Noah Schnapp accepted the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Critics Choice Association’s 3rd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on May 29, tying his Stranger Things role as Will Byers to his own experience coming out at 18.
Noah Schnapp stepped to the mic on Friday, May 29, in Los Angeles and accepted a major honor that landed for him on two levels at once: his work on Stranger Things and what that work has meant for LGBTQ+ viewers.
The 21-year-old actor received the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Critics Choice Association’s 3rd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television. held at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. The nod recognized his acclaimed final season role on Netflix’s Stranger Things. with the Critics Choice Association saying the part gave him “the platform to deliver a compelling portrayal of coming out in the 1980s as a young adult.”.
Jazz Tangcay—Variety Senior Artisans Editor—presented the award.
In his acceptance speech, Schnapp drew a straight line between Will Byers’ story and his own. He said he “didn’t realize how much Will Byers’ journey had been preparing him for his own experience coming out at 18.”
He described the feeling of walking through that kind of uncertainty—“The vulnerability. the fear of how people perceive you. the desperate hope that the people you love will still see you the same way — I lived all of that very publicly. and I got through it because of my friends and family. who have loved me through all of it. That support means everything,” Schnapp said.
That sense of being seen—and then supported—sits at the center of how Schnapp’s career and identity have been intertwined. He publicly came out in January 2023 through a TikTok video, confirming his sexuality to fans for the first time.
The night also put other LGBTQ+ voices in the spotlight. Schnapp posed for photos alongside openly gay stars Dan Levy and Clea DuVall. Dan, meanwhile, was honored with the Vanguard Award for his work on the Netflix series Big Mistakes.
The recognition arrives during an eventful stretch for Schnapp. Earlier this month, he celebrated his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania with family, and he recently reunited with several of his Stranger Things co-stars at a Netflix FYSEE Event.
Taken together, the message from his speech was clear: the character’s struggle didn’t just happen on-screen. It mirrored something he was still learning how to live—until he did, publicly, at 18.
Noah Schnapp Stranger Things Will Byers Critics Choice Association Breakthrough Performance Award LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television Jazz Tangcay Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills Dan Levy Clea DuVall Big Mistakes Netflix FYSEE Event coming out TikTok January 2023 University of Pennsylvania graduation
So he got an award for basically being Will Byers? weirdly poetic.
I don’t even watch Stranger Things but I saw the headline and thought it was about him coming out because Netflix told him to or something. Like awards push narratives now, idk.
It’s actually kind of sweet he said the role prepared him. But also doesn’t it get confusing like… Will Byers came out in the show, right? Or was it more like his struggle? Either way I’m glad he had support.
TikTok video in 2023, award in 2025/May, and everyone’s acting like this is some big timeline like he did it on purpose. Also Four Seasons Beverly Hills sounds expensive as hell, maybe that’s why celebrities do all this, for the glamour. Still though, good for him I guess.