Heartstopper stars on ‘intense’ seven-hour sex scene shoot and ‘horny’ fandom

Heartstopper season three is a big one. While the first two outings showed Charlie Spring, played by Joe Locke, and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) discover who they are and fall in love, the new season promises to be a far bumpier ride.

As fans know by now, the upcoming season is “more mature”, “raunchier” and “darker” than before. Based on volume four and five of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, this time around the show will explore in detail Charlie’s mental health and eating disorder, and the pair’s journey towards having sex for the first time.

First, those sex scenes: considering the characters are 16 and Heartstopper’s audience is distinctively PG, the show’s intimate moments hardly veer into Fellow Travelers‘ territory. Still, a lot of work went into making them feel authentic and appropriate.

Speaking to PinkNews, Locke and Connor explained how, in addition to working with Oseman on perfecting the scenes, they were joined by someone to make the more-intimate moments look authentic.

“We did a lot of work with David Thackeray, our intimacy co-ordinator who’s been on it since season one, so we know him well and we’re very comfortable with him and he’s very good at his job,” Connor said.

“He was instrumental in helping us feel super comfortable and also look and feel realistic on screen, that was important. It’s like a dance. We blocked it out and we shot for about seven hours, the sex scenes. It would be like, ‘OK, spoon now’, and ‘kiss’ and ‘our hand under the cover’… It was very much like that, intense.”

For Locke, it was helpful to know that most of those behind the camera had been working with them for years. “Most of the crew was the same for all three seasons, so you get to know people really well and you feel so comfortable around them that the embarrassment sort of goes away,” he said.

He joked that he and Connor had seen enough of each other by the time the filming session was over, however.

“It was a long day. We normally have dinner as a cast at the end of the day [but] we were both like: ’See you tomorrow’.”

Locke in particular is happy with the finished product, and believes that the intimate scenes, which arrive later on in the season, will be the moment fans are most excited to see.

Asked which scene they think is the most anticipated, he replied: “Them having sex. I think the Heartstopper fans are way hornier than they think they are, and they are ready for it.”

Considering season three is a big emotional hitter, there are plenty of other key moments which Locke and Connor think went particularly well.

Asked which he was most proud of, Locke described a scene first seen in volume four of Oseman’s books, where Charlie writes to his folks about his mental health and eating struggles.

“I’d say the end of episode three for me, when Charlie is reading the letter he’s written to his parents,” the star said. “I remember filming it, I couldn’t get it. And they were like, ‘Oh let’s move on’, and I was like: ‘No, I just need one more [take]’.

“There’s nothing nicer as an actor [than] feeling: ‘Oh, finally. I finally got that scene’. I was worried about doing that storyline truthfully and effectively, so when we did that I was like, ‘OK, I’ve done as best as I could’.”

Connor’s favourite the scene is where Nick plucks up the courage to tell Charlie he’s worried about him and begs him to seek help.

“The one I was most proud of may have been just before that scene, when we’re in my bedroom and have the heart-to-heart. That’s a really nice scene and I was happy with how it came out,” he said.

However, overall, it’s episode four, “Journey”, that Connor can’t wait for fans to see. “It’s my favourite Heartstopper episode I’ve ever done,” he teased.

Season three of Heartstopper is due to drop on Netflix on 3 October.

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