The actor stars as Mike Wheeler in the Netflix sci-fi series.

Finn Wolfhard has mixed feelings about the end of Stranger Things.

“I was so happy with my character’s ending,” the actor, 22, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, adding that saying goodbye to the show overall was bittersweet. “I was satisfied, but I was also very confused and sad, but also very happy.”

Wolfhard stars in the Netflix sci-fi series as Mike Wheeler, a role he originated when Stranger Things first premiered in July 2016.

Now, with the show’s final season set to stream sometime this year, Wolfhard says completing the series “was definitely a lot.”

“I felt like I was in a dream or something. None of it felt real. I don’t know, it felt perfect,” he continues.

Finn Wolfhard in April 2025, Finn Wolfhard in season 1 of ‘Stranger Things.’.  Theo Wargo/Getty;Netflix

Stranger Things follows a group of friends as they deal with supernatural forces and secret government plots in their small Indiana town in the 1980s.

Alongside Wolfhard, the series also stars Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo and Sadie Sink, plus Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Jamie Campbell Bower, Brett Gelman, David Harbour and Winona Ryder.

Though Netflix has yet to reveal the official plot for season 5, it will likely follow the Hawkins kids as they try to defeat the villainous Vecna (Bower) after the Upside Down has invaded their town.

The ‘Stranger Things’ cast in May 2022.  Nina Westervelt/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Recalling the emotions he felt while filming his last scene for the final season, Wolfhard tells PEOPLE, “I just couldn’t believe it at all.”

“It didn’t really start to go into focus until the next day. It was like an emotional hangover,” he continues. “But it ended really well, and I just have such positive things to say about everyone.”

Wolfhard adds: “The cast all stayed for the last day, we were all there together. It was really great to be around each other.”

Finn Wolfhard in September 2023.  Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images.

Looking back at how his life changed in an instant after Stranger Things premiered to massive success, Wolfhard says, “I don’t think I’d ever go back and do something over, but maybe I would go back to when the show first came out and blew up, and I would directly put myself into therapy.”

“But it was so crazy and overnight, that there was not really any time to think about that,” he adds.

Still, Wolfhard — whose new film Hell of a Summer is in theaters now, and upcoming feature, The Legend of Ochi, will hit theaters on April 25 — admits that making mistakes, and learning from them, is all a part of being human.

“I would end up probably making a mistake in a different way anyways,” he says. “I think childhood, and life in general, is about trial and error.”

Season 5 of Stranger Things is expected to stream on Netflix sometime in 2025.