“I think if I never played that character, I probably would still be closeted,” Schnapp said.
American actor Noah Schnapp, who played the iconic role of Will Byers in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, shared that his decision to come out is the culmination of a process that began after confirming that his character is gay.
Last January, the 18-year-old came out as gay to the public by posting a TikTok video saying, “When I finally told my friends and family (that) I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was ‘we know’” with the caption “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@noahschnapp/video/7185289110133820715
Though his coming out received a lot of support from the LGBT+ community and his acquaintances, his decision to come out doesn’t come so easily. Schnapp shared during an interview with Variety that all of it started when he confirmed during another interview with the magazine in July 2022 that Will is gay and had an affection towards Mike Wheeler (played by Finn Wolfhard).
“Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself,” he 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 shared that playing the character throughout the seasons has felt like looking at a reflection of himself in real life, “I feel like this is a therapy session; I’m learning about myself,” he said.
According to the Duffer brothers, they conceived the character of Will as a kid struggling with his sexual identity but never really disclosed the idea on the show, which led Schnapp to be questioned about Will’s sexuality since the show premiered in 2016 and was later addressed to his own sexuality instead of the character.
Making Schnapp conceal his feelings further, “I think it made me hold it down deeper because it was kind of being poked and prodded out of me in such a public way,” he said.
During season 3 of the series, Schnapp couldn’t keep denying that Will is gay after a series of plot hints toward it, with the storyline of Will during season 4 revolving around his unrequited love for Mike – with Schnapp playing the role of Will as a closeted gay teenager – which he first refused to connect himself with.
However, after publicly confirming Will’s sexuality to the public, Schnapp had a realization.
“It kind of blew up in the press, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, Will’s gay! Hooray!’” he says. “I saw all these comments on Instagram and TikTok. There was not one bad thing about him being gay. I was like, if he has all this support, then why should I worry about anything?”
After much consideration, Schnapp came out to his family and friends and later decided to tell the world about it.
Schnapp went to his first Pride in New York City last June, sharing a photo of himself in the Washington Square Park fountain wearing a “Straight Outta the Closet” shirt.
“It was truly such a liberating feeling, just seeing my parents cheer me on, I’ve never felt so supported and loved,” Schnapp said.
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