Noah Schnapp reveals the intense preparation for Will’s coming-out scene in Stranger Things 5

Just when you thought Stranger Things season five couldn’t hurt us any more emotionally, Noah Schnapp has gone and revealed how intensely he prepared for Will’s much-anticipated coming out scene.

Because Noah didn’t just turn up and wing it. He studied Will’s coming-out speech every single day for a whole month before filming it.

In the Stranger Things 5 volume two episode seven, Will finally says out loud what viewers have known for years. Standing in front of his family and friends, and basically the whole town of Hawkins, he admits he’s different, that he doesn’t like girls the way his friends do, and that he’s been hiding a huge part of himself.

‘I read it alone in my room’

via Netflix

Now, speaking in an interview with Tudum, Noah explained just how much the scene meant to him.

“I was really nervous to see how [the Duffer Brothers] would write it, because it was obviously so important for me,” he said.

When the script first arrived, Noah said he read the scene alone in his room and immediately broke down in tears. “It really resonated with me,” he said.

“I texted them, and I was like, ‘This is great. This is awesome.’ I didn’t know if they were ever gonna write that story for Will. They could have just left it up in the air, so getting to finally see it happen was amazing,” Noah said.

Noah also revealed that he read the coming-out speech every morning and every night for the entire month leading up to filming, not to memorise it, but to truly understand it.

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“I read it every morning, every night for the month leading up to it,” he said. “And that allowed me on the day to just completely forget the script, completely forget about remembering my lines. And what I could focus on is just tapping into that feeling and that emotion,” Noah added.

Why the scene meant so much to Noah

via Netflix

Even more surprisingly, Noah thought the moment would only be between Will and Joyce. The Duffer brothers had planned an alternate coming-out scene for Will, which was intended to be featured in season four.

“I thought the scene would be just with his mom,” he admitted. “For it to happen with the entire cast sitting there watching him was just so special,” Noah said. “I remember when I finished that scene, I ran into Charlie Heaton’s arms and was just crying,” he revealed.

He also explained why the moment felt so personal, especially as someone who came out publicly himself in 2023.

“With the cast, I never really got to sit them down and have that conversation about my own coming out, so getting to do it was totally therapeutic and cathartic for me,” Noah said.

The Duffer Brothers later explained that Will accepting who he is is key to his growth this season. According to Ross Duffer, once Will comes to terms with himself, he goes into the final battle “with a confidence and maturity that he hasn’t had before.”

Noah said his own journey is deeply tied to Will’s. “I believe our journeys are pretty close in specific ways,” he said. “Will definitely gave me confidence in my own life. And seeing how audiences reacted to his character made me proud of who I am publicly.”

Stranger Things 5 is available to watch on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.