"I would be in a completely different place if I didn’t have Will to portray": Noah Schnapp on how Stranger Things helped his journey of coming out 

Noah Schnapp was one of the quickest to rise amidst the crowded Hollywood landscape, thanks to his era-defining role as Will Byers in the Duffer brothers' Stranger Things, a series that has single-handedly managed to redefine the genre. But the journey for Noah Schnapp to accept his own sexuality was a little more challenging, until the day the young actor gathered the courage to post an eight-second video to more than 31 million followers on TikTok.

Schnapp revealed in a recent interview with Variety that his journey could have been a lot harder if not for his fan-favorite character, Will, who was revealed to be gay in 2022, after the fourth season of Stranger Things aired.

Noah Schnapp emphasized the importance of Stranger Things and the fan reaction to Will Byer's sexuality, saying:

"Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself...I would be in a completely different place if I didn’t have Will to portray, and to embrace and help me accept myself. I think if I never played that character, I probably would still be closeted."

He even captioned his coming out video on the character of Will, writing:

"I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought."

Of course, this was met with widespread love and affection from fans around the world, as revealed by Schnapp in the interview, where he narrated his entire journey, from finding out himself to telling his twin sister to revealing it to the world.

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Noah Schnapp received widespread love and affection from fans after coming out

Of course, for the Stranger Things star, it was always a difficult step coming out. He did it after his family dropped off his twin sister, Chloe, at college in Boston. He reportedly posted the clip and did not check his phone.

Noah Schnapp recalled:

"When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was ‘we know."

He further recalled what it was like seeing the reactions online:

"I didn’t want to sit there waiting nervously to see what people were going to say,...I just wanted to put it away and be confident in who I am and know that I don’t have to care what people think anymore...When I opened my phone at the end of the car ride, it was, like, a thousand texts of hearts and congratulations and rainbow flags."

He admitted that he got very emotional seeing the response:

"I was crying. I was like, ‘I made it. I’m done. I don’t have to worry.'"

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"Will really takes center stage again in 5": Ross Duffer on Noah Schnapp's character in Stranger Things season 5

Like the first season, the final season of Stranger Things will also be about Will, effectively completing the circle for the show. Speaking about the fifth season, Ross Duffer, who was skeptical about Schnapp knowing the plot of the fifth season because of his Tom Holland-like spoiler mouth, revealed:

"Will really takes center stage again in 5...This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality — it’s Will coming into his own as a young man."

By now, Noah Schnapp should have been halfway through the filming of the final season, but it never happened because of the WGA strike and now the SAG-AFTRA strike, which means that fans may have to wait way longer to see the conclusion of Vecna's story.

For now, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is the only piece of media coming out this year. The original play will be performed at London’s West End in late 2023.

Stranger Things is available for streaming on Netflix.