Noah Schnapp comes out as gay. Image Source: THR
Noah Schnapp comes out as gay.
Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp took to social media and a TikTok video on Monday to come out as gay. In the video that Noah Schnapp shared on his social media, the actor mouths along with the audio that says that, you know, it never was that serious. It was never that serious, he adds, adding that, quite frankly, it will never be that serious.
At the top of the video, the actor wrote that the sound represented how his loved ones had reacted to him coming out. Noah wrote that when he finally told his friends and family that he was gay after hiding for 18 years, all they said was that they knew. In the caption of the video, Noah Schnapp wrote that he guesses he is more similar to Will than he ever thought, referring to his character from the successful Netflix series "Stranger Things."
The actor revealed to Variety during an interview in July that his Stranger Things character Will Buyers identifies as gay who is also in love with his best friend Mike, played by actor Finn Wolfhard. He claimed at the time that it was alluded to in season one, that it had been always sort of there but no one realized, and that it was just him starting to mature slower than his friends. Noah described how they made it more genuine and evident to him as he got older and he is now unambiguously gay, and he loves Mike. Previously, however, it was a slow arc.
Screenshot of Noah Schnapp's video. Image Source: Buzzfeed
The actor articulated his pleasure that fans have connected to and been moved by his performance in the show, adding that "it felt fantastic to receive that acknowledgment" for the Stranger Things scene that referred to Will's sexuality. In July, Noah Schnapp told Variety that he probably didn't even know what "Stranger Things" creators Matt and Ross Duffer had in mind for his character Will Buyers, and that even if he did, he didn't would want to reveal how the show disclosed the character's path in Season 4.
Noah chooses to believe that the portrayal of the character throughout the seasons has been done so masterfully because it is simple to turn a person gay. While he was in Paris, people would tell him, and one, like, a 40-year-old man came up to him and said, wow, Will's character made him feel so happy, and he could relate to it. That's exactly who he was as a child, and Noah was overjoyed to hear it. The actor went on to say that the writers of the show are doing an excellent job of developing a true personality, a true journey, and a true struggle.
When Variety asked Noah Schnapp how he managed to deal with the attention on Will's sexual identity while also starting to figure himself out, the actor mentioned all of the trials the character has encountered throughout the series. He said that according to him, he believes that it's all a part of the challenge of being an actor and this isn't just a single-layer issue with him being unable to get out. He mentioned that it's a complex and nuanced trauma that dates back years since Will was abducted by the Demogorgon and his mates never accepted him, and now he's afraid to come out because he doesn't know whether they'll accept him.
And he went on to say that Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is like Will's sister, but he does not want to hurt her because saying he likes Mike will cause her pain. All of these feelings are going to race through his mind. So Noah mentioned that he just must ensure that he conveys the intensity of all his traumas. Fans were keen to support Noah in the comment thread of his TikTok video, applauding him and trying to tell him they were delighted for and appreciative of him for sharing his special moment with them.
