‘Felt like weight off my chest’: Noah Schnapp on Will Byers’ coming-out moment in final Stranger Things season

Actor Noah Schnapp has reflected on a key moment from the final season of Stranger Things that has now played out on screen — Will Byers coming out as gay.

Schnapp said he had been waiting for the scene for a long time and had a sense early on that Will’s story was heading in this direction. After reading the scripts for the first six episodes of the fifth season, he knew the character’s arc would culminate in one of the final episodes.

The turning point came when he received the script for the penultimate episode, The Bridge. Reading the scene on his own, Schnapp said the moment felt “perfect” and deeply personal, leaving a lasting emotional impact even before filming began.

The episode was co-directed by executive producer Shawn Levy along with series creators Ross Duffer and Matt Duffer. Schnapp said the feeling stayed with him when he later performed the scene with the rest of the cast.

Describing the shoot, the actor said the experience brought a sense of release. “It felt like a weight off my chest,” he said, adding that once he read the scene aloud on set, he thought, “Ok, I can do this.”

The scene has received mixed reactions from viewers and appears towards the end of a fast-paced episode that leads directly into the series finale. The final episode is set to stream on Netflix on December 31 and will also be released simultaneously in selected theatres across the United States.