Noah Schnapp

Biography of Noah Schnapp

Noah Schnapp (born October 3rd, 2004) is an American actor, best known for playing Will Byers on the critically acclaimed Netflix series, Stranger Things. He started acting at the young age of six, and made his big screen debut in the 2015 Oscar-winning film, Bridge of Spies. He also lent his voice to the character of Charlie Brown in the same year in the movie Snoopy & Charlie Brown: Peanuts, The Movie. In 2016, he became a household name when he landed the role of Will Byers on Stranger Things and he continued to work in films like We Only Know So Much, The Circle, and Abe.

 

Family and Early Beginnings

Noah Schnapp is the son of Karine and Mitchell Schnapp, and has twin sister named Chloe. His parents are from Montreal, with American ancestry. He showed interest in arts and performing from an early age, being part of several school productions and community theater shows. He likes to write and act his own creations with the help of his twin Chloe.

In 2015, at just 11 years old, he made his first acting debut in Steven Spielberg film, Bridge of Spies, as Roger Donovan and shared credit with Tom Hanks and Amy Ryan. The movie which revolves around the release of a political prisoner during the Cold War, was a major hit, winning several awards such as Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film, and Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design.

The same year, he lent his voice to the animated character Charlie Brown in the film Snoopy & Charlie Brown: Peanuts, The Movie and also for the video game, The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure, both were an new adaptation of Charles Schulz’s classic series, directed by Steve Martino.

 

Acting trajectory of Noah Schnapp

A year after his debut, Schnapp hit the spotlight with his role as Will Byers in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The show was premiered in July 2016, it tells the story of a group of teenagers whose lives are affected by the mysterious disappearance of Will Byers. As the story unfolds, it becomes more complicated and each teenager must face the strange and spooky events happening in the fictional town of Hawkins.

The show was a massive hit with the audience and critics alike, winning multiple awards such as SAG for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite TV Show and MTV Movie & TV Awards for Best Show. Noah also got an MTV award for Best Scared-As-S*** Performance for his role as Will Byers on the show.

In the series, Schnapp shares the lead role with Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin. Other notable cast members include Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer, Cara Buono, and Joe Keery.

In addition to his work on Netflix, Schnapp has also appeared in the music video for Panic! At the Disco’s “LA Devotee.” In 2018, he appeared in the films We Only Know So Much, The Circle and Legend of Hallowaiian. In 2019 he starred in Abe, a film directed by Fernando Grostein Andrade, with co-starring Dagmara Domińczyk, Alexander Hodge, Devin Henry and Teddy Coluca. He also appears in the upcoming film Waiting for Anya, where he will be acting along Anjelica Huston and Jean Reno.

 

Noah Schnapp identifies as gay

On January 5, 2023, through a video shared on TikTok with all his followers, Noah publicly revealed his identity as a gay person. He also shared that he had come to realize that he had more similarities with the character he plays on “Stranger Things,” Will Byers, than he had previously imagined. In the video, he also spoke about how his loved ones, such as his family and friends, received the news, mentioning that many of them said “we already knew.”