Stranger ThingsstarFinn Wolfhardnever thought he’d have “influencer” on his resume, but here he is.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this whole PlayStation Playmakers opportunity come about?
How’d you first hear about it?
Finn Wolfhard.Danielle Levitt
I immediately was like, “c’mon can I be a part of that?”
‘Cause I’m a huge PlayStation fan.
It’s really the only system that I’ve played.
Sony transforms Finn Wolfhard into a Guardian from ‘Destiny 2’.Sony Interactive Entertainment
What are the responsibilities of being part of the PlayStation Playmakers?
What does that all entail for you?
It should feel like everyone’s kind of hanging out and playing together.
Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard, Charlie Heaton, and Eduardo Franco in ‘Stranger Things’.Courtesy of Netflix
So you’re kind of like a gaming influencer, almost.
Yeah, I guess so.
I never thought that I’d ever have “influencer” beside my name.
Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard in ‘Hell of a Summer’.Aggregate Films
I’m really doing it because I just really like playing video games and I really like PlayStation.
I’m just really am excited about it.
Do you remember what your first PlayStation console was?
Yeah, it was a PS2.
My uncle had it.
He lived with us.
Me, my older brother, and my uncle would playFinal Fantasy Xtogether.
So it was that and thenRatchet and ClankandJak and Daxter.
All the old Insomniac stuff.
Going through the history of all the consoles is so fun.
It’s super nerdy, but you get to hear all the different chimes.
It was in storage.
It hadSpyroon it, and we plugged it in and you could hear the chime of the PSOne.
It’s super cinematic and crazy and everyone just freaked out.
What kind of games are you playing these days?
I’m replayingThe Last of Us Part 1, since the show’s come out.
My brother and I were playing that for a long time together.
I’m excited to play the new Spider-Man game.
PlayStation has been adapting a lot of their games more recently.
You’re an actor who also plays video games.
Is that something you keep tabs on?
What roles you could play in the gaming adaptations that are coming out?
Not for roles, more just as a fan of what’s going on.
I think it’s incredible.
But people are starting to really do insanely well.
First of all, it’s amazing source material.
So you start with that and then you go from there and build out.
I think we’ll see.
I’m open to anything.
I definitely am excited to finishStranger Thingsand see what’s out there after.
Does that give you a lot more time to play games these days?
Yeah, we’re pressing pause until the strike is figured out.
There’s an insane amount that I haven’t played in the last little while.
I haven’t even playedThe Last of Us Part IIyet, so I have to play that.
How are you feeling now about the fact thatStranger Thingsis approaching its final season?
Is it something that you’re looking forward to or is it a little bit daunting?
I think it’s a little bit of both.
I’m incredibly excited to finish up the show.
A lot of the same crew has been working on it since the first season.
So, it’s gonna be amazing and pretty heavy, but really fun always.
Can you set up a little bit of what that film is about?
It’s about a group of camp counselors setting up a summer camp.
It’s a slasher movie where people start dying and everyone blames it on him.
It’s about the group, the ensemble of teenagers trying to survive tonight.
What was that experience like moving into the director’s chair?
It was definitely incredibly daunting.
So I felt a little in my element at some points.
It was all the things, right?
It was a small movie in the middle of nowhere in Canada, and it was incredible and hilarious.
It was one of the best experiences of my life.
You’re definitely on the younger side when it comes to breaking into filmmaking from acting.
That’s what financiers said too.
That’s what everyone said when we tried to get money for this movie.
They’re like, “You’re a little young to be directing a movie.”
I’m like, “Yep.”
But you’re absolutely right.
Well, I think it’s [about] having enough self-awareness.
Not to downplay it, I’m incredibly proud of it, but it was a crazy thing.
A lot of the crew were young as well.
But I think knowing what we’re getting ourselves into…
This is our first feature.
It was really informative.
I learned more in those three weeks than I have my whole life.
I don’t think age defines filmmaking in any way.
I also heard that you and the Aubreys have new music coming out this summer.
What can people expect from that?
I have a new single with the Aubreys.
There’s a single coming out in July with a video.
We haven’t released music since our record in 2021, and we’ve been writing for so long.
So we’re just gonna release the single and see what people think, and keep writing.
