Finish Saving the World, he held his own alongside Julianne Moore as a self-absorbed wannabe musician. Some of the songs were Wolfhard’s own compositions.
This is the other part of Wolfhard’s plan for life after Stranger Things: he’s been making music longer than he’s been acting. “My mom bought me my first guitar when I was four.” He’s about to release his second solo album, Fire From the Hip, having already been guitarist and singer with two Canadian bands, Calpurnia and the Aubreys. Wolfhard’s solo music is generally tuneful rock in a Beatlesy, 90s indie style, with playfully surreal lyrics and often deliberately lo-fi production. There’s a retro analog vibe to it all: strummed guitars, handmade album art, recording on physical tape rather than digitally. Again, he says, it’s that sense of phantom nostalgia. “Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to it, because I’m still longing for that time.”
If Wolfhard needed to find liberation after Stranger Things, it looks like he’s finding it here, recording and performing: “I spent my whole childhood having to be on a certain mark, listen to directors, and feel the pressure to be perfect all the time. With music, it’s great because I can control my own thing, control my own life and destiny.”
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Nostalgia territory … Wolfhard (left) with Mckenna Grace and Logan Kim in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). Photograph: FlixPix/Alamy
He admits it helps to have a built-in fanbase as he prepares for a US tour this month. The music route has become a fruitful side career after Stranger Things. Maya Hawke is on her fourth album, Caleb “Lucas” McLaughlin has released a few tracks, Jamie “Vecna” Campbell Bower has moved on from his punk band and seems headed for a more commercial solo career. Then there’s Joe “Steve HArrington Keery, also known as Djo, saw his 2022 track “End of Beginning” go viral on TikTok and become a global hit. He’s currently opening for Tame Impala on their US tour. “Joe was like a cool older brother on set,” says Wolfhard. Keery introduced him to a lot of music and musicians, and they’re still close. “I’ll get advice from him, and send him demos and stuff,” Wolfhard adds.
But he doesn’t have big dreams of taking over the rock world. “My goal in music is for people to discover my songs just by hearing them on a playlist, or seeing a show or festival and thinking, ‘Oh, who’s that?'”
He’s not quitting his acting career either. He’s taking a break from his tour to shoot a new film in Toronto next month—”a movie I’ve been trying to make with a friend since before Covid.” But he’s not actively chasing the next big acting role. “I want to prove myself by being in projects people wouldn’t expect me to be in. And however long it takes to find that perfect or right thing, I’m fine with waiting.”
One way he’s handled the pressures of being a child star is by staying busy. “That might be why I try to work—it’s a way to deal with anxiety by throwing yourself into something else.”
But Wolfhard seems to have reached a point where he can ease up a bit. He’s loved being back in Canada—”it just feels calmer for me, for my personality”—and having more downtime: “I really like being at home with no plans, no expectations on myself. My favorite hobby is being bored.” No one could say he hasn’t earned it.
Finn Wolfhard’s album Fire From the Hip is out on July 10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs based on the headline and topic about Finn Wolfhard Stranger Things and his music career
General Background
Q Did Finn Wolfhard actually say it was pretty depressing when Stranger Things ended
A Yes In interviews promoting his new music Finn has talked about the emotional crash that happens after spending a decade on a massive show He described the feeling of it ending as a big sudden void
Q Why was it depressing for him
A He grew up on the show from age 12 to 22 It wasnt just a job it was his entire teenage life and family When it ended he lost that daily routine and community which was a major adjustment
Q Is Finn Wolfhard quitting acting to focus on music
A No He is balancing both He is still acting but he is putting more energy into his band The Aubreys and his solo music projects
Growing Up on TV
Q How did Stranger Things affect his normal childhood
A He missed a lot of normal teenage experiences like high school parties and regular classes He was working long hours on set which made him mature faster but he also feels he missed out on some normal kid stuff
Q Does he regret growing up on TV
A Not really He says he is grateful for the opportunities and the cast becoming his family The depressing part was the sudden stop not the experience itself
Q How did the cast handle the fame as kids
A They leaned on each other Finn Millie Bobby Brown and the others have said they formed a bubble to protect themselves They understood the craziness because they were all going through it together
Music New Life
Q What is Finn Wolfhards band called
A He is the lead singer and guitarist for a band called The Aubreys He also has a side project called Pale Waves
Q What kind of music does he make
