Finn Wolfhard Says He Couldn’t Separate Willem Dafoe From “Spider-Man” Villain Norman Osborn
When Finn Wolfhard first met Willem Dafoe on the set of The Legend of Ochi, he had a bit of a problem: he couldn’t stop seeing Norman Osborn.
“For the first few days, it was hard not to see Norman Osborn,” Finn admits with a laugh, remembering Dafoe’s unforgettable turn as the Spider-Man villain. Speaking to PEOPLE, Finn, 22, said Willem’s role in the 2002 Spider-Man movie was so legendary, it felt almost surreal to share the screen with him in real life.
And who could blame him? Willem, now 69, made Norman Osborn (and his alter ego, the Green Goblin) a cultural icon when he starred opposite Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker. Willem even returned nearly two decades later for Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he faced off against not one, but three Spider-Men — Maguire, Tom Holland, and Andrew Garfield.
But in The Legend of Ochi, things are very different. In the new A24 fantasy film, Willem and Finn step into a magical world where a young girl, played by Helena Zengel, sets off on a quest to reunite a mysterious forest creature with its family — a creature she was once taught to fear.
As Finn spent more time with Willem, he noticed something that made working together even more surreal: that voice.
“Whenever I would hear his voice, I’d be like, ‘Oh, my God! He’s real.’ He’s in every movie of all time, and his voice is so iconic, and his acting is so legendary,” Finn shared.
The Stranger Things star admits the feeling of awe never completely went away.
Finn, who recently made his own directorial debut with Hell of a Summer, didn’t waste the opportunity to soak up as much wisdom as he could. He had long conversations with Willem, picking his brain about what it was like being a young theater actor in gritty New York during the 1970s and ’80s.
“It was really cool to pick his brain about that stuff,” Finn shared., adding, “I really got to watch him, and through watching him, I feel like I learned a lot about acting and the craft of acting.”
Finn added that what impressed him most wasn’t just Willem’s skill, but his attitude. “He’s just always been someone who I think just is in it for the art of it,” he said.
