With season three of Heartstopper now streaming on Netflix, here are 13 facts that might surprise you about the show.
Alice Oseman started the story on Tumblr in 2016
Heartstopper started life from earnest beginnings, with author Alice Oseman writing it on her Tumblr page after completing her first novel, Solitaire.
10,000 teens auditioned for a role in the show
The cast of Heartstopper have often said how lucky they feel to have been picked for the show, especially considering that more than 10,000 people auditioned for roles.
They have also said that, because of COVID-19 restrictions, they were forced to send in audition tapes and perform over Zoom calls.
Charlie Spring is Joe Locke’s acting debut
Charlie Spring is Joe Locke’s first acting role, shooting him into the public eye. He has since featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s spooky Agatha All Along.
Alice Oseman has a cameo in season one
Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed that Alice Oseman features in season one of Heartstopper. She is drawing while sitting in a train carriage, in episode eight.
She later revealed to Radio Times that she was, in fact, drawing Charlie and Nick.
Darcy isn’t non-binary in the graphic novels
Heartstopper character Darcy Olsson made waves after fans noticed in the season three trailer that the character started to use they/them pronouns, which is not in the graphic novels.
Kit Connor auditioned to play Charlie
Speaking to PinkNews, Kit Connor revealed that he originally sent in an audition tape to play Charlie before winning the role of his boyfriend Nick. He’s happy how it turned out now that he’s portraying a well-rounded bisexual character.
Olivia Colman shot her scenes in two days
Oscar-winner star Olivia Colman, who played Nick’s mum, had to be ruthlessly efficient in filming her scenes because of other commitments.
The show’s executive producer, Patrick Walters, said: “She’s amazing, we love Olivia. She came for two days and shot all her scenes in that time and was just the most delightful, amazing actor to have on set, and the young actors got so much from her being there and her presence.”
Tori is asexual in the books
As with any adaptation, there are a few tweaks and changes in the Heartstopper series, but one of the most glaring for fans of the graphic novels is that Charlie’s sister, Tori, doesn’t come out as asexual in the TV show.
Oseman explained that the decision not to include a scene where she does was taken because “there wasn’t any build up to it” and the show hadn’t “spent enough time with Tori and [boyfriend] Michael as a pair.”
Kit and Joe had an intimacy co-ordinator
To make sure the love scenes between Nick and Charlie in season three were as authentic as possible, Joe Locke and Kit Connor worked with intimacy co-ordinator David Thackeray, who has worked on the series since season one.
“He was instrumental in helping us feel comfortable and look and feel realistic on screen, that was important,” Connor said. “It’s like a dance.”
The Netflix show was originally called Evergreen
As with many high-profile media projects, especially adaptations, Heartstopper originally had a working title to help hide its existence from the public for as long as possible.
Season one was known as Evergreen, the second season was Electric and the current one went under the title Firework.
Isaac isn’t in the original stories
Lovable Isaac Henderson, who is friends with Charlie, Elle and Tao, only appears in the Netflix series. He is one of two characters who doesn’t appear in the source material, the other being Imogen.
The season three sex scenes took seven hours to shoot
The more intimate moments in the current run took a lot of work, with Locke an Connor working on the sex scenes for almost seven hours.
“It would be like: ‘OK, spoon now’, and ‘kiss’ and ‘hand under the cover’… It was very much like that, intense,” the two young stars told PinkNews.
Kit and Joe don’t know how Nick and Charlie’s story ends
Not even the two main stars know how the love story between their characters will end.
Speaking to PinkNews, Connor joke about why they haven’t been let in on the secret. “Can’t trust us, we’ll just tell everyone,” he said.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
The post 13 fascinating facts about Heartstopper you might not know appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.