Why do people mistake Noah Schnapp for Harry Potter? Actor clears up the confusion

Noah Schnapp already has a large following due to his lead role in Netflix’s hit TV series Stranger Things, but it seems he has drawn more fans from the Harry Potter franchise because of his striking resemblance to the magician with the lightning bolt scar and bright green eyes.

Schnapps appeared on the December 3, 2025, episode of the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, where he talked about the last season of Stranger Things and his newfound Harry Potter fans. Schnapps revealed that he got approached by three different Harry Potter fans in 2024 alone:

“When we're all together, it's kind of insanity,” he said of being in public with his co-stars. “But I will say, actually, 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.”

Jimmy Fallon asked incredulously,” people think you're Harry Potter?” The actor described how the interactions between himself and fans usually went:

 “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.’”

Fallon mentioned that there are certain parallels between Stranger Things and Harry Potter, a point to which Schnapp agreed.

He explained that Harry Potter is known as "The Boy Who Lived," while his character Will Byers is sometimes referred to as "Zombie Boy." “It kind of parallels,” he said.

Noah Schnapp revealed how excited he was to learn about his new role in the fifth season of Stranger Things 

The 21-year-old actor revealed to Fallon that he was excited to say the least when it was revealed that his character Will Byers would have powers in the fourth episode of the fifth season of Stranger Things. He recalled how castmates who had read the script before him called him, urging him to find out:

He revealed that enacting the script for the fourth episode of Season 5 took a physical toll on him, as he popped some blood vessels in his face. 
 

 “I was screaming so much that day that I actually popped all the blood vessels in my face. This has never happened before,” he said. “I was like, ‘I think I’m going too far.”

The first volume of Stranger Things season 5 is streaming on Netflix. The final episode is scheduled to drop on December 31, 2025.