Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp comes out as gay

Noah Schnapp, the 18-year-old actor who plays Will Byers in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, has come out as gay. Schnapp’s experience echoes that of his famous character, as it became clear in the most recent season that Will had feelings for his best friend, Mike (Finn Wolfhard). Schnapp pointed out as much in his social media coming out post, writing in the caption, “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.”

As for how Schnapp came out to the public, well, he did so in about the most Gen Z fashion possible: lip-syncing over a popular audio on TikTok. “You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. Quite frankly, will never be that serious,” the audio of a female voice says. The text over top his lip sync reads, “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’”.

https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/7185289110133820715
Schnapp’s announcement was met with an outpouring of love from fans, celebrities, and influencers, like TikToker Chris Olsen, Too Hot To Handle’s Harry Jowsey, and Glee’s Kevin McHale. The official account for the TikTok app itself even weighed in, calling Schnapp “our king.” Schnapp “liked” a comment from Stranger Things co-star Gabriella Pizzolo who wrote, “SO proud of you!!” He also received support from his twin sister, Chloe Schnapp, who wrote, “u r amazing.” “Love you so much,” the young actor replied.

Schnapp, who currently attends the University of Pennsylvania, played coy about Will’s sexuality on Stranger Things leading up to the second part of the fourth season. When fans accused the show of queerbaiting after the character’s subtle coming out, he reassured them that it was “100% clear that [Will] is gay.”

In a July Variety interview, he shared how much of an impact the character “People have come up to me—I was just in Paris and this, like, 40-year-old man came up to me and he was like, ‘Wow, this Will character made me feel so good. And I related to it so much. That is exactly who I was when I was a kid.’ That just made me so happy to hear. They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well.”