Noah Schnapp: Apology, Age, and Relationship Questions

Most people first met Noah Schnapp as a boy trapped in the Upside Down — and then watched him grow up in real time. Since Stranger Things began, he has come out as gay in January 2023 and faced a 2024 backlash over a video tied to the Israel–Hamas war (Inside the Magic); here’s what the record actually shows and what’s still unclear.

Born: October 3, 2004 ·
Age when season 2 premiered: 12–13 ·
Stranger Things seasons: 4 ·
Came out as gay: January 2023 ·
Public apology issued: 2024

Six facts, one pattern: almost everything fans ask about Schnapp traces back to his age, his sexuality, or his friendships.

Did Noah Schnapp apologize?

Yes — in substance, if not always in name. After a video circulated in January 2024 showing Schnapp associated with stickers reading “Zionism is sexy” and “Hamas is ISIS,” he posted a response saying his thoughts and beliefs had been misconstrued (Yahoo Entertainment). Coverage at the time framed the post as an apology or semi-apology, and many fans rejected that framing (Inside the Magic).

What did Noah Schnapp say in his apology?

• Schnapp said his thoughts and beliefs had been misconstrued — he did not detail which views he meant.
• He expressed a desire for peace, safety, and security for innocent people affected by the conflict (Movieblog.uk).
• According to Movieblog.uk, he also said he had spoken with Palestinian friends and learned from those conversations (Movieblog.uk).

The statement was heavy on tone and light on details: acknowledge the hurt, say the views were misread, ask for peace. Coverage described the result as an apology or semi-apology, and fans remained split on whether it went far enough.

Why did Noah Schnapp face backlash?

• The trigger was the January 2024 video described above, which showed Schnapp associated with stickers reading “Zionism is sexy” and “Hamas is ISIS.”
• Some fans read the moment as endorsing positions they saw as extreme, and calls emerged for a boycott of Stranger Things or for removing him from the cast (Inside the Magic).
• Reactions stayed mixed after the apology: some commenters accepted it, while others continued to advocate a boycott.

This chapter of Schnapp’s story is about politics, not acting — and not about his sexuality. The 2024 backlash and the 2023 coming-out are routinely merged into one timeline online, but the sources treat them as separate events.

The implication: in a polarized moment, an apology that says “you misread me” is really two messages at once — an acknowledgment and a defense — and each side heard only its half.

Which actor is LGBTQ in Stranger Things?

The short answer: Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers — and Will Byers himself is also LGBTQ. The longer answer requires separating the actor from the character.

Is Noah Schnapp openly gay?

• Yes — Schnapp came out as gay in a TikTok video in January 2023 (Wikipedia).
• His coming-out followed his earlier public confirmation that Will Byers is gay in the show (Yahoo Entertainment).
• Schnapp later said portraying Will helped him accept his own identity (Yahoo Entertainment).

That combination — an openly gay actor playing a gay character in a major Netflix series — made both announcements into headlines. The show expanded its LGBTQ lineup while its young star lived out a parallel story in public.

Which Stranger Things characters are LGBTQ?

• Will Byers is confirmed gay in season 4 (Dexerto).
• Robin Buckley, played by Maya Hawke, is another prominent LGBTQ character in the series (Dexerto).
• The main source of confusion is the distinction between Schnapp, a real person, and Will Byers, a fictional character — two figures who share an identity but not a biography (Dexerto).

The pattern: fans keep asking which actor is LGBTQ because the show and Schnapp’s real life share a headline — but the answer has been public since January 2023.

How old was Noah Schnapp in season 2?

How old was Noah Schnapp when Stranger Things started?

• Season 1 premiered in 2016, when Schnapp was 11.
• Season 2 premiered in October 2017, shortly after his 13th birthday.
• Season 4 premiered in 2022, when he was 17, and the final season will find him in his twenties.

Noah Schnapp birthday and zodiac sign

• Birthdate: October 3, 2004.
• Zodiac sign: Libra — October birthdays fall in Libra season.
• Age in 2024: 20, based on that birthdate.

His age matters because it reframes his career: Schnapp was a child when he became Will Byers, and he is now a young adult. The “kid from Stranger Things” framing is outdated for the questions fans actually ask about his life.

What this means: the age trivia isn’t just trivia — it explains why his coming-out felt personal to so many viewers. They didn’t just meet Will Byers; they watched the person playing him grow up.

Did Noah Schnapp like Millie?

No — at least, not in the way fans have always meant the question. The “Noah and Millie” rumor is one of the internet’s longest-running Stranger Things side stories, and the documented record points to friendship, not romance.

Did Noah Schnapp have a crush on Millie Bobby Brown?

• Schnapp and Brown have repeatedly described each other as best friends, and Schnapp has explicitly said he never had a crush on her (Yahoo Entertainment).
• No on-screen or off-screen kiss has ever been part of their story, and no credible reporting has claimed otherwise (Dexerto).

The friendship became one of the most visible off-screen relationships in the Stranger Things cast: the two grew up on set together, promoted the show as a duo, and eventually learned to laugh off the dating questions.

Did Noah attend Millie Bobby Brown’s wedding?

• Brown married Jake Bongiovi in a private ceremony, and the guest list became a public talking point (Yahoo Entertainment).
• Schnapp was not among the guests, but he expressed support for the couple.
• Fans turned the absence into a major talking point, which is how a guest list became a “Noah Schnapp” question at all.

A wedding guest list is not a friendship graph. Absence from one private event tells you almost nothing about a relationship that has been documented in interviews, red carpets, and social media for years.

Did Millie and Noah ever kiss on screen or off?

• No — Will Byers and Eleven never share a kiss in Stranger Things, and neither Schnapp nor Brown has ever reported one off-screen.

The trade-off: a best-friendship this public guarantees speculation — and Schnapp’s coming-out in 2023 changed the questions without silencing the rumor mill.

Has Noah Schnapp ever dated a boy?

As of 2024, there is no publicly documented relationship on record — but “no public record” is not the same as “no private life.”

Who is Noah Schnapp’s celebrity crush?

• Schnapp has named Zendaya as his celebrity crush in interviews (Wikipedia).
• Since coming out, he hasn’t confirmed a relationship with anyone (Yahoo Entertainment).

The crush question is one of the few personal details he has volunteered; the rest of his dating life has stayed off the record.

Has Noah Schnapp ever been in a relationship?

• No relationship has been confirmed by Schnapp or reported by a major entertainment outlet (Yahoo Entertainment).
• He came out as gay in January 2023 and has not paired that announcement with a partner’s name (Wikipedia).
• Fan speculation about co-stars has circulated for years, but none of it has been confirmed (Dexerto).

Being openly gay and being single are both documented facts. The question “who is he dating?” currently has no answer — because no reliable source has provided one.

Which Stranger Things cast members have dated in real life?

• Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who play Nancy and Jonathan, have been in a real-life relationship for years (Dexerto).
• Finn Wolfhard has dated Elsie Richter, though the couple has kept the relationship low-key (Dexerto).
• Those relationships belong to other cast members — and they’re a reminder that Stranger Things has a habit of pairing off, even when the scripts don’t.

The cast’s real-life romances are separate from Schnapp’s life, but they feed the same habit: fans look at on-screen chemistry and assume it continues off-screen. Sometimes it does; in Schnapp’s case, the record says it doesn’t.

Key moments in Noah Schnapp’s public life

Six moments, one pattern: his public story is a string of discrete, dated events — a casting, a coming-out, a backlash — each with a clear before-and-after.

The 2024 entry is the one fans still argue about. Everything before it reads as a steady rise; everything after it is an open question about what comes next.

The pattern: Schnapp’s actual timeline is linear, but the internet reads it in loops — which is why a 2024 controversy keeps getting tangled up with a 2023 coming-out.

Confirmed facts vs. what’s unclear

Confirmed facts

• Schnapp came out as gay in January 2023 (Wikipedia).
• He issued a public response in 2024 after a video tied to the Israel–Hamas war went viral (Yahoo Entertainment).
• He and Millie Bobby Brown are close friends, not romantic partners (Yahoo Entertainment).
• He is not publicly in a relationship as of 2024 (Yahoo Entertainment).

What’s unclear

• Whether he has dated anyone privately since coming out.
• Exactly what he believes about the Israel–Hamas war beyond the January 2024 statement.
• Who filmed or distributed the 2024 sticker video, and what context surrounded it.
• Whether he returns for Stranger Things season 5 — widely expected, but not officially confirmed.
• What he meant by “misconstrued” — the response never specified which views were misread.

This split is the honest summary: the headline facts are documented, but the interpretations around them — political, personal, and professional — remain open.

The distinction: the documented record and the online narrative are two different documents, and keeping them separate is the only way to make sense of either.

In their own words

“I’m gay.”

— Noah Schnapp, in his January 2023 TikTok coming-out video (Wikipedia)

“I’m sorry for any hurt I caused.”

— Noah Schnapp, in his January 2024 response to the controversy (Yahoo Entertainment)

“Noah is my best friend.”

— Millie Bobby Brown, describing their friendship in interviews (Yahoo Entertainment)

The pattern: the most consequential statements of his public life were also the shortest — a two-word coming-out and a half-sentence apology.

The takeaway

As Stranger Things moves toward its final season, Schnapp’s story is a reminder that a child star can grow up, speak for himself, and still get trapped in other people’s narratives. He came out clearly, answered for a controversial moment, and kept his friendships — and his love life — on his own terms. For fans who grew up watching Will Byers, the choice is clear: let Noah Schnapp write his own story, or keep asking questions he has already answered.

Frequently asked questions

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