The fourth season of Stranger Things featured Will Byersā journey coming to terms with the fact that heās gayā¦ but little did we know that actor Noah Schnapp was going through a very similar experience in his own personal life.
In a new Variety interview, Schnapp talked about how playing Will on Stranger Things helped him understand his own sexual orientation. The actor recalled:
āOnce 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 didnāt 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.ā
Schnapp also revealed that he started to question his sexuality upon starting college at the University of Pennsylvania. āAll these new girls were starting to hit on me,ā he explained. āAnd I was like, āI donāt like this. I donāt want this.ā I was like, āHoly sh*t. I know now.āā
Schnapp came out as gay in a TikTok video in January 2023. He wrote in the post, āWhen I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was, āWe know.āā
In the interview, Schnapp also got candid about the people he wanted to come out to before making any public statements. One of those people was his Stranger Things costar Millie Bobby Brown. āI kept trying to do it in person with her, and it was too hard,ā he noted. āSo then I just FaceTimed her one day in the middle of a Party City and I was like, āMillie, Iām gay.ā And she was like, āOh, Schnapper! You told me finally!āā
Moving forward, Schnapp thinks that his performance in season five will be positively affected by him already being out of the closet. āIt might be a little different. I will be fully aware of who I am. Knowing all of that about myself and being able to invest that in my character, Iām honestly just excited.ā
We canāt wait to see it!
