Noah Schnapp

Noah Cameron Schnapp (born October 3, 2004) is an American actor.

He gained recognition for playing Will Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things.

He had a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's historical drama Bridge of Spies (2015) and has voiced Charlie Brown in the animated film The Peanuts Movie (2015).

Schnapp was born in New York City to Mitchell and Karine Schnapp (née Perez), and was raised in Scarsdale, New York.

He is Jewish and had his bar mitzvah in Israel.

He has a twin sister.

He holds both U.S. and Canadian citizenship.

His father is of Russian Jewish descent, while his mother is of Moroccan Jewish descent.

Schnapp's desire to act started when he was about five years old after watching the Broadway production of Annie.

He performed acting roles in school and community plays.

When he was 8, his acting teacher suggested he attempt a professional career.

Schnapp's parents registered him for an acting program at Star Kidz in Westchester, where he was guided by coach Alyson Isbrandtsen.

It was under her guidance that he was subsequently introduced to MKS&D Talent Management, which opened up avenues for his career.

Schnapp's acting debut was in the Academy Award-winning 2015 film Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg.

He played Roger, the son of character James B. Donovan.

Concurrently, Schnapp voiced the lead character, Charlie Brown, in the animated movie The Peanuts Movie.

He also voiced the character for the video game The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure.

His breakthrough came in July 2016, when he began starring as Will Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror television series Stranger Things.

He was promoted to series regular for the second season of the series, which premiered on October 27, 2017.

Schnapp also starred in independent films like Abe (2019) and Waiting for Anya (2020).

In 2019, Schnapp launched a YouTube channel under his own name.

Active for a year and a half, he primarily created vlogs and lifestyle videos.

As of June 2022, the channel has 4.2million subscribers and has gained 110million views.

In November 2021, he launched To Be Honest (TBH), a sustainability-focused snacking company he co-founded with Elena Guberman and Ba Minuzzi.

In November 2022, Schnapp announced a crowdfunding campaign for this venture on the Republic platform that aimed to raise a maximum amount of $1.235million at a $15million valuation cap.

In 2023, he launched TenderFix, a delivery-only virtual restaurant brand operated by IHOP with a menu of chicken tenders.

, Schnapp attends the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in entrepreneurship and innovation.

He is scheduled to graduate in 2026.

Schnapp publicly came out as gay in a video posted to his TikTok account on January 5, 2023.

The video saw him express relief that family and friends had accepted his coming out, and he quipped in the video's caption, "I guess I'm more similar to Will [Byers] than I thought", a reference to his statement about his Stranger Things character also being gay.

In October 2023, Schnapp voiced support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

A month later, a video posted to social media showed him sitting and smiling among people handing out "Zionism is sexy" and "Hamas is ISIS" stickers, coupled with his previous comments, led some fans to demand he be dropped from the cast of Stranger Things and to threaten to boycott the show's next season.

In January 2024, he posted a TikTok video stating that he wanted peace for both sides and had learned a lot from conversations with Palestinian friends.

In the video, he asked for people to show more understanding and compassion, and stated he felt his thoughts and beliefs about the war had been misconstrued.

He appeared in the 2020 Halloween comedy film Hubie Halloween.

In April 2022, Schnapp joined the cast of The Tutor.