Date of Birth
23 December 2002, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height
5' 10½" (1.79 m)
Mini Biography
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, actor Finn Wolfhard stars as Mike Wheeler in the critically acclaimed Netflix Original Series "Stranger Things." The hit series has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series; two MTV Movie & TV Awards for Show of the Year; an AFI award for TV Program of the Year; and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama Television Series. To date, the series has received 30 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including two for Outstanding Drama Series. The third season premiered in July 2019, breaking Netflix viewership records in its first weekend of release and has gone on to become Netflix's most watched season to date. "Stranger Things" was renewed for a fourth season which began production in 2020.
In May 2019, Wolfhard became the new face of Yves Saint Laurent's Fall/Winter 2019 Campaign. In 2020, Wolfhard starred in Amblin's haunted house film "The Turning," opposite Mackenzie Davis and Brooklynn Prince. He also wrapped production on Sony Pictures' highly anticipated "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," a new chapter in the "Ghostbusters" universe, from director Jason Reitman. Slated for release in March 2021, Wolfhard will star alongside Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and McKenna Grace. Next, Wolfhard will star alongside Oscar winner Julianne Moore in the new comedy-drama feature "When You Finish Saving the World," written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg and produced by Emma Stone. The mother-son story is inspired by Eisenberg's upcoming Audible Original of the same name, which is debuting in 2020. Wolfhard is also set to star as a lead voice over in the upcoming animated series, "NEW-GEN," based on the comic series distributed by Marvel and created by Chris Matonti, J.D. Matonti, and Julia Coppola.
In September 2017, Wolfhard moved from the small screen to the silver screen, playing the lead role of Ritchie Tozier in the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel "IT." Fans of the novel will remember Wolfhard's role as Trashmouth, part of the Losers Club. The film premiered to critical acclaim, breaking opening weekend box office records in its debut and going on to become the highest grossing horror movie ever. Wolfhard, along with his cast, received the Best On-Screen Team award for "IT" at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards. Wolfhard also starred in "Dog Days," alongside Vanessa Hudgens and Nina Dobrev. He can also be heard in the Netflix animated series "Carmen Sandiego," which released its second season in October 2019. Wolfhard has also been supporting independent voices in animation. He has a role in "JJ Villard's Fairy Tales," as well as a role shared with his brother Nick (also a Netflix voice actor) in the recent surprise hit "Smiling Friends."
In 2019 alone, Wolfhard co-starred in three diverse feature films. Wolfhard reprised his role of Richie Tozier in New Line's blockbuster sequel "It: Chapter Two." He co-starred in Warner Bros & Amazon Studios' "The Goldfinch," an adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize winning & New York Times best-selling novel. Wolfhard played the role of Young Boris alongside an all-star cast including Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson and Jeffrey Wright. Lastly, he voiced the character Pugsley Addams in MGM's animated "The Addams Family" movie. He can also be heard in Netflix's animated series "Carmen Sandiego," which released its second season in October 2019.
His first role was in the 2013 independent film Aftermath. After appearing in more independent films such as The Resurrection, Wolfhard moved into roles on television shows The 100 and Supernatural.
In addition to acting, Wolfhard has a passion for music and formed a garage-rock band called Calpurnia. Calpurnia recorded their debut EP which was released in June 2018. The band's first single "City Boy" debuted at No. 23 on Billboard's Alternative Digital Song Chart and hit No. 1 on Spotify's Global Viral 50 playlist. During their three-year run, the band toured across North America and Europe. In the Fall of 2019, Wolfhard and drummer Malcolm Craig formed The Aubreys. In March 2020, The Aubreys released their first official EP entitled "Soda & Pie." Wolfhard also used his growing platform to host an event and raise funds for Sweet Relief, an organization that helps musicians in need.
Trivia
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Brother of Nick Wolfhard, who also acts. Son of Mary Jolivet and Eric Wolfhard, a writer.
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Featured in the music video for the song "Guilt Trip" (2014) by Canadian punk band PUP.
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Finn admitted to having a fear of clowns, appropriate for playing Richie Tozier in the new "It" movie.
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Great-great-aunt was silent film and theatre actress Rita Jolivet. Finn's great-grandfather, Alfred Eugene Jolivet, was Rita's brother.
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On May 27, 2019, made his modeling debut as the newest face of Saint Laurent's Fall/Winter '19 campaign.
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He plays the guitar, the piano, the drums, bass and the harmonica.
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His three favorite films are The Graduate (1967), Dazed and Confused (1993) and Melody (1971).
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He is of German, Scandinavian, Welsh, Irish, and one fourth Ashkenazi Jewish, descent.
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In the Neibolt House scene in It (2017), there is water on his shirt because Jack Dylan Grazer said something that made him laugh so hard with a mouth full of water he spit it out on his shirt.
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He was a member of the band Calpurnia from 2017 to 2019.
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His new band The Aubreys, formed in 2019, is named after his childhood cat, Audrey.
Trademarks:
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High cheekbones
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Curly hair
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Often plays characters who ride bikes
Quotes
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[on his name] It's my given, full name. Finn's not short for anything; it's just Finn Wolfhard. And then Wolfhard means, I think, heart of the wolf in German. What's funny is I'm German, but then I'm like French - I'm French and German and then Jewish. It's really weird. I have really weird blood. And then I go to Catholic school, which is really weird.
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I will be covering three songs with my band Calpurnia at the Sweet Relief event in May. The band includes my friends Malcolm, who was in the PUP videos with me and is an amazing drummer and actor, and Ayla, who shreds on guitar and has already had multiple Berklee School scholarships (and took the dog in the last PUP video), and Jack, a bass-master. We don't get to jam very often because of my schedule, but I love when we do. Other bands and producers have reached out and I try to post about the bands who work so hard and sound so good, and I also sat down with a Yoda-type dude in L.A. It is unbelievable to be taken seriously by someone at that level. Over the next few months I will have a better idea about where this is all going to go
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Millie (Bobby Brown) came in, and obviously she's so nice. I'm Canadian, and she's English, and those are the two combinations of nice people, which is immediately a good chemistry.
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"I've just had luck with horror. I'd actually love to do more comedy, but what I really wanna do is an indie drama - an intense indie road-trip movie," he says, citing James Steven Sadwith's recent Coming Through the Rye as inspiration.
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I mean, I love acting, but I really wanna direct. And to write." Luckily, he's already in the best position to learn. "A lot of people say, and I definitely agree with this, that a film set is the best film school," he quips. He contemplates alternate lives as he finishes his meal, munching thoughtfully before finally landing on another possible fate: "I'm good at reading people. If I wasn't an actor, I would be a psychologist.
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Playing Mike, I accessed feelings I'd never accessed before. I emerged a better actor. I want to give myself credit for that, more than I did at the time. I mean, obviously, there is no perfect person; there's always work to do. But that's what I love about acting. You're never perfect.
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[on the 1980s influences of Stranger Things (2016)] I grew up..I still am growing up, but when I was younger, I watched a lot of '80s movies and a lot of '80s music was in my life. So, I kind of knew everything already. Gaten [Gaten Matarazzo] was also raised on that kind of diet of '80s movies, and we both weren't new to it. I remember the Duffers told us all to watch these movies, and Gaten and I were like, "We already watched them."
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[on being asked whether he has time left over to just be a 16-year-old kid] Yeah, definitely. My parents are great. On every job, my whole family and I try to get as many breaks as I can. I have a few months off at the end of the year, and there's plans in my life to not just work. I need time to do whatever I want to do. What happens to an actor that has no life experience? They don't know how to act as a different role. So, that's really important to do. I have been working really hard, but I definitely build the time out. A healthy balance is important to me, but also having time to just grow normally.
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[on being told the Internet adores his name] When I was in elementary school, it was not a name that was cool. It's nice to hear that some people like it. My grandfather would be psyched to hear that.
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[on growing up at 16] I like the age that I'm at now, but I also have a lot of older friends. I'm definitely not eager to grow up, but I do like some adult stuff. I'm still a child, for sure, and I think every actor has to be a little bit of a child in good ways and bad.