When “Stranger Things” initially dropped in 2016, the world was introduced to a new cohort of talented, young child actors. Now, as the sci-fi drama show is about to enter its fourth season, the “Stranger Things” kids aren’t really kids anymore. This is especially true for the youngest of the group, Jewish actor Noah Schnapp, who started working on the show when he was 11 and is now 17!
So, while we wait for the new season to come out, let’s take some time to learn about the actor behind Will Byers.
Here are 18 things to know about Noah Schnapp.
1. Noah was born in 2004 in New York City to a Jewish family.
2. Noah has Russian Jewish ancestry (his dad’s side) and Moroccan Jewish ancestry (his mom’s side).
3. He has a twin sister, Chloe!
Here they are as adorable kids:
And here they are now:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUkqjkCAmca/
4. Noah has dual American-Canadian citizenship!
“My whole family lives here and I’m a big fan of the Canadiens,” said Noah of Montreal. “So it’s like, ‘Why not come here?’ I have a very personal connection to this place.”
5. Noah first realized he wanted to be an actor after seeing “Annie” on Broadway at age five.
“I remember watching the show and I really loved it,” Noah explained. “When I saw the main character on Broadway acting on stage, I really felt like I wanted to be on that stage. I wanted to be in front of the audience and not one of the audience.”
6. Soon after, Noah’s parents enrolled him in an acting program and his coach recommended him to a talent management company.
He started doing auditions and the rest is history!
7. His first on-screen role was in the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Hanks-starring film “Bridge of Spies.”
And of course, he had to get a photo with the both of them:
8. Noah’s second film, “The Peanuts Movie,” was released in 2015. (In case you’re wondering how big his role was, he voiced Charlie Brown!)
Despite coming out after “Bridge of Spies,” Noah had actually recorded the majority of his lines for “The Peanuts Movie” first!
“In the beginning, working on it was very independent, and no one knew who played the other parts,” Noah said of the experience. “It was just me and the director in the sound room.”
9. Noah had his bar mitzvah in Israel!
10. He has a very interesting take on Dead Sea mud:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B11BMTGnlu5/
11. It seems as though the Schnapp household celebrates multiple different cultural traditions, based on this reply tweet from Noah:
I’m Jewish so more like @AdamSandler and the Hannukah song! It’s usually #christmukah in my family
— Noah Schnapp (@noah_schnapp) November 14, 2017
12. In 2016, Noah exploded onto the scene as Will Byers in the Netflix hit “Stranger Things.”
According to Noah, it’s his favorite show and the cast is his “favorite group of people.”
13. Check out what his cast-mates think of him and his character:
And, check out his character’s evolution over the first three seasons:
14. Of course, Noah has done other projects; including some very Jewish films.
In “Waiting for Anya,” Noah plays a young shepherd during WWII who helps smuggle Jewish children from France into Spain.
And in “Abe,” Noah plays “a Jewish boy from Brooklyn who cooks to unite his half-Israeli and half-Palestinian family.”
BRB adding those to our movies-to-watch list!
15. Very importantly, here’s a photo of Noah with Adam Sandler on set of the movie “Hubie Halloween.”
15. Who could forget when Noah Schnapp and the “Stranger Things” kids sang Motown on with James Corden?!
16. Somehow, between all his acting jobs, he found the time to start his own company!
Noah’s company is called To Be Honest (TBH) and is focused on sustainability and snacking.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVc6WSFAnkZ/
Yum!
17. In the first look of season 4 of “Stranger Things,” Noah appears to have a very… interesting haircut:
First look photos from #StrangerThings4 have arrived: https://t.co/WtGdD5eu7M
The Duffer Brothers have the following tease: "This year, we don’t have the kids. We can’t do ‘The Goonies’ anymore. And so, suddenly, we’re leaning much harder into that horror movie territory." pic.twitter.com/DgKCeVV0pk
— Variety (@Variety) March 23, 2022
Those bangs are, well… definitely bangs.
18. Did we say “Stranger Things” season 4? We sure did! Check out the teaser:
