In Stranger Things 5, Will Byers’ sexuality is finally expanded on in a big, beautiful way, and that decade-long fictional storyline is what ultimately helped star Noah Schnapp come out and share his own journey.

Back in January 2023, Noah publicly came out as gay. Taking to TikTok, the actor shared a now-deleted video with the caption: “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.” He also wrote: “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.'”

At the time, the video had been viewed over 100 million times with fans rushing to send their love and messages of support.

Discussing the reaction to his coming out video with Variety, Noah said: “When I opened my phone at the end of the car ride, it was, like, a thousand texts of hearts and congratulations and rainbow flags. I was crying. I was like, ‘I made it. I’m done. I don’t have to worry.’”

He also shared that if it wasn’t for the positive reaction to Will’s sexuality, he may not have found the courage to come out himself.

Throughout the first four seasons of Stranger Things, it’s been implied that Will is gay, and Noah explicitly confirmed his character’s sexuality (and the fact he is in love with Mike Wheeler) shortly after season 4 aired.

Stranger Things 5 finally touches on Will’s sexuality in a big way when he finds a new friend in Robin, who is a lesbian. After Will catches Robin and girlfriend Vickie making out, the two start talking on a deeper level.

Later in Volume 1, when Robin notices Will’s affection for Mike, she delivers a stunning monologue reminding Will that he needs to find the answers within himself, instead of looking for them in someone else. Robin’s words are ultimately what propels Will to find the strength to save the day at the end of episode 4.

Viewers have completely fallen in love with that Robin and Will scene, with millions of LGBTQ+ fans praising the storyline.

Of course, with speculation about Will’s sexuality spanning the past 8 years or so, people had also been speculating about Noah’s. Just after coming out in 2023, Noah opened up to Variety about what that felt like at the time.

“I think it made me hold it down deeper because it was kind of being poked and prodded out of me in such a public way,” he said, before adding that the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Will being gay is ultimately what helped him.

“It kind of blew up in the press, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, Will’s gay! Hooray!’ I saw all these comments on Instagram and TikTok,” Noah shared. “There was not one bad thing about him being gay. I was like, if he has all this support, then why should I worry about anything?”

He added: “Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself. I would be in a completely different place if I didn’t have Will to portray, and to embrace and help me accept myself.”

“I think if I never played that character, I probably would still be closeted.”

Noah also explained that going to college in 2022 made him realise that he was gay and couldn’t stay in the closet. He said: “All these new girls were starting to hit on me, and I was like, ‘I don’t like this. I don’t want this. I was like, ‘Holy sh*t. I know now.'”

Noah then told his twin sister Chloe but went back to college still in the closet. Noah said: “Being fully aware of it and just completely, blatantly hiding it, it was really hard. It just made everything miserable for those months.”

He then began coming out to the rest of his family and his cast-mates. Revealing how his co-star and real life bestie Millie Bobby Brown reacted, Noah said: “She was like: ‘Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!'”

Opening up about what Will’s sexuality means for LGBTQ+ fans of the show, Noah recently told Glamour: “I talk to Matt Duffer about this all the time, that his queer story, of course, resonates with so many young Wills out there. But it isn’t just specific to that; that’s a universal feeling of feeling left out or feeling different, or being scared to be who you are. We all suffer from that as we grow up.”

“So just getting to help empower people to say, ‘I am who I am, and I don’t care what you think,’ is the best feeling.,” he continued. “And I feel like Will really embraces that this season and will inspire a lot of people for sure. Because you get to see this kid who’s always stepped on and is always the victim, and you feel bad for. But this season, he rises up stronger than he’s ever been.”

“And it proves to any viewer, if he can do it as that scared little boy who was always stepped on, then I, too, can be my own superhero. I love how our show inspires people.”