Stranger Things and IT actor Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike Wheeler and Richie Tozier in the TV series and movie, respectively) can't stop dropping F-bombs, according to Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer.
Jumping from the film back to the Netflix series, Wolfhard appears to have picked up a few bad habits - which makes sense, considering how foul-mouthed his character is portrayed as being in the Stephen King film adaptation. In an interview, the Duffer Brothers opened up about the unexpected (and adult) changes that that Wolfhard brought to the Stranger Things production, following his experience working on IT.
Related: 15 Things Stranger Things 'Stole' From Stephen King's IT
Here is what Matt Duffer offered Variety, on the subject:
"He's got a foul mouth. That's the thing... after he [Finn Wolfhard] came back from shooting IT - he did it before we shot shot season two - he was f-bombing everywhere. And I was like, 'What happened to my innocent Finn Wolfhard?'"
Ross Duffer then chimed in, saying, "He was so sweet... before IT. IT totally corrupted him." Naturally, the brothers referred to Wolfhard's newfound foul mouth in jest. They even reiterated that the Stephen King book on which IT is based was an inspiration for the Duffer Brothers when creating Stranger Things.
Incidentally, before Stranger Things ever came into fruition, the Duffer brothers had originally planned on adapting IT themselves - a plan that turned out to be far heftier than they ever imagined. In an interview with THR, the pair explained that they had trouble adapting all 1000+ pages of King's source material into a two hour film. When Cary Fukunaga stepped in to helm the film (he ultimately left the movie and was replaced by Andy Muschietti), the Duffer Brothers were officially out. In the interview, Ross said:
“When we asked to do it was before, then he got on it afterwards because he’s established. So, he got on it and we were excited just because we’re huge fans of what he does, and one of the few people who hasn’t made a bad movie.”
The two brothers ultimately redirected their creativity towards an original series, as opposed to an adapted film, and thus bore Stranger Things - as well as their working relationship with Wolfhard. A noticeable difference between the two projects was that the young cast of Stranger Things kept things clean when it came to the sort of language they used on set. While filming IT (which has now earned bragging rights as the highest grossing R-rated horror film ever), however, cursing wasn't just encouraged, it was written into the script. In fact, it also came second nature to Wolfhard's character, Richie, whose nickname from the novel is, unsurprisingly, "Trashmouth."
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Stranger Things season 2 premieres Friday, October 27th on Netflix.