Duffers left – Noah Schnapp told an Emmys FYSEE panel that Matt and Ross Duffer sometimes didn’t respond to his ideas and pitches during production. Matt pushed back during the exchange, while Schnapp said he could show proof. Both brothers were praised for how they handle f
When Noah Schnapp looked back on being cast as Will Byers at age 11, he didn’t talk about red carpets or fame first. He talked about the nerves of being a child actor—and the moment he realized the Duffers wanted more from him than silence.
Schnapp. 21. said that as he grew older he became more confident because he wasn’t just playing a character for years. He had “an opinion that matters.” Speaking Thursday at the show’s Emmys FYSEE Event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. alongside Matt and Ross Duffer. Schnapp turned toward the co-creators and asked the room to imagine the experience of sending texts filled with ideas. He told the audience the Duffers “can speak to how many texts I’ve sent them that went unanswered of ideas and pitches for this and that. and videos of ‘should it go this way or this way?’”.
The joke landed. Levy jumped in to clarify, “But they read every one,” and Schnapp replied, “I hope they read it!”
Then Ross Duffer cut in. “They didn’t go unanswered. What are you talking about?” Schnapp. in response. said. “I can pull up the receipts.” In another playful moment. David Harbour asked that next time his co-star “leave the read receipt on next time.” The exchange turned the panel into a kind of friendly courtroom. with comedy holding the tension in check.
Even with the “left on read” claims, Schnapp’s praise didn’t soften. He described the Duffers as “collaborative” directors, pointing to his feedback on Will’s coming-out storyline. “I knew people would riot if there wasn’t a little more with that. ” he admitted. then explained how he sent ideas and watched them become something tangible. “So yeah. I just let them know and to have them then go in and write it and change it and take that feedback. It’s so special and speaks to how collaborative they are as directors and such great listeners and value their actors.”.
Later in the panel. Jamie Campbell Bower. 37. returned to the production-day theme with a different memory—his own struggle during Stranger Things’ fifth season. He said he was “grappling” with his villain, Henry Creel/Mr. Whatsit/Vecna, lying to the children. Campbell Bower laughed as he added that. like Schnapp. he’d also “sent a load of text messages that didn’t get answered.” The British actor said the Duffers handled it with patience: “But the boys are very sweet because they just let me kind of ramble and then we’d come back to it later.”.
The panel also carried the weight of an ending. Stranger Things. which concluded its five-season run in December. followed a group of school friends as they investigated a series of supernatural occurrences in their Indiana hometown. Schnapp was joined on the panel by Campbell Bower. David Harbour. Natalia Dyer. director Shawn Levy. and of course the Duffer brothers.
Still, the celebration sat against a backdrop of mixed reception for the final stretch. The fifth and final season received mixed reviews. including a three-star review from The Independent’s Nick Hilton. who wrote that “the show lost its way in a maze of sci-fi bunkum” and that “Netflix’s most important original IP has morphed from a brilliant. influential coming-of-age saga into just another CGI rock’em sock’em adventure.”.
Stranger Things Duffer Brothers Noah Schnapp Jamie Campbell Bower Shawn Levy Emmys FYSEE Hollywood Forever Cemetery Will Byers Henry Creel Mr. Whatsit Vecna