Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty
Noah Schnappis setting the record straight about the sexuality of hisStranger Things' character, Will Byers.
Over the course of the show’s four seasons, fan have questioned whether Will is gay, some evencriticizing the Netflix series for not explicitly stating the seemingly obvious sooner. But in a new interview withVarietypublished Thursday, Schnapp confirmed Will’s sexual orientation, revealing the teenager even has romantic feelings towards best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard).
“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?'” Schnapp, 17, said. “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.”
That certainly seemed clear enough to viewers of the season 4 finale, especially in one scene in which Will talked to Mike about the difficulties of feeling “different.” He later had a heart-to-heart with his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) where Jonathan appeared to offer his support of Will, without ever say the words, “I know you’re gay and I’m here.”
“Jonathan is talking to him in code,” Schnapp said. “It’s just the perfect way to tell someone like Will that he cares about him and he accepts him no matter what. I think it was really wholesome.”
Courtesy of Netflix
Schnapp added that this huge part of Will’s character took time to unpack because in real life, it is a complicated space, specifically for kids who don’t want to be labelled.
“But before, it was a slow arc,” the actor said. “I think it is done so beautifully, because it’s so easy to make a character just like all of a sudden be gay.”
Though there have been critics, Schnapp focused instead on the adults who have expressed their appreciation of how Will’s sexuality has been handled.
“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. That is exactly who I was when I was a kid,’ " Schnapp said. “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.”
Schnapp also spoke about playing a gay character at such a young age while in real life also handling his own personal growth and self-identity.
“I think it’s all just part of the challenge of acting,” he said. “Like, yes, it has been a challenge, but I think it’s just been fun to be able to step into his shoes. Because I really have to take into account, like, this isn’t just a single layer thing of he’s struggling with coming out.”
Noah Schnapp/Youtube
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Back in May, Schnappopened up to PEOPLEabout how viewers of the serieswould see his beloved character of Will “in a different light” this season.
“I feel like people are used to seeing him fighting a monster or struggling with the supernatural side ofStranger Things,” he said. “But this season, it’s just more about his personal struggles and struggles with his identity, and I think it’s interesting for the audience to see that.”
source: people.com
