'Stranger Things' stars call out Duffer brothers for ignoring their texts about season 5 pitches

Noah Schnapp joked that many of his suggestions sent via text message did not receive replies

Stranger Things actors Noah Schnapp and Jamie Campbell Bower joked about the Duffer brothers not always replying to their messages while working on the show’s final season.

The comments were made during Netflix’s Stranger Things Emmys FYSEE event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where cast and crew reflected on the series ahead of its conclusion.

Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, spoke about becoming more confident in sharing creative ideas with creators Matt and Ross Duffer after growing up on the show.

“Starting off as a kid, you kind of walk in all nervous and scared and think your opinion is not valued. And as you get older, you’re like, ‘No, I’ve been with this character for so many years, and I also have an opinion that matters,’” Schnapp said.

noah talking about how he always asked for more will scenes and texted the duffers about his ideas and how they never answered his texts 😭 pic.twitter.com/H1TtGNH0x8

— elle 🐇 (@ellelovesnoah) May 22, 2026

The actor then joked that many of his suggestions sent via text message did not receive replies.

“I mean, the Duffers can speak to how many texts I’ve sent them that went unanswered of ideas and pitches for this and that, and videos of ‘should it go this way or this way?’”

Executive producer Shawn Levy responded by saying the creators had read the messages, while Ross Duffer denied ignoring them entirely. Schnapp jokingly replied that he had “receipts”.

Jamie Campbell Bower, who portrays Vecna, shared a similar experience during the discussion.

“Again, like Noah, sent a load of text messages that didn’t get answered,” Bower said, although he added that the creators still welcomed collaboration and revisited ideas later on set.

Schnapp also revealed that one of his suggestions made it into the final season, helping shape an emotional scene involving Will and Mike Wheeler.

“I knew people would riot if there wasn’t a little more with that,” he said.

The panel also included David Harbour and Natalia Dyer as the cast reflected on nearly a decade working on Netflix’s hit series.