Vancouver's Finn Wolfhard seems to be a fan of his hometown.
The young actor, best known as Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things, was on Hot Ones last week and shared a few thoughts about Vancouver during the spicy chicken wing-based interview show, as host Sean Evans asked everything from his musical inspiration, to favourite field trips, to local sports heroes.
Best known as an actor, (in addition to Stranger Things he's starred in the new It film and a pair of Ghostbusters sequels) Wolfhard explained that given Vancouver's role as Hollywood North, the path to acting was more obvious, especially when blockbuster productions came to town.
"I remember Twilight would come to Vancouver every year because they would film a new movie and I remember, like, them shooting over by my house," he says.
Seeing the film industry so close to home had an impact on him.
"Getting an audition as a kid was very tangible because they would shoot so many commercials," he adds.
Wolfhard decided on Vancouver when he made his short film directorial debut with Night Shifts (which he also wrote).
Released in 2020, the film is about a botched convenience store robbery; during the filming of it at a real store in Vancouver, the production experienced its own botched robbery while Wolfhard was in the director's chair.
"In real life while we were shooting the robbery scene, a guy came in with a fake welded gun," he explains.
In the interview, he re-enacts the moment with Evans of when the actor playing a robber and the real-life (attempted) robber faced off with fake guns. The man ended up running away.
"I was like, sitting there directing and I was like 'What's going on?'" Wolfhard says. "I peeked out and I saw this standoff going on."
When asked about what a "Vancouver state of mind" is in regards to making music (with his band The Aubreys), he said walking around the city helps.
"Vancouver, I feel like, is a place where I can get bored and just go out in nature and walk around and it's very inspiring," says the 21-year-old actor and musician. "And so I can get very easily inspired, I think, in Vancouver."
Throughout the interview he also offers up shout outs to a variety of Vancouver things. When asked about favourite field trip spots as a kid, he agrees with Evans that Science World is fun, but also highlights the Brittania Mine Museum. And when asked about a Vancouver athlete, he immediately goes to former Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.
"He's so synonymous with Vancouver for his time with [the] Canucks," says Wolfhard.
He also notes Neptoon Records, the long-time Main Street independent record store.
"That record store is amazing because the guy who owns it has this huge vintage poster collection," Wolfhard says, noting it's the place where Nardwuar holds many interviews.
"I feel like you guys are spiritual cousins in a way," he adds, of Nardwuar and Evans.
