As the creators of the series, Matt and Ross Duffer have masterfully navigated complex storylines, including a pivotal moment for the character Will Byers. According to Noah Schnapp, who has portrayed Will since the show debuted on Netflix in 2016, the Duffer brothers excelled in handling his character’s coming out scene in the final season.

With his own experience coming out publicly in January 2023, Schnapp was well-equipped to contribute to this significant narrative arc. However, he found the scene to be so well-crafted by the Duffers and episode director Shawn Levy that he felt no need to add any personal suggestions. “I was worried that I might need to,” Schnapp confessed to Variety, “but honestly, it was perfect. I really had no notes about it.”

Admittedly, Noah Schnapp—who’s inhabited Will on Netflix’s Stranger Things since its 2016 debut—was fully prepared to offer his insight, having publicly come out himself in January 2023. 

“I was worried that I might need to,” he recently told Variety of workshopping the season five, episode seven moment with the Duffer brothers and episode director Shawn Levy, “but honestly, it was perfect. I really had no notes about it.”

Early in season one, Will’s mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) mentioned his father had sneeringly called him queer. And in season three, Finn Wolfhard‘s Mike took issue with his friend not liking girls. 

But it wasn’t until the current final season that Schnapp delivered Will’s poignant monologue, admitting that no, “I don’t like girls.” 

With all the buildup, “You know that it’s coming,” Schnapp explained. So after reading through the season’s first six episodes, “I kept texting the Duffers, ‘Is it done? Did you write it? Is it in 7 or 8? How are you gonna write it?’”