Everything
A new year is always a chance for a fresh beginning and it seems Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has decided it’s also the right time to speak his truth after coming out as gay on TikTok.
In the video, Schnapp describes the moment he told his family. “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’”
@noahschnapp I guess I’m more similar to will than I thought
For fans of the actor who plays Will Byers in the Duffer Brothers hit Netflix series, this may feel a little like life imitating art. The most recent season four of Stranger Things was praised for its nuanced handling of Will’s unfolding awareness of his sexuality and feelings for his best friend Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard.
Schnapp addresses this connection in his comment beneath the video, writing “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.”
Noah Schnapp was only 12 years old when he first started portraying Will Byers when Stranger Things debuted back in 2016. While most of Will’s story was previously told via the events that happened to him – being lost in the Upside Down and then host to the Mind Flayer – the recent seasons have given the Will more agency and allowed him to evolve into one of the show’s most complex characters.
Talk around the trajectory of Will’s storyline in relation to his friends – specifically Mike – has been rife since season three and season four cemented that the possibility that the younger Byers was at least questioning his sexuality if not explicitly gay or queer just yet.
Explicit for the viewers, at least. For his part, Noah Schnapp knew. Back in July, Schnapp confirmed in an interview with Variety that Will was gay and was also in love with his best friend.
“It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends?” Schnapp told the magazine. “Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing. Now it’s 100 percent clear that he is gay and he does love Mike.”
