Kit Connor revealed that the upcoming season of Heartstopper, the Netflix adaptation of the much-beloved queer YA graphic novel series, has gradually taken “baby steps” toward filming intimate sex scenes over the course of three installments.
“We’ve been taking baby steps,” the actor said in a new interview with The Sunday Times. “Season 1, [the intimacy coordinator] would be there making sure that we were comfortable holding hands. And now we’re doing the sex scenes. We shot a lot of footage for them. Not much actually ended up in the show. But we shot the sex scenes for about seven hours!”
First premiering in 2022, Connor and co-star Joe Locke were cast as teenagers, having now matured as young adults alongside the show. The warm-hearted series, which has won praise from audiences and celebrities alike (including Connor’s friend Elton John, with whom he worked in Rocketman), sees its students now entering sixth form (the equivalent of senior year in the U.S.).
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“I wouldn’t say that we’ve outgrown the show because the show is growing in itself,” the Emmy winner explained.
As the dramedy show — which contains storylines celebrating lesbian and gay young love, trans and nonbinary narratives — sees its characters navigate their first sexual experiences, Connor said Heartstopper can offer perspectives to parents with teens.
“We kind of provide a bit of a guideline for parents. Especially in Season 3, with some of the topics that we discuss.”
Based on Alice Oseman’s best-selling books, Heartstopper is a bona fide streaming hit, having placed in the Netflix Top 10 in 54 countries. In addition to starring in Season 3, which premieres Oct. 3, Connor will soon take the Broadway stage in a Shakespeare adaptation, playing Romeo opposite Rachel Zegler’s Juliet. He will also appear in Alex Garland’s follow-up to Civil War, Warfare, as well as The Wild Robot with Pedro Pascal and Bill Nighy and lead the horror feature One of Us.
Heartstopper Season 2 left off with a cliffhanger of sorts, as Connor’s Nick and Locke’s Charlie both stopped moments short of professing their love for one another. Per Season 3’s logline, the show will explore the joys and challenges of the forthcoming school year, which will see characters lean on each other amid relationship obstacles and university choices.
Oseman, who is also the series creator, said previously, “Season 2 ended with Nick beginning to understand the extent of Charlie’s mental health issues, and it’s this that will drive the story through Season 3. While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up. Mental health, sex, university ambitions, and more: Nick, Charlie, and the Heartstopper teens are getting older, learning more about themselves and each other, and experiencing new desires, new fears, and new joys as they approach adulthood.”