Noah Schnapp reveals Will Byers’ sexuality. Image Source: LADbible
Noah Schnapp reveals Will Byers’ sexuality.
Noah Schnapp, who stars in Netflix’s Stranger Things as Will Byers, has put all the questions about his character’s sexuality at rest by revealing that Will Byers is gay. The fans have speculated about Will’s sexuality for months, but now they can ease because Noah Schnapp is giving more details.
Noah Schnapp, during an interview with Variety, shared that season four was so different from the past seasons for Will Byers as he was exploring his identity issues and struggling with growing up and assimilating into high school, which was also new for Noah Schnapp as he mentioned that he was used to playing him dealing with Mind Flayer, supernatural aspects, the dark and mostly non-personal stuff.
Dwelling more into Will Byers’ Noah Schnapp, he admits that it’s pretty clear that he has feelings for Mike and says that the makers have been intentionally pulling that out for the past few seasons. Noah added that for him, season four was like playing a character who is in love with his best friend and is afraid to reveal it to him because he does not know whether it will be accepted or not and feels like maybe it’s a mistake and he doesn’t belong. Noah further said that Will has always felt like that and now, since his friends have girlfriends and they all fit into the different clubs, he does not fit, and that is what makes his character real and relatable.
Talking about the scene in a van where Will is telling Mike that he has feelings for him but through the prism of Eleven, Noah Schnapp said that he remembers that they started shooting in the morning and went straight through lunch. He said that he remembered that when he was doing the scene, he was bawling but it looked subtle on-screen and added that the scene was really important for Will because it solidified the truth that he loves Mike and does not know how to tell him. During the interview, Noah Schnapp was asked if he had noticed how bad a friend Mike has been to Will Byers, to which he replied that Mike is dealing with his issues and has his eye on Eleven, which Will is currently jealous of.
Noah Schnapp further explains that Will and Mike were best friends in season two and now they have sort of drifted apart. Will just wants to have his best friend back and wants it to be like season one, but obviously, Mike is evolving and only cares about Eleven at the moment, so the audience has to wait to see how the story turns out. Noah Schnapp stated that the scene where Jonathan comforts Will and lets him know that he is going to be there for him no matter what, was written after the makers saw him in the van scene with Mike crying, and the protection shown with Jonathan looking in the rearview mirror was incorporated into the script after that. The actor said that the makers wrote that scene while they were filming the van scene.
Noah Schnapp said that the scene was very important for Will to know that he is not alone because the audience has seen him struggling and feeling depressed and that he can’t be himself, so having some comfort and support from Jonathan was a perfect way to tell Will that there is someone who cares about him and accepts him no matter what.
Noah shared that although the development of Will Byers' gayness was hinted at in season one, it was developed throughout the following seasons, and by the time Will was an adult, it was clear that he was homosexual and in love with Mike. He stated that he thought Will's sexual development was brilliantly handled and related that he had been approached by individuals. He recalled being in Paris recently when a 40-year-old man approached him and said, "Wow, this Will character really did lift my spirits. And I could really connect to that. I was exactly that when I was a child." The fact that the creators are creating a genuine character with a real journey and real struggles, and doing it so brilliantly, made Noah very thrilled to hear that.
Noah acknowledged that it had been difficult to play Will Byers and stated that it was all simply part of the difficulty of acting. At the same time, he said that it had been enjoyable to take on the role of Will Byers. Noah went on to say that he must consider the fact that Will's struggle with coming out is not just a single-layer issue but rather a complex trauma that dates back years because he was taken by the Demogorgon and then his friends rejected him. As a result, he is now afraid to come out because he is unsure if they will accept him. Eleven is then like his sister, but he doesn't want to offend her since if he admits he likes Mike, it will offend her. He is thinking about all of these things. Noah claims that he simply makes sure to portray the magnitude of all of his experiences.
