Finn Wolfhard Talks The Turning

Finn Wolfhard impresses us as a really smart teen with some real acting chops. We’ve enjoyed his performances in TV’s “Stranger Things” and the IT films so why another thriller/horror project? Finn says he picked The Turning because his character goes through some real actor-challenging changes in the movie. Should he do a real comedy next? Maybe.

The Turning Movie Trailer

 

Music is a big part of Finn’s life. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist, as well as songwriter, for Vancouver-based rock band, Calpurnia, until the band officially dissolved in November last year. A few weeks later it was announced that his new band, The Aubreys, are due to debut on the soundtrack of The Turning.

The movie is based on Henry James’ disturbing novella, “The Turn of the Screw,” first published near the end of the 19^th century, in 1898. Director Floria Sigismondi decided to move the film to the 1990’s and focus on the female character, the nanny Kate. “I wanted to explore the ideas of the #metoo movement and the idea that if you say something you can be accused of being crazy, and if you don’t say something, that silence grows as a disease inside of you. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”  Finn’s disturbed character Miles makes Kate’s life crazier than ever.  Let him tell us about it.

Q: What is this film about?

• Finn: This is the modern day version of the Henry James novella “Turn of the Screw”. It’s modern because not only does it take place in the mid-90’s, but it sort of flips the helplessness of the Kate character (Mackenzie Davis). She’s a little more empowered and I think people are really going to want to see that. 

Q: Tell us who your character is.

• Finn: My character is Miles. He’s this 15-year-old kid who has just gotten expelled from a boarding school. He is really coming to terms with who he is. He’s really kind of a depressed kid who is battling a loss. He’s battling grief. He has a lot of people that he has lost in his life so he’s a lost kid. He’s really unpredictable and sometimes you don’t really know if he is being affected. In some scenes he’s really funny and some scenes he’s sweet and some scenes he’s really disgusting so it was a really fun character to play.

Q: What impressed you about him?

• Finn: In the script there is a line saying that Miles is an ‘exposed wire’ and I thought that really described the character perfectly because he is angsty and strong but, at the same time, you can see that there is a hurt kid inside. I thought that was super interesting.

Q: How does he change throughout the story?

• Finn: He changes in a way that is interesting because he starts out the story a little moody and weird but you don’t really think much of it until you get to the second half of the movie and he’s gone full mentally ill. He doesn’t care anymore and does whatever he wants.

Q: Did anything else draw you to do this film?

• Finn: Definitely the director Floria (Sigismondi). She brings the darkness to it. . We had a meeting and she just drew me in. She was really cool, talked to me as a friend and I love her work. We just got along really well and I wanted to experience working with her on this film. She’s really good at visual art in general. She went to art school and started out with visual art pieces and music videos so she gets the visual aspect of everything which is great. Horror movies and thrillers are all about the visual aspect.

Q: How does Miles relate to the Kate character, his nanny/governess?

• Finn: Miles really wants to reach out to Kate, but he doesn’t know how. Something is stopping him, and on top of that, he’s a depressed kid whose parents have died. He doesn’t have anyone to reach out to. Kate comes in and he finally has someone, but he can’t express himself, so he does it in a way that seems creepy or disturbed. There’s almost a weird sweetness to Miles, and Kate sees that.

Q: I’ve heard that the movie changes a lot toward the end. True?

• Finn: There is a huge change between the first half of the movie and the second half. The first half is the kid going ‘nothing is real’ and the second half is ‘everything is real’ and the stakes are the highest they’ve ever been. And to have that flick on like a light switch really gets the audience into it. It gets you to bite your nails. It’s kind of a roller coaster.

Q: What was the most fun about filming this and was anything scary?

• Finn: The most fun about filming was just being together. Me and Brooklyn (Prince who plays his little sis) and Mackenzie (Davis who plays Kate, a young governess) we all just had the best time ever. We all became really good friends and latched onto each other. And the scariest part? Doing the scenes, because you had to be in character, it was scary to your character. You had to feel scared but once they called “cut”, it’s fun and light again and we tried to keep it as light of a set as we could.

Q: You filmed in a beautiful but eerie house. Were there any scary parts of that house?

• Finn: There is definitely eerie parts of the house for sure. There are darker rooms but it is really a beautiful place and we got to shoot in the entire estate. There are parts that are modern and some old. The place is huge so it was kind of fun to run around.

Watch Finn in The Turning in theaters Friday, January 24^th

Are You a Finn Fan?

Do you watch Finn in “Stranger Things” or see him in the “It” movies? Are you a fan or maybe just a fan of horror or thriller movies? Talk it up with a comment or write on your Kidzworld profile page.

By: Lynn Barker