Stranger Things fans baffled by scene star says took over 12 hours to film

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2

Fans of Stranger Things have been left baffled by one of the latest scenes.

Noah Schnapp said it took over 12 hours to film the big moment in the newly released episode seven, when Will realises the only way to free his mind from Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) grip is to face his darkest secrets.

And for him, that means opening up about who he really is, initially confiding in his mum, Joyce (Winona Ryder), as he comes out as gay to the group of his friends and family.

Well, ‘group’ is the right word – it seemed like there was a bafflingly large number of Stranger Things characters present while Will was saying: “But the truth is, I am different. I don’t like girls. I mean, I do. Just not like you guys do.”

Noah Schnapp on the ‘freeing’ scene

The actor explained he was ‘really nervous’ to see how the Netflix show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, would write the scene as it was ‘so important’ to him.

And when Schnapp first read the episode’s script, he was left in tears and it ‘really resonated’ with him.

With his character’s queerness often a point discussed among fans, he added to Netflix: “I texted them [the Duffers], and I was like, ‘This is great. This is awesome.’ I didn’t know if they were ever gonna write that story for Will. They could have just left it up in the air, so getting to finally see it happen was amazing.”

The scene apparently needed an entire 12-hour production day to capture both Schnapp’s performance and the reactions of the rest of the cast, with a reported further 12 hours of reshoots.

Schnapp says he cried when he read the script. (Netflix)

Characters in the scene

Now, while Will first starts to tell his mum, it ends up being that basically everyone is there – even characters who arguably know nothing about his journey.

There are his core friends, like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Max (Sadie Sink), although even she’s been in a ‘coma’ for quite some time.

And then there’s Robin (Maya Hawke) who has been helping him get his head around all of this and his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) as well as Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Hopper (David Harbour) and Steve (Joe Keery), who Will has ‘never interacted’ with in past seasons.

But then, there’s also the more ‘side characters’ also there like Murray (Brett Gelman), Vickie (Amybeth McNulty), Mr Clarke (Randy Havens) and Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) which, come on, feels a bit random.

Schnapp added: “I thought the scene would be just with his mom, so for it to happen with the entire cast sitting there watching him was just so special.”

There's a hell of a lot of characters in the scene. (Netflix)

Stranger Things fans’ reaction

Unsurprisingly, fans are a bit baffled by just how many characters are in the room for this scene, as one asked on X: “in what world would he come out to a room of 20 people when he JUST came to terms with the fact he was gay—in the 80s, at that. why not with just his mom or Jonathan?”

Another questioned: “In what universe is a gay kid in a red state in the 1980s coming out to a room of 15 people, some of which he barely knows?”

With a third slamming: “A lot of unrealistic things happen in stranger things but I think the most unrealistic thing is him coming out FOR THE FIRST TIME to a group of 30 people all at once by the way.”

As a fourth echoed: “I know the experience is different for everyone, my experience is far different from everyone else’s but you can’t say it’s not completely insane for a queer teen to come out to a room full of 12+ people in the 80s.”

Another joked: “Mr Clark sitting in the radio station while one of his students from 5 years ago comes out as gay while he’s still coping with monsters being real.”

“The concept of characters Will has never interacted with being at his coming out scene,” one wrote.

Others however said they are ‘really happy they showed this in the show’ and celebrated the scene.

Stranger Things Season 5 Volumes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix. The finale lands at 1am on 1 January 2026.