From ‘traumatized’ sidekick to ‘grown-up’ hero: Noah Schnapp reflects on his 10-year ‘Stranger Things’ journey
Noah Schnapp has spent half his life being Will Byers.
The actor was just 11 years old when Stranger Things began shooting, and now, as the final season debuts on Netflix, he is 21. “Growing up on it, it felt like even more a part of my life than just a fan,” Schnapp tells Gold Derby. “I was in it, living it, for the past 10 years. It really is my childhood. I went through all the growing pains and embarrassing puberty voice cracks through it all.” Watch our video interview above.
Will has worn all kinds of ’80s-inspired outfits throughout the past five seasons, but the actor can’t wait for fans to see what he dons in the final episode of Stranger Things. “My favorite [costume] is his finale badass look,” Schnapp teases. In addition, the character’s classic bowl haircut is getting “a little upgrade” this season. “It’s closer to how I live, with some more texture and more grown-up, and I think it matches the evolution of the character. He’s growing and becoming more confident in himself.”
Noah Schnapp in ‘Stranger Things 5’Netflix / Everett Collection
Schnapp has seen Will transform from a “traumatized” sidekick to one of the show’s most important characters. The actor recalls his most heroic moment to date, after Will was kidnapped and taken to the Upside Down: “In Season 2, he runs out on that field and is screaming right in that big Mind Flayer’s face: ‘I’m not afraid of you!’ kind of a hero.”
There are some major crying moments to come for Schnapp in Season 5, but he reflects on a specific Season 2 scene with Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers, in which Will realizes his mother is there for him. “This is the first emotional scene I ever did, and it feels special,” he confesses. “Sometimes it’s really hard [to cry on camera] and it just isn’t working. But with enough music, and if I can find a way to connect the scene some way into my real life and make it real and personal, then it just comes. I cry pretty often, so honestly, it’s pretty accessible.”
What does he remember about his very first day on the set all those years ago? “We had no expectation of anything for this,” Schnapp says. “We were just a bunch of four random boys from different parts of the world all coming together on this set, and we’re laughing our asses off and having the time of our lives. We would lock in and be professional, but once the cameras cut, it was just nonstop jokes and chemistry. It just worked. And I remember thinking, ‘Oh, I love this.'”
Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfard, and Noah Schnapp in ‘Stranger Things 1’Netflix / Everett Collection
Flash-forward a decade, and Schnapp “could not have prepared” himself for the final day on set. “We filmed all of the 2024 calendar year and wrapped pretty much at the end of the year in December. The night before [the last day], I was writing letters to everyone, just to say thank you for 10 years and walking through all our memories. It reminded me of how these people have been so crucial to my life and my growth — and not just scene partners. That last day, I will never forget. It was really emotional, but really special.”
While Schnapp wishes he could “go back and fix so many” of his acting choices from early on, he concedes that nothing will ever be perfect. “Live in the present and focus on the scene and just let go,” is something he’s learned about acting over the years. “Stop overthinking it so much. Getting out of my head has been the hardest thing as I’ve grown up, because when you’re a kid, that childlike awe is so there and accessible and there’s no wall. And as you get older, it becomes more sheltered, so I’m learning to be vulnerable.”
He praises showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer for writing “such a beautifully authentic, complex character” and “not a one-dimensional person.” In addition to dealing with the trauma of being kidnapped, Will has also “struggled with his own personal identity and feeling excluded from his friends and having an abusive father.” The character has “come out of it stronger each time, and has never become jaded through it. He’s stayed true to himself, and I think that’s so beautiful.”
Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and Sadie Sink in ‘Stranger Things 4’Netflix / Everett Collection
If Schnapp could play any other character on Stranger Things, he’d want to be Millie Bobby Brown‘s Eleven, calling her a “badass” and noting how “Will and Eleven are very similar in weird ways.” He’d also be down to “get behind some Eggos,” referencing Eleven’s favorite snack.
Fans frequently send Schnapp “a lot of Stranger Things [merchandise], and it’s piling up in a closet that I can’t close,” he chuckles. He cherishes a few personal items from the set, including “a poster signed by the whole cast” when they wrapped production, the “Castle Byers” sign, some “knickknacks” from Will’s bedroom, and “the letters I got from the cast on the last day.”
The Season 5 premiere, “The Crawl,” opens with a younger version of Will, played by Luke Kokotek. “It was a really fun, unique, new experience for me to work with this young kid and step into a director role,” the 21-year-old admits. “I had to remember, ‘How did I breathe? How did I feel fear? How did I run?’ I loved being a little director and working with him — he was super cute and so sweet. And then later, I had to go in a tent and make all these expressions that they would build into a model and stamp onto his face.”
Noah Schnapp and Maya Hawke in ‘Stranger Things 5’Netflix / Everett Collection
Also during the first episode back, Will spies on Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) as she’s having a loving relationship with a woman. What is going through his character’s mind at that moment? “You can only infer that he’s trying to find his own,” Schnapp explains. “He’s maybe starting to see parallels in his story and hers and starting to learn more about himself through observing her.”
Schnapp concludes by saying he can’t wait for the audience to see the final episodes. “There are a few reveals where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been waiting so long to see how people react to this.’ I’m so excited! I can’t wait to not have to keep it a secret anymore. It’s so stressful trying to keep it lock and key.”
The first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 are available now on Netflix. The next three episodes will debut on Dec. 25. The series finale will premiere on Dec. 31, and will also be released in select movie theaters.
