On a recent winter afternoon in New York, Finn Wolfhard was taking in an iconic city view.
“Look how picturesque this interview is,” said the 20-year-old actor, sitting next to the third-floor window overlooking Central Park at the Park Lane Hotel. In the middle of a press day for his film “When You Finish Saving the World,” Wolfhard seems calm and surprisingly present — certainly observant — in conversation.
The young actor is no stranger to press after several years of high-profile and commercial projects, including “Stranger Things” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” A few days earlier, Wolfhard had proudly watched “Pinocchio” director Guillermo del Toro accept the award for best animated film, which features Wolfhard’s voice as Candlewick, at the Golden Globes.
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This year will mark a major milestone for Wolfhard: the final season of “Stranger Things.” The former child actor — he turned 20 in December — is gearing up to start filming for the hit Netflix series that launched his career in 2016.
But Wolfhard is already defining himself outside the early characters that put him on the map. He recently cowrote and codirected a feature film, continues to write and perform music with his band The Aubreys, and is taking on increasingly mature and character-driven roles.
Wolfhard stars opposite Julianne Moore in “When You Finish Saving the World,” Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut that comes out later this week. The project began as an audiobook; afterward, Eisenberg expanded the story into an intimate feature script and invited Wolfhard to reprise his role onscreen. The film, produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary, premiered during the Sundance Film Festival in 2022.
“Jesse really understands people, and that’s why I like working with him so much. We both love talking about why people feel the way they do, and trying to convey [that],” says Wolfhard of working with the actor-turned-director. “That’s why I like filmmaking and acting in general: it’s kind of a narcissistic version of psychology.”
Wolfhard embodies the role of Ziggy, a brooding high school musician with an online fanbase that fails to impress his crush at school. His mother, played by Moore, is a social worker unsure of how to connect with her teenage son as he retreats to stream his songs from his bedroom.
“Anyone could see that script and be like, this kid’s the most obnoxious and unlikeable kid ever — which he is in a lot of ways,” says Wolfhard of his character, who mostly regards his mother as a chauffeur. “I also wanted to play him in a way that you’d find him pretty sad or feel bad for him.”
The actor notes that the coming-of-age story was his first experience diving deep into a character’s psychology to bring nuance to the emotional plot. He clarifies that what he means is that fleshing out Ziggy required him to approach acting a little differently than previous projects.
“I was a kid actor, so I show up to set and wing it,” he says. “This was the first [film] where I was really thinking about it and going inward. So it was special for me as an actor.”
Although Wolfhard’s teenage experience looked much different than Ziggy’s, the actor found common ground in his character’s penchant for music. Entertainment operation A24 recently released one of the songs from the film as a single, which some have mistakenly attributed to Wolfhard.
“I saw a few articles that are like, ‘Finn Wolfhard drops a new single.’ I’m like, that’s not me,” says Wolfhard of the track, “Pieces of Gold,” which was composed by Emile Mosseri with lyrics written by Eisenberg. “There’s a few songs in the movie that I helped write and stuff like that,” he adds. “It helped me get even more comfortable with the character because [we shared] common interests.”
Wolfhard recently spent the holidays at home in Vancouver, Canada, with family, and has a vacation on the horizon before the rest of his year is go-go-go. He’s finishing up post-production for the film he cowrote and directed with Bill Bryk, “Hell of a Summer,” which stars Fred Hechinger in the lead role. Wolfhard met Bryk (who also stars in “When You Finish Saving the World”) on set while filming “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” The pair plan to submit the film to festivals. Starting in March, he’ll be on set for the rest of the year filming the final season of “Stranger Things” followed by “Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2.”
“So yeah, it’s gonna be nonstop,” says Wolfhard.
Asked if he has a career plan mapped out as he graduates from “Stranger Things,” Wolfhard notes that he’s keeping his options open and flexible.
“I feel differently about stuff all the time, so it’s kind of wherever it’s gonna take me. I’d love to direct again, keep writing music, and I wanna travel as well,” he adds. “To get out there in the world, get inspired, and meet new people.”
He’s already well on his way.