Noah Schnapp, who shot to global fame as a child on Netflix’s Stranger Things, is speaking openly about the intense pressure young actors face. In a new interview, the 21-year-old actor described the experience of growing up famous as an “abnormal life” and is now strongly advocating for mandatory mental health support for all child performers.
Schnapp’s comments come as he and the cast say goodbye to the hit series. The final episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 are releasing now, marking the end of a nearly ten-year journey that began when he was just 11 years old.
Schnapp’s life changed overnight in the summer of 2016. He was away at a summer camp, completely disconnected from phones and social media, when the first season of Stranger Things debuted. His initial awareness of his new stardom came not from seeing himself on screen, but from an email from his mother.
“I remember my mom sending me emails being like, ‘Noah, you have a fan page and you hit 10,000 followers!’ I was like, what?!”
The excitement was quickly mixed with stress. He found himself in a demanding full-time job before even becoming a teenager, with the show’s schedule and constant publicity robbing him of a typical childhood. The lack of privacy became a constant issue, following him even to college where he said other students would wait outside his dorm room.
In his interview with USA Today, Schnapp explained the core difficulty of his experience. He felt he was expected to have all the answers at an age when he was still figuring out who he was.
“It’s hard to grow up in the public eye. You don’t know yourself, you haven’t figured anything out, and now you’re expected to know everything and have all the answers.”
He described the lasting anxiety of making normal, youthful mistakes under constant watch. “I was constantly saying the wrong things or being embarrassed by not taking certain things seriously that I should’ve, and then that lives on forever,” Schnapp said. He pointed out that the natural process of growing and learning becomes much harder when it happens publicly.
The actor also shared that adult journalists sometimes asked him deeply invasive personal questions when he was as young as 12, which he called “very inappropriate”.
For a long time, Schnapp thought he did not need professional help, viewing himself as a “happy-go-lucky kid”. His perspective shifted as he got older. He now believes therapy is essential and agrees with singer Ariana Grande that mental health care should be a mandatory requirement for children working in entertainment.
“Through the years, it becomes like, ‘No, this is an abnormal life, and you need some type of support system outside of your parents,’” he explained.
Schnapp said seeking therapy has made him a much happier person. He also gained a deeper understanding of the mental health struggles common in Hollywood. “Growing up, I never understood why people were depressed or turned to drugs or had eating disorders,” he admitted. “As you get older, you understand how the pressures of Hollywood can create that”.
Also Read:
He even told his parents he could never live in Los Angeles, worrying the environment would be overwhelming.
Schnapp’s advocacy comes at a pivotal moment in his career. The cultural phenomenon that defined his youth is concluding with the final season of Stranger Things. Season 5 is being released in volumes on Netflix.
The first block of episodes is already available to stream. The next set of episodes arrives on December 26, with the series concluding with a two-hour finale on New Year’s Eve, December 31.
As he transitions away from the role of Will Byers, Schnapp is using his platform to push for better systems to protect the mental well-being of the next generation of child stars. His message is clear: the unique pressures of childhood fame require professional, structured support, and the entertainment industry has a responsibility to provide it.
Also Read: Heated Rivalry Episode 6: Season Finale Release, Ending Predictions and More
