Noah Schnapp Reflects on Will Byers' Coming-Out Arc While Accepting LGBTQ+ Award

Noah Schnapp received the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Critics Choice Association's 3rd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television, held Friday at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, with the honor recognizing his portrayal of Will Byers in the final season of Netflix's Stranger Things.

The 21-year-old actor used his acceptance speech to draw connections between his character's coming-out storyline set in the 1980s and his own personal journey. Schnapp revealed that he hadn't fully grasped how much Will's experience had prepared him for his own disclosure at age 18.

"The vulnerability, the fear of how people perceive you, the desperate hope that the people you love will still see you the same way — I lived all of that very publicly, and I got through it because of my friends and family, who have loved me through all of it. That support means everything," Schnapp shared during his remarks.

The Critics Choice Association highlighted how the role gave Schnapp an opportunity to deliver a compelling portrayal of coming out during that era as a young adult. Jazz Tangcay, Senior Artisans Editor at Variety, presented the award.

Schnapp publicly confirmed his sexuality through a TikTok video in January 2023. At the ceremony, he posed for photos with openly gay actors Dan Levy and Clea DuVall. Levy took home the Vanguard Award for his work on the Netflix series Big Mistakes.

The recognition arrives during a banner period for Schnapp, who recently completed his degree from the University of Pennsylvania and reconnected with several of his Stranger Things castmates at a Netflix FYSEE Event earlier this month.