Noah Schnapp has once again become the subject of brutal mockery amid ongoing chatter about his “questionable” and “cringe” acting skills.
The 21-year-old Stranger Things star, who has played Will Byers since he was 11, has been in hot water ever since the show’s final season dropped on Netflix in late November 2025.
A recreated viral scene from his recent Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon appearance has only intensified the backlash.
Highlights
- Noah Schnapp faced fresh criticism after recreating his dramatic ‘Stranger Things’ scene impromptu during a live interview.
- The actor’s appearance reignited ongoing chatter about his “questionable” season 5 performance, as fans compare his acting to that of his co-stars.
- A viral clip of the recreation fans calling the moment “cringe” and “secondhand embarrassment.”
“If second hand embarrassment had a face.. I’m so uncomfortable,” one fan reacted to his latest antics.
Noah Schnapp has struggled to wow audiences in the blockbuster Netflix finale of Stranger Things
Image credits: noahschnapp
The highly anticipated final season is being released in three parts; the first volume dropped on November 26, followed by the next two arriving on December 25 and December 31.
While Volume 1 has earned rave reviews and even became the biggest premiere for an English-language Netflix series to date, Schnapp’s acting has noticeably stood out for all the wrong reasons.
Despite critics praising the cast for bringing the world of Hawkins, Indiana, to life, fans overwhelmingly felt that Noah wasn’t among the standout performers this time.
Image credits: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
The internet collectively deemed his acting lacking, with some calling it “the worst I’ve seen all year.”
And in the midst of this backlash, his December 3 appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s popular talk show in New York City only poured more fuel on the fire, as he recreated his iconic ‘Sorcerer’ scene from the Volume 1 climax.
At the request of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon host, Noah recreated one of his iconic Will Byers scenes from the series live and impromptu
Image credits: Tudum by Netflix
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During the interview, Schnapp discussed the scene, explaining its significance and how physically demanding the performance had been.
He revealed that, during filming, he even popped all the blood vessels in his face in the single take that was used for the scene.
Fallon then asked Noah to playfully mimic the dramatic moment for the studio audience, and the actor agreed.
Image credits: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
To make the recreation feel more realistic, they used a fake blood syringe to simulate blood dripping from Schnapp’s nose as he immediately slipped into character.
He fell to his knees, making direct eye contact with the camera, his face flushing pink from the effort, even in the lighthearted recreation.
The 21-year-old star’s live acting demonstration ignited a wave of strong and mixed reactions from fans, with many calling the moment “cringe”
Image credits: Netflix
Noah dramatically wiped the blood from his nose and continued staring into the camera for several seconds, despite Jimmy and the audience cheering loudly, before finally breaking character.
Given the timing of the interview, which was closely tied to the previous criticism The Tutor star had faced, fans reacted brutally online, with many voicing that it was “an effort to redeem” himself.
One user on X posted a cropped clip of the interview featuring only the scene recreation moment, which has garnered nearly 2 million views and over 500 comments, writing in the caption, “I don’t think I have ever cringed worse at a video before.”
Several commenters echoed the sentiment, with one writing, “Performative… this looks like the ending of all kpop MVs.”
Noah was compared to a variety of other big names, including Daniel Radcliffe, Benson Boone, and even K-pop stars
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Another joked, “Everytime I see this video… It’s like when Benson Boone does a flip.”
“Jimmy making his guests do cringe s**t,” one user wrote, while another joked, “This is a humiliation ritual if i’ve ever seen one.”
“Lets be real this guy has been dy**g to play a superhero his entire life, he is like oh recreate the best moment of my life - lets do it!”
Image credits: noahschnapp
Elsewhere in the interview, the Netflix star addressed being compared to other celebrities, most notably Daniel Radcliffe, famed for Harry Potter.
He told Jimmy, “When I'm alone, I've been getting Harry Potter the past few years. It happened three times last year, which has never happened to me before.”
Schnapp isn’t the only cast member facing the brunt of online heat following the debut of the popular series’s final season
Image credits: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
“They'll come up to me and they'll be like, ‘I love your show. Thank you.’ And I'm like, ‘Thank you so much. I appreciate the support.’ And then they're like, ‘I adore Harry Potter. I love the character.’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, wrong franchise.’”
While he has been in hot water over his acting skills, several of his co-stars, including Natalia Dyer and Millie Bobby Brown, have been weathering controversies of their own as the series comes to a close after nearly a decade.
Image credits: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/Netflix
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Shortly after Volume 1 dropped, Dyer, who plays Nancy Wheeler, sparked concern among fans over her noticeably slimmer and “sick” appearance.
The speculation quickly spiraled into online theories, with the biggest rumor centering around alleged weight-loss medication use.
Meanwhile, Millie has been making headlines for her recent public appearances with her husband, Jake Bongiovi, who the internet has collectively dubbed the “useless husband” due to his seemingly nonchalant demeanor during their outings.
Image credits: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
She was also blasted recently after revealing, amid marital-strain speculation, that she had legally changed her name to her husband’s, now going by Millie Bonnie Bongiovi.
One fan bluntly commented, “This franchise is really taking a turn for the worse…”
“I'm convinced that press tours nowadays are just one big humiliation ritual for the actors,” wrote one user
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