Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp comes out as gay, calls himself 'similar' to his character 'Will'

WASHINGTON (TND) — One of the actors who played a character on the popular Netflix series "Stranger Things" came out on social media Thursday.

Noah Schnapp, who stars as 'Will Byers' in the sci-fi horror action show, shared the revelation on his TikTok account.

Schnapp is currently 18 years old, but was only 10 when filming of "Stranger Things" began in 2015. In season four of the show, Schnapp's character "Will" visibly struggles with his feelings towards another character, his friend "Mike," played by actor Finn Wolfhard, indicating "Will" is actually gay.

I guess I’m more similar to will than I thought," Schnapp wrote as the caption of his TikTok post.

The actor's eight-second video clip features him lip-syncing a popular TikTok original sound with words above his head. It's a selfie-style video that has Schnapp laying in a bed while wearing a hoodie.

When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet fo 18 years and all they said was 'we know,'" the words above Schnapp's head read.

The TikTok original sound that Schnapp is lip-syncing belongs to TikTok user "princessazula0," and has been used as a popular meme choice in over 28,600 videos according to the social media platform.

You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. quite frankly? Will never be that serious," the TikTok sound of which Schnapp lip-syncs says.

In essence, Schnapp is using the meme TikTok sound in combination with his caption and floating text message to convey to his fans that he's gay, his family accepts him and that the ordeal of coming out ended up not being "that serious."

Rumors and speculation floated around regarding Schnapp's sexuality after he revealed in July that his character "Will" was gay and had feelings for Finn Wolfhard's "Mike."

It's pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike,"Schnapp reportedly told Variety in an interview. "They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline. I think for Season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong."

Many fans replied to Schnapp's coming out TikTok video with messages of love and support. Schnapp has essentially grown up in the public eye as a child actor who stars in a very popular show, as he was not even a teenager when "Stranger Things" skyrocketed in popularity in 2016.

"Stranger Things" is set to conclude with a final fifth season. There is not yet an official release date, but some speculate fans can expect the final season to air sometime in 2024.