13 fascinating facts about Heartstopper you might not know

Oct 09
Written by PinkNews Reporter

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's Alice Oseman, Leila Khan, Corinna Brown, Jenny Walser, Tobie Donovan, and flag creator Raff Dilhan at the launch of Queer Britain's Heartstopper Pride flag. — The *Heartstopper* Pride flag is on display at the Queer Britain museum in London. (Netflix)

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

Heartstopper season 3 cast — More than 10,000 people auditioned for the show. (Netflix)

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

Joe Locke hadn’t had an acting role before playing Charlie. (Netflix/SAMUEL DORE)

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

Alice Oseman hints at what to expect from season three of Heartstopper. — Alice Oseman played a train passenger. (Getty)

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

Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell) in Heartstopper season three. — Darcy (R) is slightly different in the show than in the source material. (Netflix)

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

Kit Connor as Nick Nelson in Heartstopper season three's iconic shower scene. — Kit Connor might have ended up playing Charlie, not Nick. (Netflix)

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

Olivia Colman in Heartstopper. — Olivia Colman’s stay was a short one. (Netflix)

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

Tori Spring holding a cup and smiling against a backdrop of purple, black, white and grey — Alice Oseman decided not to explore Tori’s asexuality yet. (Netflix/Canva)

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

Joe Locke and Kit Connor behind the scenes of Heartstopper season three. (Netflix) — Joe Locke (R) and Kit Connor benefitted from have an intimacy co-ordinator. (Netflix)

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

Charlie and Tori Spring in Heartstopper — A scene from Firework… err, we mean *Heartstopper* season three. (Netflix

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

These are all of the books Isaac reads in season two of Heartstopper — Isaac Henderson was created for the screen adaptation. (Netflix)

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.