Warning: Spoilers ahead for Heartstopper Forever on Netflix.
Everyone’s favorite queer British YA series has said its final, breathy “Hi!” with the release of Netflix’s Heartstopper Forever on July 17.
The film, written and created by Alice Oseman, wraps up the love story of Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), which has grown over the three seasons of the show, as Nick prepares for university and Charlie finds new purpose at school. It’s all about moving on and growing up, as Nick and Charlie face what everyone comes to know: High school relationships don’t often last forever.
“It’s sad to be saying goodbye to the beautiful thing that is Heartstopper,” Connor tells Teen Vogue, “but I'm very proud of what it's been and what this final piece has become. It’s nice to be able to have one last hurrah with Joe, here, and the rest of the gang.”
Locke agrees: “It feels like sending your child off to university,” he says. “It's very bittersweet. We know the kids are ready, but also it's like, aww. It’s almost like we’re graduating from the characters in a way.”
These two actors were 18 and each on the precipice of a thriving acting career when the series premiered in spring 2022; in some ways, the show has been their uni years.
And it has brought both Locke and Connor back into conversation with Teen Vogue every 18 months or so. Each time we have the opportunity to catch up, they’re a little older, a little looser in their remarks, and better equipped to handle the vicissitudes that come with being in the public eye. In those intervening months, Locke joined the Marvel universe, they’ve both starred on Broadway, and they have both been Teen Vogue cover stars (twice, in Connor’s case).
That’s a wrap on Heartstopper, but the connections made on set will live on. It’s more than friendship, Locke says; it’s family. “Not to be cringey, but it is that,” he continues. “Because I know that all of these people will be in my life for the rest of my life, regardless if we see each other every week or month, or whether it's every year or two. The bond that has been created from the show is so unique and so singular that it will always be there.”
Connor also finds these relationships to be beautiful. “We have made friendships, bonds, and connections that are just—I mean, even Joe and I. When Joe went to go and shoot Agatha All Along for six months in Atlanta, the minute he got back, it was just as if nothing had ever happened,” Connor recalls.
“And I have that with all of them," he adds. "I think we can all go and do things, and again, whether or not we are seeing each other all the time, or someone's gone away for a long time and come back, it's a consistently strong connection.”
Connor speaks fondly about his scene with William Gao’s Tao Xu near the end of the film. They only had about 45 minutes to capture it, cross-shooting to save time, “which is always nice as an actor because it means the reactions are quite real,” Connor says. Of Gao, he adds, “He’s the best. I love—I adore him utterly.”
Heartstopper has, over the years, beeen mired in discourse about the role that sex plays in the story. In the film, sex is used as another language to tell the narrative of Nick and Charlie. We’re seeing the detail in their intimacy; Charlie is shirtless and Nick is clothed more often.
“You can feel that Nick, at this point, he's the one who's feeling slightly more closed off," creator and writer Alice Oseman tells Teen Vogue, "and Charlie is feeling really relaxed and comfortable in himself. All of those moments, I think, tell us a little something new about where they're at mentally.”
Oseman continues, “That final sex scene—when they come back together and they’re so in tune with each other, looking each other directly in the eyes—I think you really feel the beauty and power of that, without them having to necessarily have a big, open conversation about their feelings. You can just feel it in the moment.”
“The sex scenes were probably not hugely technically challenging for us,” Locke says. “We were so comfortable with each other by the time we were doing this. Obviously, it's not the most comfortable experience doing that in a room full of people that you don't know as well as we know each other," he notes, but "I think that the sex scenes are so important in the film in a way of just bringing the closeness of them together, and I think that they're some of the most beautiful scenes in the film.”
Early in the film, there is an exhilarating scene that Connor and I affectionately refer to as a “wank on the pier,” as sex is presented in a way that’s new for Heartstopper. “That happens. People do that, and I don’t think Heartstopper presents it as this crazy, messy thing,” Connor says. “It’s just, you know, they’re alone. There’s no one else around. I’m not saying that everyone should do it; I’m just saying that it doesn’t necessarily feel all that naughty when they’re doing it.”
Adds Locke, “Our show sometimes got the criticism of being unrealistic in some ways. And teenagers have sex—that’s probably the most realistic thing. So I think, especially with the pier scene, it’s this desire between these two people that they need to deal with in that moment, and I think that’s very realistic.”
Films do require a good script, but they are often truly made in the edit. Oseman recalls heavy discussion in the cutting room about how to open the film. The first scene, as scripted, saw Nick waking up in bed alone, going downstairs, and seeing Charlie outside with the dogs. “It imbued the whole film with this feeling of melancholy and anxiety,” she says. “We actually thought what would be better for the film is to start with a bang and the joyful explosion of feelings that we know from Heartstopper—and then take people on that journey of drama and angst.”
Oseman had the idea for the title sequence after feeling that going straight into Charlie’s “Head Boy” speech was too abrupt. “I went away, made a draft version of it myself to show the others,” Oseman recalls. It was, as seen in the finished cut, a look through all these pictures from the past three seasons. “We’re seeing Nick and Charlie grow up in front of our eyes, and then we go into the film.”
She reflects on the story she’s told with Yasmin Finney’s Elle, a beacon of light in the darkness as the world descends into anti-trans hysteria. “It’s got louder and louder," Oseman says, "the oppressive nature of that, so it felt really natural to continue that conversation into the film.”
A moment that Oseman loves in the film is when a despondent Charlie voices his lack of excitement about attending Pride, only for Elle to step forward. “Elle reveals that she’s dealing with so much, and she's got all of this fear, anxiety, and frustration because of the current state of the world in regards to trans people, and I think that's a feeling that so many trans people are going to be able to relate to,” they say.
“When I was writing that, I had a lot of conversations with Yaz about what that speech from her would look like," they say. "I would write a draft, and then she would write a draft, and then we would combine those two together to find something that felt really authentic and true to her experience as well.”
Simply put, Heartstopper has done a lot of good. “Thank you to my character for what he has allowed me to do and be and become,” Connor says. “Also, I'd probably say thank you to Nick, because he seems to have done a lot of good for a lot of people as a character.”
Says Locke, “It's wonderful to be a part of something that people genuinely care about and has impacted them.”
Connor adds, “It just resonates with a lot of people in a way that is really beautiful. I think, regardless of Joe and I, the show itself has helped a lot of people and has had a big impact on people.”
May we always remember the ultimate truth of Heartstopper: We can be anything.
