Perhaps not since the debut of Henry

Thomas in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has a child sci-fi star resonated

so deeply with audiences around the world as Noah Schnapp, who plays the

missing son of Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) on Netflix’s Stranger Things. (Quite the impressive feat considering the fact

that Schnapp’s Will Byers character has even fewer lines than doomed damsel in

distress-turned-Internet-sensation Barb.)

But then this tween actor, who will

turn 12 next month, is hardly a newcomer. “I

was working with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg when I was nine years old,”

Schnapp says matter-of-factly, referring to his role as Hanks’ son in the

Oscar-winning Bridge of Spies. And good grief: Last fall, Schnapp also

embodied the iconic Charlie Brown in The Peanuts Movie.

MORE: 'Stranger Things' Is Getting a Second Season, Duffer Bros Confirm 'There's a Lot More Mystery There to Be Solved'

Not that success has gone to Schnapp’s head. “I take the school bus,” the seventh-grader says

of his morning commute. This interview with ET happened to take place on his second day of school, and he has

more important things on his mind: Like homework, for instance.

Despite the fact that Schnapp seems

wise beyond his years, there is no doubt that he is, in fact, still just a kid.

“Even me being in this TV show -- and I just saw it for the fifth time -- I’m

still scared,” Schnapp says of watching Stranger

Things. “When the monster is creeping up behind me? I’m like, ‘Ah! I can’t

watch!’” Meanwhile, millions of other viewers can’t look away.

MORE: 'Stranger Things' Star Joe Keery on Season 2, Steve's Hair and Justice for Barb

ET: You’ve been acting since the age

of six. What do you consider to be your big break?

Noah

Schnapp: Honestly, I think it’s Stranger

Things. This is one of my biggest projects and it is my first TV show. I

mean, it hasn’t changed my life yet, but my life is not the same as it used to

be. I am still a normal kid, but when I’m walking on the street, there will be

people who ask me to sign a poster or take a picture with them.

What presented the biggest acting

challenge for you: Playing Tom Hanks’ son in Bridge of Spies, Charlie

Brown or Will Byers?

My biggest challenge was playing Will

Byers. I was biking in one scene, [fell] off my bike and ran away from the

Demogorgon [a monster] all the way home. Those kinds of scenes are very

challenging when you have no words and you’re running and the whole scene is

based on your emotions.

Are you a fan of any other Steven

Spielberg films aside from the one that you made?

I am a big fan of E.T., of

course. And I remember watching Jurassic Park -- I was so into it. Oh,

and Schindler’s List. That one was amazing, too.

Do you think Spielberg would

appreciate Stranger Things?

That’s a good question. I think he

would definitely like it because Stranger Things is inspired by E.T.

Stranger Things references a lot of other classic movies from the ’80s.

Were you aware of all the film references?

I remember [siblings and series creators Matt and Ross Duffer] had this big board when I was in one of the later callbacks

and it said “inspiration board,” and it had a bunch of movie posters with movie

names on it. They told us to watch all of these movies: Poltergeist, E.T., The Goonies, Stand By Me. And the cast watched

all of them and we loved it.

How did Spielberg’s directing style

compare to the Duffer brothers?

Well, I can definitely say that

they’re both amazing directors in their own ways. But Mr. Spielberg was an

amazing director because he was always balanced. He gives [actors] a chance to

do their own things. He still gives them direction and tells them what to do,

but he still lets them do their own thing at the same time, which I think is

pretty amazing.

And what about the Duffer brothers?

They don’t really do it that way. They’re

great directors; they have a very specific vision of what they want to see.

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Like you, Winona Ryder started acting

at a young age. Did she share any advice about surviving child stardom?

Well, first of all, she was always

helping me. And she was always looking out for me. I remember in episode eight,

she was with me when we were doing a CPR scene: She gave me gum and she put gum

in her mouth and she looked me in the eye and said: “So our breath doesn’t

smell bad.” Because she had to put her mouth on my mouth. And I also remember

her talking to my mom to make sure I was OK for that scene when David Harbour [Chief

Hopper] had to really push hard on my chest. Honestly, she was amazing.

What is your favorite Winona Ryder

movie?

Well, it’s pretty embarrassing, but I haven’t

seen any of her movies yet. I actually have one downloading, which I am going

to check out right after this interview. It’s called Edward something.

Edward Scissorhands? You’re very young, so I am not surprised that you haven’t

had a chance to see her movies.

Yeah, but I’d still like to check them

out to see what she was like as an actor when she was younger.

You just started school, but you’ll

have to leave next month when pre-production on season two gets underway. How

do you feel about that?

It’s exciting in some ways and not in

others. I mean, I’m pretty sad that I have to leave all of my home friends and

I can’t see them for basically half a year. That’s not a great thing, but we’ll

FaceTime and stuff. What I’m excited for is to be on the set with all the Stranger

Things cast.

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You shared a story from The

Hollywood Reporter on your Instagram account that mentioned three new

characters -- like Max, a tomboy who rides a skateboard -- who will be

introduced next season. How do you think your character will interact with

them?

I don’t know what the characters are

going to be like so I don’t know how Will could interact with them. I don’t

know if they have anything to do with the Upside Down. But my thought would be

that maybe Max could be a new friend.

What did Will eat the entire time he

was stuck in the Upside Down? There weren’t any Eggos there.

You know what? I always thought about

that, too! Maybe he ate little growths off the ground and stuff and that is why

it’s in his body. But I don’t know how he survived in there.

Did you cough up baby monsters in the

series finale?

This is hard to explain. Kind of baby

monsters. Like, not yet live monsters who are still in eggs, maybe. They’re not

yet grown, so they’re incubating inside of me, and I cough one up at the end of

the show. That’s what I think.

Do you think Millie Bobby Brown’s

Eleven character is dead? She disappeared along with the monster at the end of

season one, but Sheriff Hopper still leaves Eggos for her in the woods.

I sure hope not. I don’t think she’s

dead because she was an important character. They can’t just take her out in a

snap like that. And you didn’t see her die -- you just saw her disappear. I don’t

really think that she’s dead, but there’s so much to tell.

What do you think of the fan theory

that the monster is actually the Upside Down version of Eleven -- that they’re

actually one in the same?

Eleven and the monster are related,

you mean? That’s a good theory. It makes a lot of sense.

Were you surprised that Barb [Shannon

Purser] became the breakout star of the show?

I am proud of her. It’s amazing for a

character like Barb, who was only in the beginning of the show. I think it’s

amazing how, I guess, how well [Shannon] played her character -- she made

everyone feel bad for her. And she got everyone hooked on her so that when she

disappeared, everyone wanted her back.

Why did the monster eat Barb right

away but not you?

I don’t think it would have eaten me

because as Winona said, I’m very good at hiding. [Barb] was bleeding and that’s

why it fed on her. But the Duffer brothers like surprises, so you can never

predict what is going to happen.