“Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp is confirming what fans have suspected for years: His character Will is gay, and is secretly in love with his best friend, Mike.
When asked about this rumor in May, Schnapp and his costar Millie Bobby Brown told Variety that the character’s sexuality was “up to the audience’s interpretation.” Now that season four of the popular sci-fi drama has concluded, 17-year-old Schnapp has a different perspective on the whole thing.
“Obviously, [Will being gay] 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,” the actor said in a new interview with Variety.
“Now it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike,” Schnapp continued. “But before, it was a slow arc. I think it is done so beautifully, because it’s so easy to make a character just like all of a sudden be gay.”
The “Stranger Things” star insists that the gay storyline has been especially impactful for fans of the show.
“People have come up to me — I was just in Paris and this, like, 40-year-old man came up to me and he was like, ‘Wow, this Will character made me feel so good. And I related to it so much,’” he explained. “‘That is exactly who I was when I was a kid.’ That just made me so happy to hear. They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well.”
Later in the interview, Schnapp mentioned how he spoke with showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer about what’s coming up for season five of the award-winning show. Though most fans already strongly suspect Will has romantic feelings for Mike, Schnapp said, “We hope for a coming out scene” that tackles the issue head-on.
“The Duffers are saying for next season that they’re going to focus more on Will and build that storyline. I think that’s super exciting,” the actor told Variety.
“I called them a few weeks ago and I was like, ‘What’s your plan with Will? Like, with his sexuality, but also with the Upside Down and all of that?’ They have a lot to get to. They’re still working it out, but they have their end goal. There’s [sic] so many different things they have to address,” he said. “I’m excited to see what happens.”