After recent confirmation that his Stranger Things character Will Byers is gay, Noah Schnapp revealed on TikTok that he also recently came out as gay to his close friends and family.
The video posted on Jan. 5 shows Schnapp lying in bed mouthing along to a trending soundbyte stating that “it was never that serious,” with an accompanying caption overlaid. “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,’” the overlay reads while another video caption states, “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.” Bustle reached out to Schnapp’s team for comment and did not hear back at the time of publication.
Fans shared their support via comments on the video with one user @jasonwyant2 writing, “Good for you for being your true self!” Many others expressed similar sentiments and shared that they were proud of the star for coming out. The official Netflix Brasil account posted five hearts on the video and the official Empire State Building account wrote, “we love you.”
The Stranger Things star hasn’t made any official statements aside from the TikTok video, but he has been talking about his character Will’s sexuality for a long time. As early as 2016, fans have speculated that Will may be gay. At the time, Schnapp said the character’s sexuality was “besides the point,” then later said that it was “up to interpretation,” before finally confirming he’s gay prior to Season 5 of the Netflix series.
Schnapp told Variety in 2022 that he thinks it’s “pretty clear” that Will has feelings for Mike, adding that the showrunners had been growing the storyline over time. “I think for Season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong. Will has always felt like that. All his friends, they all have girlfriends and they all fit into their different clubs. Will has never really found anywhere to fit in.”
Adding: “I think that’s why so many people come up to me and tell me that they love Will and they resonate with him so much, because it’s such a real character.”
