Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp confirms Will ‘is gay and he does love Mike’
"Now it’s 100% clear," the actor says.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Netflix
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has confirmed that his character Will Byers “is gay and he does love Mike”.
With the actor, 17, saying it’s “100 percent clear” that this is the case he has put an end to fans’ speculation which has been building since the Netflix show’s very first season.
In an interview with Variety, the actor discusses navigating his character’s personal identity and says that Will’s sexuality has long been hinted at.
“It’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike. They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline,” he says.
He explains that Will “loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong. Will has always felt like that.”
One scene Noah says is indicative of his character’s feelings for best friend Mike comes in the latest season when Will comforts Mike over his relationship with Eleven. As he shows Mike a painting that represents the group Will pretends it was Eleven that described Mike as the heart of the group.
These are in fact Will’s own thoughts. The conversation leaves Will (and us) in tears.
In past interviews, Noah has avoided confirming Will’s sexuality instead saying it was up to the “audience’s interpretation”, which he tells Variety was to avoid spoilers.
“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 percent clear that he is gay and he does love Mike.”
Of the writing and the way the journey is handled Noah says, “I think it is done so beautifully, because it’s so easy to make a character just like all of a sudden be gay.”
He also shares that he didn’t know for sure in season one and wasn’t sure where the writers would take Will.
“I was kind of figuring it out along with the audience. But now that I’ve spoken to them and seen the show, I know what they want to do with it.”
Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.
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