Summary
- Noah Schnapp credits his portrayal of Will Byers in Stranger Things for helping him come out as gay. The overwhelmingly positive response from fans made him realize he didn’t need to worry.
- When Schnapp finally came out to his friends and family, they already knew and were incredibly supportive. He received texts filled with love and congratulations, which brought him relief.
- Schnapp believes that playing the character of Will and embracing his sexuality helped him fully accept himself. He feels that if he hadn’t played that role, he might still be in the closet. Levy and Gelman also expressed their support and pride for him.
Noah Schnapp is crediting his Stranger Things character Will Byers with helping him to come out. During a July 2022 interview, and following years of viewer speculation, Schnapp confirmed that Will was gay and had feelings for Mike (portrayed by Finn Wolfhard). In a new interview with Variety, Schnapp recalls the overwhelmingly positive responses circulating on social media following the reveal of Will’s sexual orientation, noting that “there was not one bad thing about him being gay.” When fans rallied around and supported the character, Schnapp began to wonder why he should worry about coming out.
In a Tik Tok video posted on January 5, while on a car ride after dropping of his twin sister at college, Schnapp shared a short video with the text “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.'” The response to his coming out video was also overwhelmingly positive, with Schnapp saying he received a “like, a thousand texts of hearts and congratulations and rainbow flags.” This provided relief for the 18-year-old.
According to Schnapp, portraying, and embracing, Will Byers made all the difference in his own coming out journey:
“Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself,” he says. “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.”
Related: Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp Comes Out as Gay
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Before sharing it with his 31 million followers on Tik Tok, Schnapp came out to his family. His twin sister, Chloe, was “ecstatic” and hopeful that she and Schnapp’s future partner would be best friends; his mother was relieved that Schnapp had “finally” told her. He later told his father and close friends. This June he attended his very first Pride festival with his family.
“It was truly such a liberating feeling, just seeing my parents cheer me on,” he says. “I’ve never felt so supported and loved.”
Schnapp also told his Stranger Things co-stars and crew before coming out publicly. Schnapp told castmate Millie Bobby Brown as the two FaceTimed. Her response? “‘Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!” Stranger Things executive producer and director Shawn Levy also spoke with Variety about Schnapp’s journey. Levy said he never questioned the young actor’s orientation, but that he wasn’t “shocked by the revelation when Noah shared it.”
“I will say that the Noah I see post-coming out to the world is happier, freer and definitely more authentic than I’ve ever seen him before. And that makes me really happy for my young friend,” Levy adds.
Brett Gelman, who will return to Stranger Things for its concluding fifth season as conspiracy theorist and private investigator Murray Bauman, applauded Schnapp earlier this year, saying he was proud of the young actor. Matt Duffer, series co-creator, echoed that sentiment:
“I mean, it was a powerful statement, but the simplicity of it — that is so Noah. We’re really proud of him,” Duffer said.
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