At a late-May FYC event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp said the Duffer Brothers left his messages and story suggestions on read. Jamie Campbell Bower backed him up, while Schnapp and producer Shawn Levy later stressed the showrunners did engage and opened the door to collaboration.
Under the palm trees of Hollywood Forever Cemetery in late May, Noah Schnapp described the sting of watching his messages to the Stranger Things creators sit marked as read. Speaking at a For Your Consideration event, he said growing confidence on set only sharpened his frustration when ideas went unanswered. Jamie Campbell Bower backed him, while noting the conversations eventually happened. Producers including Shawn Levy maintain they see everything, a reminder of how power and voice jostle behind a hit Netflix series.
A candid revelation from Noah Schnapp
You have likely felt that tug between knowing your craft and waiting to be heard. That is where Noah Schnapp found himself as he reflected on playing Will Byers across Stranger Things, the juggernaut on Netflix. At a late May FYC event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, he recalled sending ideas to the Duffer Brothers, then watching them sit, marked as read, without a reply.
The journey to confidence
Schnapp described how time changes an actor’s footing. Early seasons brought hesitation, he said, but years inside Will’s head offered clarity. He grew bolder about suggesting choices for scenes and arcs. That confidence met a silence at first, with messages to Matt and Ross Duffer lingering unanswered, a reminder that even on colossal hits, feedback loops can falter before they function.
Support from a fellow actor
There was a nod from a colleague who knows the show’s darker corners. Jamie Campbell Bower, the face behind Vecna, admitted he had also sent notes that initially went nowhere. He backed Schnapp’s account of lulls in communication, then added an important qualifier: conversations eventually happened. For him, the process simply took time, and the room for deeper collaboration opened once the dust of production settled.
On Thursday, Noah Schnapp brought up his “unanswered” text messages to ‘Stranger Things’ creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, while discussing the fifth and final season of the Netflix series during an FYC event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. pic.twitter.com/ZUoJJATfXD
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 24, 2026
A collaborative spirit emerges
Indeed, Schnapp stressed that the door did not stay shut. The Duffer Brothers circled back, he said, and the exchanges finally clicked. Producer Shawn Levy echoed that sentiment, noting that messages are read and weighed, even if not every suggestion turns into screen time. This is the case on expansive shows where storylines, schedules and visual effects all compete for oxygen.
For Schnapp, the lesson was less about a single ignored text than about rhythm. Big series move in beats, and not every beat invites debate in real time. When it did, he felt heard, and he credited the creators for making space to talk, revise and occasionally pivot. Is that not the push and pull that often shapes television we return to, season after season?