Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp opens up on hitting puberty during filming

Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp has opened up about how the directors of the hit Netflix show were 'not loving' the cast going through puberty during filming.

Schnapp was just 12-years-old when he first appeared in the role of Will Byers in the first series of Stranger Things in 2016, so as the show got renewed for a second, third and fourth series, there was no avoiding all the biological changes that come with turning into a teenager.

Much like Vecna's clock, time kept on ticking in real life and as a result the actor, who is now 17, was only supposed to be 15 in the most recent series, meaning he had aged much more in real life than his character in the show.

In a bid to keep the show's timeline as accurate as possible, the Stranger Things creators were forced to try and keep the actors looking the same age as their characters

Remembering the struggle throughout the various series, Schnapp told Flaunt Magazine: "It was the peak time of change, and puberty and growing up and just everything was changing with all of us, and the directors were just not loving it."

One of the producers even went as far as to ask Schnapp to put on a voice to try and convince viewers, as the actor recalled: "I remember one of the producers coming up to me and telling me, ‘Noah, is there any way you could just speak in a higher tone and just slouch a little bit? Like, we need you to keep that season one innocence that you had.’

"That was like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you. My voice is dropping. I don’t sound young anymore.’” 

Though the cast weren't able to revert back to their pre-pubescent selves for the sake of the show, fans were forgiving of any discrepancies and continued to binge the show without complaint.

Looking back, Schnapp is glad to have his younger self caught on camera, creating an archive of the awkward years most of us are all too happy to forget.

“It’s just crazy,” he said, “because I get to watch not only this character, but myself grow up onscreen. Now I’ll be able to always have this archive of me as a 10-year-old actor, and me now, and I’ll be able to show that to my kids, and it’s just crazy that that’ll live there forever.” 

There's set to be one more series of Stranger Things to come, but with the actors now ranging in age from 17 to 20, showrunner Ross Duffer has said it might include a time jump by way of explanation for the ageing cast.

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