Agatha All Along<\/a>. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to live in London at 22 without it. I wouldn\u2019t be doing acting. My life would be completely different.\u201d<\/p>\nWhile Locke still looks very much like Charlie, only with a stylist, Connor, also 22, is almost unrecognisable. There\u2019s designer stubble, for a start, while Nick\u2019s floppy fringe has been artfully hacked. A battered denim jacket and chunky silver rings give him the air of a box-fresh rock star.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I\u2019ve grown up in these new circumstances, and these [experiences] make such a huge difference to the way that you perceive the world,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve given me a different perception of myself as well, which is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The characters have aged with the actors. While the film is not quite at Euphoria levels of debauchery, there\u2019s a lot more sex. \u201cIf I\u2019d had my way, I would have had Nick and Charlie cheating on each other and doing all those stupid things,\u201d laughs Connor. \u201cBecause young people do that and don\u2019t necessarily need to be villainised for it. Heartstopper Forever takes a step in that direction of not being so rose-tinted\u00a0about being human.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an early scene, the pair engage\u00a0in sexual activity on a pier, while there are also scenes of mutual masturbation. \u201cIt\u2019s a line that you have to walk: \u2018How far are we going to take this?\u2019\u201d says Connor. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it did feel like these two guys are really attracted to each other at the age where they probably would have been doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life-changing \u2026 Locke and Connor. Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n
Locke adds: \u201cIt would be weird if we hadn\u2019t shown it. Just because our show is a more earnest version of a queer representation doesn\u2019t mean that sex [shouldn\u2019t be shown]. It\u2019s still a big thing for anyone in the world.\u201d That the characters are in love is an added bonus, Locke says, but it\u2019s not about valorising monogamy. \u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t think Heartstopper is ever trying to say anything bad about casual sex,\u201d he says with a shrug. \u201cIt\u2019s just nice to see two boys in love.\u201d The act of filming those scenes is something they\u2019re still not\u00a0used to, however. \u201cIn a silent room with lots of middle-aged men,\u201d laughs Connor. Locke adds: \u201cA camera right next to your face while you\u2019re wearing a cock sock.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair are newly minted executive producers on the film, roles that gave them \u201ca lot more say and involvement in the whole process of script edits\u201d, Connor says. \u201cObviously, Alice [Oseman] knows Heartstopper better than anyone and we would never want to get our grubby little hands on it too much.\u201d Heartstopper, he adds, \u201cisn\u2019t just Alice\u2019s any more. It\u2019s everyone\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ask about reports that suggested the reason Heartstopper is ending with a film, as opposed to a season, is because of falling viewing figures for the third instalment (down about 30% compared with season two). It\u2019s a topic Oseman had touched on during the set visit last year, citing myriad \u201ccomplicated\u201d factors that went into the decision.<\/p>\n
Locke, who seems less at ease during the interview than his more eager castmate, bristles at the idea of declining interest. \u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t know how true that figure is, but the Heartstopper audience has been loyal throughout. I didn\u2019t feel like season three had any less of an impact.\u201d When I suggest it was perhaps becoming harder to reach its desired audience in an increasingly hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people, Locke adds: \u201cThat makes it more important. What\u2019s great is that Netflix is everywhere. So even in these countries where you can\u2019t be so openly queer, Heartstopper is still on Netflix and\u00a0people still have access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
By spotlighting queer representation \u2013 be it homosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality \u2013 and the joy of trans lives, Heartstopper has always felt political. Within the world of the show, and now the film, it offers a blissful antidote to the culture wars that rage just outside its bubble.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, however, that reality has crept in. In season three, for example, Elle\u2019s appearance on a radio show to discuss her art is transformed into an interrogation about her trans identity, while in the film she gives an impassioned speech that touches on trans rights.<\/p>\n
Transformative \u2026 Yasmin Finney as Elle (right). Photograph: Samuel Dore\/Netflix<\/p>\n
\u201cHeartstopper is a form of escapism for queer people,\u201d Finney tells me on set. \u201cIt\u2019s not about: \u2018Look what\u2019s happening in the world, feel sorry for us.\u2019 It\u2019s more: \u2018This is what queerness can be and it\u2019s beautiful and it transforms in many different ways.\u2019 But I think it\u2019s just as important to have realism as it is to have escapism. Because we\u2019re still living in an epidemic where trans people are constantly being ridiculed. Every day I try to just focus on the present and stay positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the film looks to the future, offering a taste of what each of the main character\u2019s post-school lives might be like, there\u2019s also a sense of looking back. Nick and Charlie are shown poring over old pictures of themselves as \u201cbabies\u201d (AKA 14- and 15-year-olds) and reminiscing about their youths. So what advice would Connor and Locke give their younger selves at\u00a0the start of their own Heartstopper journeys, before the sudden fame and pressure of carrying a cultural juggernaut?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust enjoy it,\u201d Locke says immediately. \u201cIt\u2019s a very weird and strange and stressful thing, and I know I got in my head about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor looks over like a protective older brother. \u201cI\u2019d probably say something similar. It shouldn\u2019t be scary. Heartstopper is one of the more beautiful things you could ever do. So embrace the beauty of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having each other helped. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine how you\u2019d deal with it on your own,\u201d Locke says. \u201cIt\u2019s happened to all of us at the same time, so it\u2019s really nice to just have that support. Especially as it\u2019s such a unique thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor\u2019s and Locke\u2019s final Heartstopper scenes together took place in Burnham Park in Buckinghamshire, a location that has appeared throughout the series. \u201cIt was just us two, which is a nice way to end it, like a very nice loving scene,\u201d says Locke, smiling.<\/p>\n
They both wonder if they\u2019re in denial about the whole enterprise being over. \u201cThis press tour is a way of telling your brain that: \u2018Oh yeah, it\u2019s not actually done yet,\u2019\u201d says Connor. \u201cBut after this, then I think it may hit us, because there\u2019s a feeling of: oh, wow, it\u2019s in the past.\u201d He pauses, still taking it in. \u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0it, school is out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heartstopper Forever is on Netflix from 17 July<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a house near Maidenhead in Berkshire, a group of sweaty teenagers are throwing a party. Vodka bottles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}