Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp comes out as gay: I’m more similar to Will than I thought

The actor's character in Stranger Things is still in the closet and secretly in love with Finn Wolfhard's character Mike.

Noah Schnapp/Instagram

On Netflix's Stranger Things Noah Schnapp, who portrays the secret gay kid Will Byers, has come out in real life. The 18-year-old actor said in a video he posted on Thursday to his TikTok account that he finally came out to his friends and family after hiding for 18 years out of fear, and all they could say was, "We know," as he lip-synced to an audio clip from another TikTok that said one knows what it never was: that grave. It was never that serious, and it won't ever be that serious.

In the description of his TikTok video, Schnapp wrote that he thinks he is more like Will than he thought. Will Byers is gay and in love with his best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard), as Schnapp revealed to Variety in July, following the release of the final two episodes of the fourth season of Stranger Things.

The actor shared that one kind of knew it was there, but it was always kind of there. Is he merely maturing more slowly than his friends? They made it a very real, obvious thing now that the character is older. It is now undeniably evident that he is gay and that he does love Mike.

Since the first episode of Stranger Things people have been talking about Will's sexual orientation. However, Schnapp has always brushed off questions about the character's sexuality by saying that it was still up to the audience to decide. The creators of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, weren't totally clear on what they had in mind for Will, and once they were, Schnapp claimed he didn't want to give away how the fourth season of the show will explain the character's path.

Because it's so simple to have a character become gay all of a sudden, Schnapp thinks it's done so nicely. People have approached him. A 40-year-old man recently approached him in Paris and said that this Will character made him feel so amazing and he could really relate to it. He was exactly that when he was a child. Just hearing that gave Schnapp such joy. They are doing an excellent job of capturing a real character, a real journey, and a real struggle in their work.

When Variety asked the actor how he dealt with the focus on Will's sexuality while the character was still figuring out who he was, Schnapp told them about all the problems Will had had to deal with during the show.

He thinks it's all simply part of the difficulty of acting. He's not just having trouble coming out on one layer of this. He was captured by the Demogorgon, his pals rejected him thereafter, and now he is afraid to come out since he doesn't know if they will welcome him. This complex trauma dates back many years.

Although Season 5 of Stranger Things will wrap up the series, Netflix and the Duffers have not yet confirmed when production will start on the season or when it will premiere.

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