Finn Wolfhard

Wolfhard at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

screenwriter

director

**Finn Wolfhard** (born December 23, 2002) is a Canadian actor, musician, screenwriter, and director.

His acting roles include Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series *Stranger Things* (2016–present), for which he has won Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series out of three nominations. His film roles include Richie Tozierin the film adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel *It* (2017) and its sequel *It: Chapter Two* (2019), Boris Pavlikovsky in the drama film *The Goldfinch* (2019), the voice of Pugsley Addams in *The Addams Family* (2019), and Trevor in the upcoming supernatural film *Ghostbusters: Afterlife* (2021). Wolfhard made his directorial debut with the comedy short film *Night Shifts* (2020).

He was the lead vocalist and guitarist for the rock band Calpurnia and is currently a member of The Aubreys.

## Early life

Wolfhard was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to a family of French, German, and Jewish descent. He attends Catholic school. His father, Eric Wolfhard, is a researcher on aboriginal land claims. He has an older brother, actor Nick Wolfhard.

## Career

#### Acting

Wolfhard got his first acting job from Craigslist. He made his acting and television debut as Zoran in *The 100*, followed by a role as Jordie Pinsky in *Supernatural*.

In 2016, Wolfhard began portraying Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series *Stranger Things*. He auditioned for the role via video after seeing an open casting call. Wolfhard, along with his castmates, won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He and co-stars Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin competed against one another in a 2017 episode of Spike's *Lip Sync Battle*.

He also starred in the Netflix animated series *Carmen Sandiego* as "Player", the title character's chief accomplice and friend. The series premiered on January 18, 2019.

Wolfhard made his feature film debut playing Richie Tozier in the film adaptation of Stephen King's *It*, which was released on September 8, 2017. The casting of Wolfhard in both *Stranger Things* and *It*, both set in the '80s, had been a coincidence.According to Wolfhard, he had been initially cast as Richie when Cary Fukunaga was attached as director and co-writer, but when Fukunaga left the project over creative differences, the role fell through which allowed him to pursue *Stranger Things*. Once Andy Muschietti became attached to *It*, Wolfhard had to re-audition for the role of Richie.

On October 20, 2017, Wolfhard parted ways with his former agency, APA, and fired former agent Tyler Grasham following allegations that Grasham had sexually assaulted aspiring young male actors. Wolfhard himself had not been assaulted. On January 9, 2018, Wolfhard signed with talent agency, CAA.

In 2018, Wolfhard played Tyler, an altruistic and thoughtful pizza delivery boy, in the Ken Marino-directed ensemble comedy film, *Dog Days*.

In 2019, Wolfhard reprised his role as young Richie in flashbacks for the sequel *It Chapter Two* (2019). He also co-starred in *The Goldfinch*, the John Crowley-directed adaptation of the Donna Tartt's novel, playing Young Boris Pavlikovsky, a Ukrainian student and troublemaker. Wolfhard had not been the director's first choice. He had wanted to cast an authentic Russian actor for Boris, but Wolfhard's near perfect Russian accent in his audition helped him get the role. Also that year, Wolfhard provided the voice of Pugsley Addams in an animated remake of *The Addams Family*, which premiered on October 11.

On May 27, 2019, Wolfhard made his modeling debut in Saint Laurent's Fall/Winter '19 campaign.

In January 2020, Wolfhard portrayed Miles in Amblin’s haunted house film *The Turning*, an adaptation of Henry James’ novella *The Turn of the Screw*, while making his Sundance Film Festival debut with the Miami-set omnibus film, *Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia*, which also featured Robert Redford, masterminded by filmmaking collective Borscht Corp.. Wolfhard then made his SXSW Film Festival debut in March with the Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux directed and Film Boldly produced proof of concept short film, *Rules for Werewolves*, based on playwright and novelist Kirk Lynn's adapted screenplay from his debut novel, which is set to become a feature-length film, with Wolfhard attached to star and production occurring late in 2020 or in early 2021. He lent his voice to two Adult Swim productions: the animated special, *Smiling Friends* by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, which premiered on April 1, 2020 and the animated series *JJ Villard's Fairy Tales* as Boypunzel, a gender-swapped version of Rapunzel.Wolfhard joined the Jason Reitman directed Quibi television series adaptation *Home Movie: The Princess Bride*, to raise money for World Central Kitchen, which was released in July 2020, and then a live reading of The Princess Bride's script, as the Grandson, for a Democratic Party of Wisconsin charity event in September 2020.

In August 2020, Wolfhard co-starred in the Audible Original, *When You Finish Saving the World*, written by Jesse Eisenberg. The story is told from the perspective of three family members, at different stages of their lives. Wolfhard narrates Ziggy Katz, a 15-year-old boy recording audio sessions to a futuristic bot therapist. Additionally, the audiobook will be adapted into a comedy-drama movie, A24's *When You Finish Saving the World*, with Julianne Moore and Wolfhard set to star as mother and son, directed and written by Jesse Eisenberg and produced by Moore, Emma Stone and Dave McCary. On July 15, 2020, it was announced that Wolfhard and his brother, Nick Wolfhard, would be headlining the voice cast of sci-fi animation series *NEW-Gen*, playing twin brothers, alongside Anya Chalotra. Additionally, on August 19, 2020, it was announced that Wolfhard had joined director Guillermo del Toro's stop-motion animated musical feature, *Pinocchio*, in an undisclosed role.

In November 2021, Wolfhard will star with Carrie Coon in Jason Reitman's *Ghostbusters: Afterlife*, with Wolfhard playing the son of Coon's single mother, and Mckenna Grace also starring as his younger sister.

#### Directing

At the age of 17, Wolfhard made his directorial debut in August 2020 with the comedy short film, *Night Shifts*. The next year, Wolfhard released *Night Shifts* on YouTube. In 2017, Wolfhard had co-directed his first music video with Josh Ovalle for the band, Spendtime Palace's "Sonora".

#### Music

Aside from acting, Wolfhard was the lead vocalist and guitarist, as well as songwriter, for Vancouver-based rock band, Calpurnia, until the band officially dissolved in November 2019. They were signed to Royal Mountain Records in the United States and Canada, and Transgressive Records and its imprint, paradYse, for Europe and the United Kingdom. A few weeks later it was announced that Wolfhard's new band, The Aubreys, would debut on the soundtrack of his movie, *The Turning*.

The Aubreys released their single, "Loved One" on March 10, 2020 and their debut EP, *Soda & Pie*, through AWAL, on March 13, 2020. Their next single, "Smoke Bomb" was released on August 17, 2020. The Aubreys' first collaboration single with Lunar Vacation, "No Offerings" was released on January 12, 2021. Their second single of 2021, "Sand in My Bed" was released on February 14.

## Advocacy

Wolfhard has been involved in numerous advocacy contributions. He has sold merchandise that delivered all proceeds to children of indigenous communities, and spread awareness and acceptance for autism.

In May 2017, Wolfhard hosted "Strange 80s," a benefit concert to raise funds for Sweet Relief, an organization which offered assistance to struggling musicians in need of medical care and healthcare, and performed three tracks with his former band Calpurnia at the fundraiser. For his work with Sweet Relief, he was awarded by the 2017 Television Industry Advocacy Awards as an honouree.

## In the media

Wolfhard has been listed by *Variety* in their young Hollywood Youth Impact Report consecutively since 2017 to 2019. In 2018 and 2019, *The Hollywood Reporter* named him as one of the top 30 stars under age 18. He was also included in 'Forbes 30 under 30' class of 2020 in the field of Hollywood and entertainment.

## Filmography

### Television

#### Web series

 2018
 2019
 2020