Finn WolfhardIllustration by Victoria Stevens
When Finn Wolfhard – the Vancouver-born actor, singer and director best known for playing Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things – was interviewed on the podcast In The Know – Extended Interviews, a companion to the NPR-mocking TV series, the host couldn’t resist teasing the multi-talent.
“Your name at the end of a French film means ‘The End,’” said the fictional host Lauren Caspian, “but I feel you’re only at the beginning.”
He has three new movies lined up, including a starring role in a film about a former Toronto-based Vice magazine editor-turned-drug mule. There are reports that he’s writing a biopic about The Replacements with his father. And he also recently worked with George Harrison’s estate to direct a new video for the Beatles guitarist’s 1973 single, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth).
It’s clear Wolfhard has plenty on his plate.
As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also building a burgeoning second career as a musician, making Caspian’s dad joke seem not that far off.
During his host monologue for Saturday Night Live in January, Wolfhard kidded around about the fact that more than 400 million people watched him grow from child actor to young adult. He said music has become a way to navigate the complexities of growing up in such an algorithm-crazed era (Mike Wheeler memes are in the thousands) while trying to maintain a private life.
Some of that complexity can be found in his sophomore album, Fire From The Hip, which was released July 10. Ahead of his headlining spot at Montreal’s Osheaga music festival in August, the multihyphenate spoke to The Globe about balancing a growing list of side hustles with necessary downtime.
You directed a George Harrison music video. What is your all-time favourite Beatles song?
“Help” is a pretty perfect song. The band were personal throughout their whole catalogue, but that track was clearly from John’s perspective and what he was going through – it’s so honest.
Which Beatles member would you play in a biopic? John, Paul, Ringo or George?
George would be the most interesting for me. He wanted to find purpose outside of the Beatles and got into being a homemaker and a gardener. He was spending a lot of time with his family when he could have been out there living in Hollywood. He always came back to his centre. That’s where I want to be, spiritually. Everything else – the fame and the work – was supplementary to him. That’s my goal.
You once said, “I was 19 the first time I thought people could like me in a non-transactional way.”
If you’re part of something that huge [Stranger Things], it’s hard to get back to base reality. I was lucky because I had really present family and friends. As a kid working, you’re still taking things on, experiencing stuff that you had no choice but to live through and process. So you start to think, like, ‘Okay, if I do a good job on set, then people will like me,’ but you’re not thinking about the other piece of it – which is who you are as an individual past the work.
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Did therapy play a positive role in figuring it all out?
One hundred per cent. I started to learn things about myself. It’s hard – everyone should try therapy at least once. It was a way to bring myself into kind of a different perspective, and helps you be less confused about your reactions.
You have a track called “Common Side Effects,” which is a laundry list of unintended responses to prescription drugs. What prompted you to write it?
For a long time, I’ve been medicated for anxiety. My eventual goal in my life is to not be under any kind of medication, even though it’s helped me. It’s really important for people who need it, but it’s a double-edged sword. Sometimes taking medication – especially the wrong one – takes you to these side effects.
I was poking fun at those commercials for medication – there’s an older, happy woman dancing at a jazz bar and then all of a sudden, a list of severe side effects, like death, pops up. Taking this might cause you to die, but it’s fine because you’ll feel better.
One of the instruments you used on your new album is an oscilloscope, which researchers have used to interpret radio waves from outer space. Why were you so drawn to it?
Its psychedelic sound and sci-fi vibe. Building a song around it was really fun because we kept asking, what if the Minutemen made the song? What would they do?
You once said Feist’s album, The Reminder, is one of your top albums to listen to. What draws you to her music?
She’s a living legend and Canadian and someone that isn’t concerned with turning out a hit record. She just wants to write what she wants to write. I love her melodies.
What would you say has been the most exciting fashion moment you’ve had?
The Paul Smith SNL suit that I wore during my monologue. It is one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me. To have Paul Smith suit stitch my name into the blazer was awesome. It felt very seventies – like, New York Dolls – reflecting an era and vibe that I love.
First time a book changed your mind?
Reading Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor. I remember not liking the beginning but then finishing it and loving it. It’s the first book that taught me this patience of reading. My generation is very used to putting down something forever if it’s not liked right away.
Is there a piece of art that you own that continues to give you inspiration?
My friend Clay Frankel, who also wrote the song “Follow” with me, and painted my first record’s cover [2025’s “Happy Birthday”]. I love it because it reminds me a lot of him and I talking about Edvard Munch, and [Munch] is one of my favourite painters.
Aside from music, acting or your directing work, what makes you feel most at peace?
My friends in Vancouver. They really know me and understand me. I can be in my head a lot but when I’m hanging out with them, I find it helps me think much more clearly.
You’re from the city of trails. Which ones would you say are the best to hike?
I love walking the endowment lands – they are really beautiful and help me clear my mind. They’re by the University of British Columbia campus. Wind Valley is amazing. I wrote a song called “Trail” about my grandparents, who met in a town in B.C. called Trail. Writing comes more naturally to me in Vancouver, surrounded by nature.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
