Noah Schnapp has come out as gay.
The actor, best known for his role as Will Byers in Stranger Things, shared the news with his 31.4 million TikTok followers on Thursday.
The 18-year-old jokingly lipsynced to the viral sound: “You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. Quite frankly, it will never be that serious.”
@noahschnappI guess I’m more similar to will than I thought♬ original sound – princessazula0
Noah wrote: “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.'”
“I guess I’m more similar to will than I thought,” the 18-year-old captioned the video.
Following the release of Stranger Things 4 last summer, Noah confirmed Will Byers is gay – after much fan speculation.
Speaking to Variety, the actor opened up about the importance of his character’s “slow arc” in the hit Netflix series.
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He told the outlet, “Obviously, it was hinted at in Season 1, It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends? Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing.”
“Now it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike. But before, it was a slow arc,” Noah continued.
He explained that the paced portrayal of Will’s sexuality was done “beautifully”.
“They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well,” he said.
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Noah told the outlet he felt like it would be a spoiler to confirm Will was journeying through discovering his sexuality.
“I think it has been tricky,” he explained. “Years ago in Season 1, I didn’t know where the Duffers wanted to go with this character.”
“So I was kind of figuring it out along with the audience.”
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“But now that I’ve spoken to them and seen the show, I know what they want to do with it,” he said.
Noah added that Will’s “multifaceted trauma” has been challenging in his growth, because he has been affected by so many different things.
“…I really have to take into account, like, this isn’t just a single layer thing of he’s struggling with coming out…,” he explained to Variety. “He was taken by the Demogorgon and then his friends, they never acknowledged him, and now he’s scared to come out and doesn’t know if they’ll accept him.”
