Heartstopper Is Historic Gay Representation & Classic Hollywood Romance on Television
Share
The young superstar actors of Netflix hit series Heartstopper, Kit Connor and Joe Locke Call the Netflix Series “a Classic Hollywood Romance.”
The actors discuss what drew them to the Netflix adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels and why it’s an important step in queer representation on television.
Heartstopper, Netflix’s adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels about a pair of teenage boys falling for each another while at school, quickly became a word-of-mouth hit for the streamer when it premiered in April. Its sweet-natured storytelling, where whimsical animations are sprinkled amid hallway meet-cutes and swoon-worthy meet-ups, captured the hearts of viewers all over the world. They saw in popular rugby player Nick and quiet drummer Charlie the kind of will-they-or-won’t-they couple that has littered many a (straight) rom-com for decades on screens both big and small.
There’s no discussing Heartstopper without talking about its charming leads. As Charlie and Nick, Joe Locke and Kit Connor, respectively, light up the screen. With stolen glances and furtive smiles, the actors capture a specific kind of teenage longing that remains all too rare in contemporary LGBTQ+ media. Indeed, Locke’s kinship with Charlie handily exceeded the frame of the screen. As a young out gay actor, he knows this show has been more than a job. “Heartstopper told me to be proud of who I was,” he shares, voicing what many fans have in turn echoed his way. (Connor, after this interview, publicly came out as bisexual on Oct. 31.)
The actors, who are still processing the runaway success of the series, tell The Hollywood Reporter why they were drawn to their characters, how they worked on crafting the effortless chemistry between two boys who at times struggle to put into words how they feel, and why the show is rightfully built on classic Hollywood romance movie tropes.
Read the full interview here.
