Noah Schnapp, who played the famous Will Byers in “Stranger Things,” is having one of his best years. The young man, 21 years old, added two important achievements in the same week: He graduated from university and debuted at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Schnapp graduated from the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. The actor shared the happy news with his 26 million Instagram followers with a cinephile wink: "What? As if it were difficult?" he wrote in the caption, quoting the famous phrase from "Legally Blonde."

The actor's university life

Schnapp enrolled in the fall of 2022 to pursue a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, combining classrooms with filming the fifth and final season of the Netflix series.

In an interview with Flaunt magazine, the actor confessed that: "I was thinking of devoting myself to acting, but it was a bit repetitive and I wanted to try something new. Business was the next logical step for me."

During his time at Wharton, Schnapp had already founded TBH (To Be Honest), a snack company focused on sustainability that ultimately closed, but which helped him establish valuable contacts and gain key insights for his business future.

In search of “the real experience” of university, the actor chose to live in a student residence with other students. “I love meeting new people, discovering new faces and being part of a new community,” she told Teen Vogue at the time.

“It is the biggest transition of my life, but I want to learn to be more independent and be a little more adult,” he mentioned.

Debut in Cannes

On the same day of his graduation, Schnapp debuted on the Croisette wearing a Karl Lagerfeld tuxedo for the presentation of “El Ser Querido”, in English “The Beloved”, the film starring Javier Bardem.