“It was really special”: Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp opens up about having scenes with Winona Ryder

The final moments of Stranger Things Season 5 Vol 2 brought about an emotional confession that has been building up for five long seasons. Will Byers came out in front of his family and friends in Episode 7, and his darkest fears, that he wasn't going to be accepted and loved for who he is by them, were proved wrong.

Will has an emotional arc of self-acceptance through Stranger Things, but the one person who has always stood by him, even when he wasn't there for himself, has been his mother, Joyce Byers, played by Winona Ryder. Will's most emotional scenes throughout the Netflix blockbuster, especially in Season 5, have been with Joyce.

In a recent conversation with Variety, Noah Schnapp opened up about working with Winona Ryder in the final season. Keep reading to find out what he revealed about the emotional experience.

Noah Schnapp opens up about his emotional filming experience with Winona Ryder in Stranger Things

Noah Schnapp's Will has had most of the emotional scenes with Winona Ryder's Joyce Byers throughout Stranger Things. As Will struggles with being different than his friends, being abducted by Vecna, and later with being chosen to spy on his friends and hurt people, his mother, Joyce, has stood by him like a rock. She has moved heaven and earth to get to her kid and to make sure he stays safe.

This protectiveness towards Will has at times morphed into overprotectiveness as well, straining the relationship between the two. In the final season of the show, Joyce has to unlearn some of the survival instincts of protection she has about Will and let him make his choices and decisions without holding him back. But this unlearning does not come without its own toils and troubles, as both of them doubt themselves, leading to some very vulnerable scenes.

In a recent conversation with Variety, Noah Schnapp explained how this was extremely heartwarming for him because playing a mother-son role with Winona Ryder for the last decade has developed a special bond between the two. In the past few seasons, Will hasn't had as many emotional scenes with Ryder, so the final season, leaning heavily into that aspect, has been a welcome change of pace for him.

"It was really special. I was kind of sad in Seasons 3 and 4 that I got separated from her, and I really missed working with her. She’s one of my favorite scene partners and people, and it was so nice to be with her for most of this season. I feel so comfortable around her, and it was hard to say goodbye. I didn’t expect to have such trouble letting go of her on that last day. I didn’t want to let her go, and I realized she really became this motherly figure to me at work during these 10 years."

Joyce's growth, paired with Robin's allyship and his newly discovered siphoning ability, has morphed Will into a whole new person. Even though he is more accepting of himself, Will still had a big part of himself that he hid from his friends and family, even Joyce. In the final moments of Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 2, he comes out to his friends and family, making for one of the most vulnerable moments that had been quietly building up for so long.

The Stranger Things Season 5 finale releases on Netflix (and select theaters) on December 31, 2025.

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