Gaten Matarazzo Opens Up About Sharing an Apartment With Finn Wolfhard — From Chaos and Clutter to a Friendship That Held Strong
Fans of Stranger Things have always loved the bond between the cast, but few knew just how close Gaten Matarazzo and Finn Wolfhard became — close enough to live together for about a year. Now, Gaten is pulling back the curtain on what that experience was really like, and his story is equal parts chaotic, hilarious, heartfelt, and deeply revealing about the friendship that grew behind the scenes of one of television’s biggest series.
On Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast, Gaten opened up in a way he rarely does, speaking not as a celebrity or a cast member, but as a young man reflecting on a strange, funny, once-in-a-lifetime period of his life. For him, moving in with Finn wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t planned as some Hollywood roommate situation. It was two friends — essentially still kids — trying to figure out adulthood in real time.
“It was a little bit of a college experience,” Gaten joked, describing a living environment that often felt far less ‘Netflix star’ and far more ‘19-year-old who just discovered independence.’ He laughed as he recalled walking around the apartment after a few months, looking at the chaos that had accumulated around them, and thinking, “This place is disgusting.” But it wasn’t the kind of disgust that breeds distance or resentment. It was the kind of shared mess that becomes a core memory — a sign of a friendship strong enough to survive dirty dishes, mismatched schedules, overflowing laundry baskets and takeout containers left a little too long on the counter.
The two young actors had grown up together on the set of Stranger Things. They’d spent endless hours trapped in trailers, shooting late nights, and building a bond shaped by the unique circumstances of childhood fame. But living together was new territory, and Gaten admitted that moving in with a close friend can be a risk. The day-to-day grind of shared walls and shared responsibilities can test even the strongest relationship. But for them, something clicked. The mess wasn’t a threat; it was part of the ride.
What makes this roommate chapter so interesting is that it happened during a key period in both of their lives. They were transitioning from teenagers into young adults while simultaneously navigating international fame. They were balancing interviews, scripts, travel, press tours, and personal identities — all while figuring out how to pay bills, buy groceries, coordinate cleaning (or avoid cleaning), and cook meals that didn’t involve burning something or ordering food again.
Gaten didn’t describe the apartment as glamorous or organized. In fact, he sounded almost proud of how normal it was — messy, cluttered, alive with the kind of energy only two busy young artists can produce. And that normalcy, in a world where so little about their lives is normal, seemed to be a source of comfort.
He and Finn were able to switch off the public roles they’re known for. They weren’t Dustin and Mike. They weren’t Netflix stars. They were just two friends living life, crashing on the couch, sharing inside jokes, and staying up too late for no good reason. They navigated grocery shopping, cooking experiments gone wrong, and the strange quiet of an apartment that didn’t have a film crew buzzing around it.
The most touching part of Gaten’s recollection was how much he emphasized the survival of their friendship. He recognized, with a kind of humble honesty, that living with a friend can go sideways. People learn things about each other they never expected to learn — quirks, habits, irritations, routines that don’t align. But he and Finn made it through with their bond intact.
“It was great,” Gaten said simply. And he meant it. Beneath the humor, beneath the messy apartment stories, was something deeper: gratitude. He spoke about the experience as something that shaped him, taught him, and made the friendship stronger rather than strained.
Part of the reason their friendship could handle the intensity of adulthood, fame, and a shared living space is the way both actors have grown up in front of the world but managed to stay grounded. Finn Wolfhard, known for his dry humor, musical talent, and introspective personality, has matured into a thoughtful young adult with a diverse creative range — from acting to directing to performing with his band. Gaten, with his warmth, sincerity, and strong family ties, brings a level of steadiness that balances Finn’s more chaotic artistic energy. Living together blended their personalities in a way that strengthened their dynamic rather than clashing it.
Their year as roommates wasn’t all chaos, though. Gaten’s tone suggested plenty of laughter, plenty of late-night talks, plenty of moments the public will never know about — the quiet, human experiences that form the foundation of a lasting friendship. They weathered the mundane challenges of living together: cleaning schedules that fell apart, groceries that mysteriously disappeared, dishes no one wanted to claim, furniture rearranged in bizarre ways, and the kind of harmless chaos that comes from two young men still figuring themselves out.
When Gaten compared the experience to college, he wasn’t exaggerating — emotionally, it was a dorm life without the dorm. Just two young adults learning how to coexist, create, work, and grow all at once. And much like college roommates who look back fondly on the disarray, Gaten now tells the story with nostalgia rather than frustration.
There was also another layer — one that Gaten didn’t dramatize, but that sat quietly beneath his words. Being young and famous is isolating. Being on a global hit show is exhilarating but demanding. Living with someone who understands that pressure, someone going through the same thing, provides an emotional safety net most people never get. It becomes a kind of chosen family — someone who knows what silence means, what exhaustion looks like, and how to support you without needing explanations.
The two actors also learned how different their personalities were — something normal roommates often confront. Finn, known for his slightly scattered, artistic spirit, brings a whirlwind energy into any space he enters. Gaten, more grounded and structured, likely stepped into the “this place needs help” role more often. But he didn’t share these details with annoyance. Instead, he spoke about them affectionately, like someone who recognizes that friendships thrive because of — not in spite of — differences.
The year didn’t end because they stopped getting along. It ended because life moved on. Careers expanded. Schedules shifted. They grew older, took on new opportunities, and found themselves at different points in their personal journeys. But the connection they built in that apartment has lasted.
Today, as Stranger Things heads toward its final chapter, fans often wonder what the cast’s relationships are like off-screen. Will they stay friends when the show is over? Will they drift apart like so many ensembles before them? Gaten’s story seems to answer that with a gentle, grounded yes — they’ve grown into each other’s lives in ways that don’t fade easily.
His reflections made something clear: that year was messy, imperfect, overwhelming, unplanned — but meaningful. It was a small window of time that captured the unique experience of growing up famous while still trying to live a normal young adult life. And Gaten will always remember it with a smile.
The apartment may have been “disgusting” after three months, as he joked, but the memories were anything but. In the end, what survived wasn’t the mess — it was the friendship.
