Honors College freshman who appears in ‘Stranger Things’ is crushing campus life

“Mean Boy” from season four of the Netflix hit series “Stranger Things” has just won election as a student government senator and can’t wait to serve as a voice for his peers.

“After all, I live here, so it only makes sense for me to do my part in contributing to FIU's already awesome environment,” says Alex Wagenman, an Honors College student who resides in Parkview Hall. “I'm looking forward to helping improve the school for students as much as possible.” 

Far cry from Wagenman’s portrayal of a teenaged bully in the streaming sci-fi horror drama. He appears in the first three episodes of the current season as part of the “it” crowd that mercilessly taunts protagonist “Eleven,” played by star Millie Bobby Brown.

These days, the National Merit Scholar juggles a full schedule as an international business major while keeping his pulse on potential acting jobs. And in between, campus life fills every spare minute. Aside from student government, he has joined the university’s surf club, dive club and Latin American dance club. Soon he will serve as a lifeguard, alternating between the recreational pools at MMC and BBC.

“I love it here so much. There’s so many opportunities for things to do. It’s just a blast,” says the transplant from New Mexico who moved nearly 2,000 miles from home and has not looked back.

“The biggest factor that put FIU on the map for me was the National Merit Scholarship,” he says. “FIU is one of the schools that offers a really good deal, and it’s perfect because it has the major I wanted to do and in a fantastic location. I ended up coming here because I loved the environment.”

The acting bug

One of six siblings with a physician father, Wagenman started doing commercials around the age of 8, when his parents saw opportunities grow as his home state courted production companies.

“I think the thought process was to get us out there and try new things,” he says. “After a while, I was super into it. I wanted to be signed up for acting classes and really learning more about the industry.”

He landed his first big role, at 14, in the Angelina Jolie thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead.”

“I was basically a kid that burned alive in a wildfire,” he says. “I was a dead guy. I was supposed to come back as a demon that haunts Angelia Jolie. They designed a whole mask for me where I looked like a burn victim. It was a really cool experience.”

“Stranger Things” had him hanging with a group of similarly aged actors, among them Emmy-nominated Brown, with whom he’d eat lunch and goof off. The “chillaxing,” he says, contrasted with the “super-serious” nature of actual filming. “You can’t screw up because otherwise you waste hundreds of people’s time,” he says of the big high school and roller rink scenes in which “there were something like 200 extras on set at a time.”

Continuing to work as a screen actor remains a priority – he creates self-audition tapes in his dorm room for potential roles his agent sends him – but earning a degree in international business from FIU, he says, is non-negotiable. The possibility of combining the two intrigues him.

“I haven't quite figured out what that could look like in the future,” he says, “but a degree in international business would help a lot when looking for a stable source of income while pursuing acting. It would allow me to travel and give me opportunities to practice languages that I'm studying [he took four years of Spanish in high school], which in turn would also help me with my acting, because it could open up new opportunities in different regions, even something like Bollywood.”

Making himself as marketable as possible keeps him hopping.

“I've always had a passion, trying new things,” he says. “I'm really into adventure sports, like backpacking, mountain biking and snowboarding. I recently went skydiving and took a solo surfing trip to Puerto Rico for a week and a half. I've been trying to learn as many things as possible so in case the role comes...”

His long list of interests and abilities, as it appears on his online resume – which describes him as six-feet tall and blonde with hazel eyes - also includes archery, billiards, rappelling, snow skiing, hula hoop, parkour and even pogo stick.

“My philosophy on life is to make the most out of it, bringing that energy forward to hopefully have it reflect back on you, having a good time, exploring, trying new things, pushing my limits as much as I can and having a good time while doing it.”

And FIU has proved the perfect spot. “This is the place for me,” he says, flashing a screen-worthy smile. “I've met so many cool people.”

None cooler than you, Alex!