{"id":830203,"date":"2026-07-27T23:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830203\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T23:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:39:09","slug":"finn-wolfhard-on-life-beyond-stranger-things-mental-health-and-where-to-go-hiking-in-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830203\/","title":{"rendered":"Finn Wolfhard on life beyond Stranger Things, mental health and where to go hiking in Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Finn WolfhardIllustration by Victoria Stevens<\/p>\n

When Finn Wolfhard \u2013 the Vancouver-born actor, singer and director best known for playing Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things \u2013 was interviewed on the podcast In The Know \u2013 Extended Interviews, a companion to the NPR-mocking TV series, the host couldn\u2019t resist teasing the multi-talent. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour name at the end of a French film means \u2018The End,\u2019\u201d said the fictional host Lauren Caspian, \u201cbut I feel you\u2019re only at the beginning.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019s writing a biopic about The Replacements with his father. And he also recently worked with George Harrison\u2019s estate to direct a new video for the Beatles guitarist\u2019s 1973 single, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear Wolfhard has plenty on his plate. <\/p>\n

As if that wasn\u2019t enough, he\u2019s also building a burgeoning second career as a musician, making Caspian\u2019s dad joke seem not that far off.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s Osheaga music festival in August, the multihyphenate spoke to The Globe about balancing a growing list of side hustles with necessary downtime. <\/p>\n

You directed a George Harrison music video. What is your all-time favourite Beatles song? <\/p>\n

\u201cHelp\u201d is a pretty perfect song. The band were personal throughout their whole catalogue, but that track was clearly from John\u2019s perspective and what he was going through \u2013 it\u2019s so honest. <\/p>\n

Which Beatles member would you play in a biopic? John, Paul, Ringo or George? <\/p>\n

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\u2019s where I want to be, spiritually. Everything else \u2013 the fame and the work \u2013 was supplementary to him. That\u2019s my goal.<\/p>\n

You once said, \u201cI was 19 the first time I thought people could like me in a non-transactional way.\u201d <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re part of something that huge [Stranger Things], it\u2019s hard to get back to base reality. I was lucky because I had really present family and friends. As a kid working, you\u2019re still taking things on, experiencing stuff that you had no choice but to live through and process. So you start to think, like, \u2018Okay, if I do a good job on set, then people will like me,\u2019 but you\u2019re not thinking about the other piece of it \u2013 which is who you are as an individual past the work. <\/p>\n

Stranger Things series finale offers a sweet farewell after nine years<\/a><\/p>\n

Did therapy play a positive role in figuring it all out? <\/p>\n

One hundred per cent. I started to learn things about myself. It\u2019s hard \u2013 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. <\/p>\n

You have a track called \u201cCommon Side Effects,\u201d which is a laundry list of unintended responses to prescription drugs. What prompted you to write it? <\/p>\n

For a long time, I\u2019ve been medicated for anxiety. My eventual goal in my life is to not be under any kind of medication, even though it\u2019s helped me. It\u2019s really important for people who need it, but it\u2019s a double-edged sword. Sometimes taking medication \u2013 especially the wrong one \u2013 takes you to these side effects. <\/p>\n

I was poking fun at those commercials for medication \u2013 there\u2019s 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\u2019s fine because you\u2019ll feel better.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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? <\/p>\n

You once said Feist\u2019s album, The Reminder, is one of your top albums to listen to. What draws you to her music?<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a living legend and Canadian and someone that isn\u2019t concerned with turning out a hit record. She just wants to write what she wants to write. I love her melodies.<\/p>\n

What would you say has been the most exciting fashion moment you\u2019ve had? <\/p>\n

The Paul Smith SNL suit that I wore during my monologue. It is one of the coolest things that\u2019s ever happened to me. To have Paul Smith suit stitch my name into the blazer was awesome. It felt very seventies \u2013 like, New York Dolls \u2013 reflecting an era and vibe that I love.<\/p>\n

First time a book changed your mind?<\/p>\n

Reading Chuck Palahniuk\u2019s Survivor. I remember not liking the beginning but then finishing it and loving it. It\u2019s the first book that taught me this patience of reading. My generation is very used to putting down something forever if it\u2019s not liked right away. <\/p>\n

Is there a piece of art that you own that continues to give you inspiration?<\/p>\n

My friend Clay Frankel, who also wrote the song \u201cFollow\u201d with me, and painted my first record\u2019s cover [2025\u2019s \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d]. 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. <\/p>\n

Aside from music, acting or your directing work, what makes you feel most at peace? <\/p>\n

My friends in Vancouver. They really know me and understand me. I can be in my head a lot but when I\u2019m hanging out with them, I find it helps me think much more clearly. <\/p>\n

You\u2019re from the city of trails. Which ones would you say are the best to hike?<\/p>\n

I love walking the endowment lands \u2013 they are really beautiful and help me clear my mind. They\u2019re by the University of British Columbia campus. Wind Valley is amazing. I wrote a song called \u201cTrail\u201d about my grandparents, who met in a town in B.C. called Trail. Writing comes more naturally to me in Vancouver, surrounded by nature. <\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Finn WolfhardIllustration by Victoria Stevens When Finn Wolfhard \u2013 the Vancouver-born actor, singer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":830204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75,2922],"class_list":["post-830203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-noastack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}