Kit Connor, star of the new queer coming-of-age Netflix series ‘Heartstopper’, says that while playing his character Nick, it was vital for him to express the complexity of feelings that come with discovering your sexual identity. ‘Bisexuality, and especially male bisexuality, is not actually something that is explored often in mainstream media, so it was important to approach this topic with depth,’ says the British actor. ‘We go very much into the details of Nick’s struggles and everything that’s going on in his head.’ We spoke to Kit about the show’s refreshing take on LGBTQ+ representation and what it’s like to have Olivia Colman play your mom.

Left Full look **Valentino**
Right Full look **Louis Vuitton**

When did you first come across Alice Oseman’s novels that the show is based on and what did you love about this story?

I knew about Alice’s books before I was auditioning for the role – my sister had one of the volumes from the series. Then, when I first got an email about the audition, I read through the first volume and I thought that it was such a fresh take on being a queer teen. A lot of the teen LGBTQ+ representation these days is often dark and gritty, so it was really refreshing to read a story that focuses on the positives. In the show, we still very much talk about issues that queer teens have to deal with such as homophobia, but with a much more positive angle – the message of the show is ‘Things are gonna be fine, everything will be alright.’ I thought that the show would be very important to a lot of people. The ‘Heartstopper’ fanbase is really passionate because it’s changed a lot of their lives – it’s a safe space for them and it helped them understand their own sexual identities.

The ‘Heartstopper’ fanbase is really passionate because the comics changed a lot of their lives – it’s a safe space for them and it helped them understand their own sexual identities.

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Throughout the course of the show, your character Nick discovers his bisexuality. What do you like about the way in which the show creators explored this arc?

Bisexuality, and especially male bisexuality, is not actually something that is explored often in mainstream media, so it was important to approach this topic with depth - we go very much into the details of Nick’s struggles and everything that’s going on in his head. It’s an extremely difficult time for him as a character because when we meet him for the first time in the beginning of the series, he’s seemingly confident in himself and his sexuality, but then he meets Charlie, and everything turns on its head - he doesn’t understand at first what’s going on and how he feels. I think that the series is offering a very refreshing and detailed take on his journey that hasn’t really been seen much before.

Your mom on the show is played by the acting legend, Olivia Colman! What was it like to work with her?

It was incredible! I shot with Olivia for two days and I would’ve loved to spend more time filming with her just so that I could pick up more from her and watch her work. That said, it was almost hard to learn anything from her because it just felt like she wasn’t even trying, it was just so effortless! I remember that when we did a read-through before filming a very emotional scene from the last episode, a tear rolled down her face while she was reading her parts. Normally, actors give about 50% [of their performance] during the reads, so I thought to myself, ‘Well, I need to step up my game! If this is 50% for her, then what’s it gonna be like when we’re on set?’ It was a real honour to be able to work with her and a very enlightening experience.

Left Full look **Loewe**
Right Full look **Celine Homme**

Which scenes for you were the most memorable to shoot?

The rugby scenes were really fun! They were also very scary in some ways because I’m not exactly a rugby player, but I had to pretend like I was good at it. One of the most challenging scenes for me was the one the day after Nick and Charlie have their first kiss. My character runs in the rain to Charlie’s house and they talk it out and have a cry - the scene is very intimate, both very intense and quiet. It was a really iconic moment from the comics and me and Joe [Locke] both wanted to get it right!