Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp credits his character Will Byers with being a huge part of what made him comfortable enough to come out earlier this year.
Schnapp would be in a different place without Byers
Speaking to Variety, Schnapp — who plays Byers in the Netflix series — said that realizing Byers is gay himself (something the series hasn’t confirmed but has been alluded to) is something that helped him feel more at ease with coming out himself.
“Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself,” Schnapp said. “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.”
Schnapp publicly came out earlier this year, posting a brief video to TikTok joking how his friends and family always knew he was gay when he told them. In the interview with Variety, Schnapp also joked about finally coming out to co-star Millie Bobby Brown, and how he was very hesitant to do so. But when he did, Brown was happy to finally hear it.
“I kept trying to do it in person with her, and it was too hard,” said Schnapp. “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” — here, he tries to approximate Brown’s English accent — “‘Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!’”
Schnapp most recently starred in the 2023 thriller The Tutor, and will next appear in the highly anticipated fifth season of Stranger Things. While not too much is known about the upcoming season, Schnapp has teased that Byers will have a bigger role in Season 5.
