From a young age, Noah Schnapp started his portrayal of Will Byers in the hugely popular Netflix series, Stranger Things. The New York-born star might have made his acting debut in 2015 when appearing as Roger Donovan alongside Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance in the big screen movie Bridge of Spies, but it was his main role as Will in Stranger Things that helped propel the now 17-year-old into one of the most familiar faces around the globe. 

​

For those who don’t know, Stranger Things, created by the Duffer Brothers, is a science fiction horror drama that first debuted on Netflix on July 15, 2016. Set in the 80’s, it is based on events that take place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. Due to the local Hawkins National Laboratory secretly experimenting with the paranormal and supernatural, scientists accidentally created a portal to an alternate dimension. Referred to as The Upside Down, it is parallel to the human world and is ruled by The Mind Flayer, sometimes known as the Shadow Monster. 

​

During the first season, Will is abducted by an unknown creature from The Upside Down. While his friends, family, and the town’s police chief search for Will, viewers learn about a young psychokinetic girl named Eleven. Played by Millie Bobby Brown, she escapes the laboratory and teams up with Will’s friends in trying to find him. Season 2 is set one year later. Will has been rescued but those around him know very few details about the events that left him traumatized. When they find out that Will remains the target of The Upside Down, everyone forms an alliance to stop the threat from increasing. 

​

The third season kicks off just days leading up to the Fourth of July celebration. This time, the newly-built Starcourt Mall plays a big part in the storyline. Will’s friends overhear a message in Russian, which leaves them feeling suspicious. After translating what they heard, they find out there are Russians in Hawkins who are using Starcourt Mall to reopen The Upside Down. Once again, the entire clan joins forces to kill the Mind Flayer and close the gate to The Upside Down. Ultimately, Police Chief Hopper, played by David Harbour, sacrifices himself so Will’s mom Joyce, played by Winona Ryder, can close the gate and save the town. 

​

After making fans wait nearly three years, everyone was more than happy to hear that Schnapp and his fellow cast members had returned for the long-awaited return of Season 4, which is being released in two volumes. Part one was released to Netflix on May 27th while the second part made its debut on July 1st. The first part begins six months after the Battle of Starcourt. While struggling with the aftermath, the gang tries to get on with life during their high school years. Before we know it a mysterious, unknown supernatural threat surfaces, putting more people at risk. The gang makes it their mission to finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down world, but there are complications along the way. 

​

To avoid major spoilers not too much can be discussed surrounding the plot for the much-anticipated new season. However, Schnapp did give MOOD an insight into the filming process.

“This time was different because of COVID, it delayed everything so it was the longest year of filming we’ve ever done,” Schapp shares, adding, “We filmed in so many different places at different times so it was definitely the most chaotic and biggest season we’ve had I think.” 

​

As soon as the cast was revving to get things going after their table read, the world came to a stop due to the pandemic in early 2020. This resulted in everything being put on hold for nine months. “Oh my god, it felt like it was never going to end,” Schnapp says. Eventually, Season 4 would officially wrap last summer after taking around 300 days to complete. “I actually just saw some of the crew and the cast this past week because we’re starting to do promotional stuff for Season 4. I love filming and love being on set, but I think everyone was ready to move on and go to the next thing. It definitely takes a lot out of you,” he continues. With that being said, Schnapp admits seeing each and everyone involved in the show recently made him realize how much he misses being set with such great people every day. 

​

Schnapp also detailed how a show as big as Stranger Things goes about shooting each of the episodes for every season. “We specify it by location like where the storylines are taking place,” he says before explaining everything is filmed in sections. “We’ll film the first and second episodes together. One day we could be doing something from episode two and then another thing from episode one. That would be from a certain section,” Schnapp says. “Until we finish that section, then we’ll move into episodes three and four,” he adds. 

Schnapp was around the age of nine when he was cast to play the role of Will and mentions most of the characters were based on the actors themselves. Just like Will, Schnapp was a shy, introverted kid when he was first associated with Stranger Things. Now that he’s a much more grown-up 17, he has become more outgoing and courageous, which is pretty far removed from his character’s personality. Nevertheless, it’s allowed Schnapp to embrace his part even more in recent years. “I think it’s exciting to play someone who is the opposite of me and put myself in those shoes, it’s definitely a very cool acting experience for me,” he says. 

Fans of the show are very passionate about the storylines and individual characters. So passionate, in fact, they are constantly coming up with their own theories for what they believe will be the outcome in future episodes. Schnapp would be completely lying if he said he wasn’t interested in their predictions as he openly confesses he checks them out all the time on Instagram and YouTube. “Sometimes, they’re pretty accurate but it’s interesting to see after we’ve released a trailer or a teaser of the episode name, people will pick it apart,” he says. Schnapp continues, “It’s funny to me because 90 percent of the time they’re so wrong. It’s funny being in the position of knowing everything and watching people trying to figure it out.” 

​

While being excited for fans to finally see the much-delayed Season 4, Schnapp goes all out and boldly states that this is already his favorite one. As mentioned before, Stranger Things’ fourth season is expected to be larger in every capacity. “Yes, it’s scarier but it also has more romance and is funnier than every last season, it has every single thing but 10 times bigger,” Schapp declares. Filming was going so well during the creative process that even the cast was trying to lay their eyes on the footage during the making of it. “We were begging the directors to see something, we wanted to see how it was going to look,” he continues.

There is so much to take away from Stranger Things. However, one thing Schnapp hopes those growing up with show will do is to accept their inner strengths and become more confident in themselves. “I think a good moral from Stranger Things is that it’s ok to be a freak and that you shouldn’t care what anyone thinks. Even Eleven is such a freak, but she loves and embraces it,” he says. “All the kids are so weird in their own way, but in a good way. I think it’s important for people to see that and embrace that.” 

​

With so many scenes that keep you gripped, Schnapp took the time to reflect on his favorite moments during the previous seasons. “Every episode has its own special thing about it that was fun to do. In Season 2, it was so exciting for me throughout the whole season to be in such a fresh state and wear contacts and wear makeup all over me and be screaming. It was so challenging but an amazing experience,” he reveals. “I think in general, the last episode of each season is my favorite to film just because it always ends with some sort of happy thing and they always bring the characters back together in one space. It’s really refreshing after months of shooting in our own designated groups to come together and ask what everyone was doing that season.” 

For those that don’t know, Schnapp originally tried out for the part of Mike, which in the end was given to Finn Wolfhard. He had auditioned for Stranger Things, which was called Montauk at the time, before heading off to sleepaway camp in the summer. He found out he had been offered the role of Will through a phone call while away. When it was time for the show to make its debut on Netflix, Schnapp was also at camp, living life as a regular kid. However, when he returned back home, there was an obvious change that he deemed as unexpected. “Just like anything, you never really know what’s going to hit and what doesn’t. I read the script and I was so excited about it and I knew it was going to be great but never anticipated how much of a phenomenon it would become,” Schnapp says about its overnight success.