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‘Stranger Things' Actor Discusses Character's Sexuality in Thoughtful Instagram Post

The debate about the character's sexual identity prompted a response from the 12-year-old actor

"Stranger Things" actor Noah Schnapp may only be 12, but the child star tackled an adult subject head-on over the weekend when discussing speculation over his character's sexuality on the hit Netflix show.

Schnapp plays Will Byers, the soft-spoken boy who's disappearance serves as a catalyst for the show. As the hunt begins for Will in the pilot episode, his mother, played by Winona Ryder, tells the local sheriff that Will's father believed he was gay. 

"Look. He's a sensitive kid," Ryder said. "Lonnie, Lonnie used to say he was queer. Called him a 'fag.'"

That debate has apparently carried over into the show's fandom, as viewers of the show also questioned the character's sexual identity. The speculation led Schnapp to offer his own thoughts on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLoV3nyDm1x/

"So I thought it would be time to jump into the conversation. I've been reading stuff for a while. I think everyone here is missing the point," Schnapp wrote. "For me, Will being gay or not is besides the point.

"'Stranger Things,' is a show about a bunch of kids who are outsiders and find each other because they have been bullied in some way or are different," Schnapp wrote. "Does being sensitive, or a loner, or a teenager who likes photography, or a girl with red hair and big glasses, make you gay?"

Schnapp said while he was only 12, he thinks everyone can relate to being different and he believes that's why the creators of the show have left the character's sexual identity undefined. "So you can ask all these questions," Schnapp wrote. "I hope the real answer never comes out!"

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