Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has recalled the moment he came out as gay to co-star Millie Bobby Brown.
Speaking with Variety, Schnapp described Millie’s elated reaction to the news as he FaceTimed her from a Party City store.
Brown, 19, had made it onto a list Schnapp, 18, compiled of people he needed to come out to, but he struggled to tell her in person.
‘I kept trying to do it in person with her, and it was too hard,’ Noah said. ‘So then I just FaceTimed her one day in the middle of a Party City and I was like, “Millie, I’m gay.” And she was like, “Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!”‘
‘You told me finally!’ Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has recalled the moment he came out as gay to co-star Millie Bobby Brown
Schnapp publicly came out via social media in January 2023. In the clip, Schnapp lay in bed with the message written above him, ‘When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was “we know.”‘
‘I guess I’m more similar to Will Byers than I thought!’ he captioned the post.
At the time, Noah had recently confirmed his character in Stranger Things, Will Byer, was gay and in love with his best friend Mike Wheeler.
‘It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends?’ the Tender Fix founder told Variety back in January.
‘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.’
Schnapp first came out to his twin sister, Chloe Schnapp, before concealing his sexuality once again as he headed off to college, a process he described as incredibly difficult.
‘Being fully aware of it and just completely, blatantly hiding it, it was really hard,’ he said in his latest interview with Variety. ‘It just made everything miserable for those months.’
His behavior sparked concerns from his mother, who he eventually came out to when she visited him in school.
Being himself! Schnapp celebrated his first Pride over the summer
The video had come after Noah confirmed his character in Stranger Things, Will Byer, was gay and in love with his best friend Mike Wheeler; Schnapp pictured left
‘I couldn’t tell her how I was feeling without telling her what the problem was, so just one night at dinner, I was like, “This is it.”‘
Schnapp was relieved to learn his mother had long suspected he was a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
‘She was like, “Finally, you told me!” She said that she would talk to her friend when I was 12 and be like, “I know my son is gay. Do I have to ask him? How do I do it?” The friend was like, “Oh, you just let him be and let him figure it out himself.”‘
‘Just to know that I finally got it off my chest and she knew it was like, ugh!’ he said. ‘The biggest breath of relief of my life!’
Soon after, he came out to his father, friends, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy, and eventually the world.
Schnapp believes his coming out will influence the way he portrays Byer in season five: ‘I think the way I act in Season 5, honestly, might be a little different. I will be fully aware of who I am. Knowing all of that about myself and being able to invest that in my character, I’m honestly just excited.’
In June, Schnapp took part in his first Pride, posting jubilant photos of him celebrating the occasion in New York City.
He wore a rainbow print ‘Straight Outta The Closet’ tank top as he cooled down in the Washington Square Fountain, splashed around in a pool, and kissed his mother Karine Schnapp on the cheek.
‘First pride,’ he captioned the post with a red heart emoji.
