Stranger Things: Noah Schnapp confirms Will ‘does love Mike’ and is hoping for a coming-out scene next season

Noah Schnapp has confirmed in a new interview that his Stranger Things character Will Byers is gay after previously saying his sexuality was “up to the audience’s interpretation”.

The Netflix show’s fourth season hinted heavily that Will is gay and is attracted to his best friend Mike, but never explicitly addressed the character’s sexuality.

Speaking to Variety in an interview published Thursday (14 June), Schnapp said it’s now “100% clear” that Will is gay.

“Obviously, it was hinted at in season one: It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends?” he said.

“Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing. Now it’s 100 per cent clear that he is gay and he does love Mike. 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.”

Schnapp added that the fan response to Will’s story has been positive, saying: “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.’ That just made me so happy to hear.”

Later in the interview, Schnapp expressed his hope that Will’s sexuality would be addressed openly in the show’s next season. “There’s so many different things they have to address. Obviously, we hope for a coming-out scene,” he said.

Schnapp also addressed his awkward interaction with Doja Cat, which led to the singer calling him a “weasel” on TikTok Live.

Schnapp had posted a video revealing that Doja had sent him a personal message on Instagram inquiring romantically about his co-star Joseph Quinn.

The 26-year-old artist attacked him for publicising the exchange, describing his behaviour as “borderline snake s***”.

The 17-year-old told Variety that he apologised to the singer, who also apologised for the way she reacted.

“It was all good. I love her. I’m like the biggest fan of her music, and I told her that. I was like, you’re literally my role model. It’s all good.”