'Stranger Things': Noah Schnapp shares off-camera moments he'll never forget

After nearly a decade on Stranger Things, Noah Schnapp admits the real magic of the series wasn’t the Upside Down — it was the friendships that shaped his entire adolescence.

As the show enters its final season, the 21-year-old actor is looking back at the bonds formed long before the cameras rolled, calling them the heart of his experience.

“We will be friends for the rest of our life,” Schnapp said of the cast he grew up with. “The relationships we have while working together and filming and being together every day is unlike anything."

Walking into season five came with nerves and pressure, but returning to the people who feel like home made it easier. “I felt extremely nervous walking into the expectations we had to fulfill, but also excited to be back with the people I love and falling right back into place with these best friends I’ve had since I was so young.”

Some of Schnapp’s most meaningful memories are from time spent off-set. “We had Caleb’s birthday and we all went out and stayed up super late,” he recalled. “On my birthday, we went to a Charlie xcx concert together.”

The cast also celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving at Finn Wolfhard’s home, while Millie Bobby Brown hosted Halloween, Fourth of July and countless sleepovers. “Being with them as much as I could was the most fun,” he says.

The final day of shooting hit hardest, marking the end of the environment that shaped him from childhood to adulthood. Through it all, he says he tried to stay grounded: “I’m always trying to be as present as possible through it.”