Jewish actor Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers on “Stranger Things,” is currently in Israel, and appears to be having a really meaningful visit, despite being hounded by some fans and paparazzi (it’s, unfortunately, part of the job.)
The actor, 18, shared a picture from the Western Wall on his Instagram stories, captioning it with “learning so much about my culture. So inspiring.”
Schnapp, whose parents are both Jewish, was seen wearing a kippah on his head and teffilfin wrapped on his arms. Schnapp was on a tour of the city organized by Aish Global, along with Moti Ankari and actress and producer Rachel Katsner.
Will from stranger things at the kotel pic.twitter.com/bJ9X5AiU5m
— jewboy media (@simmy_cohen) July 18, 2023
Schnapp, who has both Russian and Moroccan Jewish roots, was also seen enjoying Tel Aviv, and even bopping to a song by Israeli singer Mergui. “In love with this place,” he wrote in one Tel Aviv photo he posted in his stories, in which he’s overlooking the Mediterranean at dusk on a city balcony.
This wasn’t Schnapp’s first visit in Israel. The actor had his bar mitzvah in the Holy Land half a decade ago. “It was really cool,” he recounted in 2020. And while Schnapp’s character in “Stranger Things” is not Jewish (even if his mom is played by Winona Ryder, née Horowitz), he did play a young Jewish boy in the 2019 movie “Abe,” and a young shepherd helping smuggle Jewish refugees out of Nazi-occupied France in the 2020 movie “Waiting For Anya.”
We love seeing him celebrating his Jewish heritage, and hope he enjoys the rest of his visit!
