Noah Schnapp Says He’d Still Be Closeted If Not For ‘Stranger Things’

Sometimes, art imitates life in a profound way. In a recent Variety cover story, Stranger Things star Noah Schanpp says he believes that he “would still be closeted” if he had never played Will Byers on the smash hit Netflix series. 

Schnapp has played introverted Will Byers since 2016, when he was just twelve years old. From the onset of the series, there were indications that the character of Will might be gay, with Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers revealing in the series premiere that other kids call Will “queer,” and that his absentee father had called him an anti-gay slur. At that point, Schnapp “didn’t really think twice about” Will’s sexuality. “I was so young; I barely even knew what that word meant,” he told Variety. “And I don’t even think I knew myself that I was gay.”

Over the course of the series, Will has come to terms with his sexuality. In a pivotal moment in season 3, Will’s best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard) says to him, “It’s not my fault that you don’t like girls,” and Will’s major storyline in season 4 follows his his unrequited crush on Mike. In a 2022 Variety interview, Scnapp confirmed that the character of Will Byers was gay—a step that was met with overwhelming support from Stranger Things fans, and was instrumental in helping Schnapp understand his own sexuality.

“Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself,” said Schnapp. “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.”

Eventually, Schnapp found the courage to come out—first to his twin sister, Chloe, and then to his close family and friends, including his Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobbie Brown. “I kept trying to do it in person with her, and it was too hard,” he said. “So then I just FaceTimed her one day in the middle of a Party City and I was like, ‘Millie, I’m gay.’ And she was like, ‘Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!’”

Next, it was time to tell the world. Schnapp came out to the public via an eight second viral TikTok that he shared with his 31 million followers on TikTok. Schnapp said that after posting the TikTok which has received over 14 million likes, he received thousands of messages from friends, family, and fans congratulating him on coming out.  “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,” says Schnapp. “I was crying. I was like, ‘I made it. I’m done. I don’t have to worry.’” 

Schnapp will reprise his role  for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. Filming was set to begin this summer, but has been placed on hold due to the SAG strike. But according to Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer, Schnapp’s character “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,” Duffer told Variety. “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.”