Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has come out as gay.
Schnapp shared a video to his TikTok that read, “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 TikTok was set to audio that says, “You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. Quite frankly, will never be that serious.”
The actor plays closeted gay character Will Byers on the hit Netflix sci-fi series. Will is secretly in love with his best friend, Mike (Finn Wolfhard). Schnapp references Will’s sexuality in the TikTok caption, writing, “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.”
Will’s sexuality has been a question for Stranger Things fans throughout the show’s run, specifically when Mike told his friend in the heat of an argument, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” At the time, Schnapp remained coy on the subject.
When season four, volume one, was released on Netflix, Schnapp opened up to People about how viewers would see Will differently in the season.
“I feel like people are used to seeing him fighting a monster or struggling with the supernatural side of Stranger Things,” he said. “But this season, it’s just more about his personal struggles and struggles with his identity, and I think it’s interesting for the audience to see that.”
In the penultimate episode of season four, volume two, Will takes an emotional moment to profess his love to Mike but pretends he’s speaking from Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) point of view, not his own. He tells Mike that El has felt lost since she hasn’t had Mike around and that she feels different from other people, never pointing out he’s actually speaking about himself.
“El needs you Mike,” Will tells his friend before he turns and looks out the mirror, crying. “And she always will.”
