After Joe Locke Revealed That The Upcoming Third Season Of “Heartstopper” Is “About Sex,” Kit Connor Has Revealed That They Spent Seven Hours Filming Intimate Scenes
It is fair to say that one of the most endearing aspects of the TV adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series Heartstopper is how PG it has remained while exploring protagonists Charlie and Nick’s teen romance.
In fact, the characters have remained so chaste that it has actually sparked criticism from some viewers, who argued that it simply isn’t a realistic representation of high school relationships.
The critique is perhaps best highlighted by drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya’s viral reaction to Season 2 of the show last year.
After watching a scene where Nick tells Charlie that he only wants to kiss when they spend the night alone in a Paris hotel room, Trixie exclaimed: “I can’t fucking take it anymore! What are we watching?! Was this filmed for PBS?!”
“Why would we fuck when we could smile at each other?” Katya then teased, with Trixie adding: “Why don’t we just hold hands at the post office?”
“I don’t want them to have sex because I want to watch teenagers have sex,” Trixie then clarified, explaining: “I just want it to be closer to real.”
And in a recent interview with Variety, 20-year-old Joe Locke, who plays Charlie in the show, admitted that the cast understands this criticism.
“We also, as a cast, have made those jokes many times,” he told the publication. “I mean, we always joke that if it was actually real, they’d be in the bathroom just… Yeah. The mushy part became old hat.”
But Joe went on to reveal that this modest approach is set to change in the upcoming third season of Heartstopper, which he said will explore the sexual side of Charlie and Nick’s relationship.
“The show is growing up,” he said. “The second half of the season is about sex.”
Discussing what it was like filming these intimate scenes with his costar Kit Connor, who plays Nick, Joe said it was “almost like being in Season 1 again with the first ever kissing scene.”
“Me and Kit are so comfortable with each other, but it’s still a vulnerable thing to do,” he added.
Now, in a new interview with the Times, 20-year-old Kit has given his perspective on the situation — and also shed some light on what viewers can expect from the upcoming scenes.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve outgrown the show because the show is growing in itself,” he began, going on to explain that working with the same intimacy coordinator since Season 1 made this development all the more comfortable for him and Joe.
“We’ve been taking baby steps,” he said. “Season 1, he would be there making sure that we were comfortable holding hands. And now we’re doing the sex scenes.”
Discussing the sex scenes specifically, Kit then revealed: “We shot a lot of footage for them. Not much actually ended up in the show. But we shot the sex scenes for about seven hours!”
And this seven-hour shoot ended in the exact same way as every other day of Heartstopper filming ended for Joe and Kit: enjoying dinner with the rest of their castmates.
When asked how they wrapped up the intense day, Kit said: “Same as every day filming — pile into someone’s apartment, as we were living in the same complex, and just collapse on the sofa. If someone was finishing a bit earlier, they would cook, or we’d get a delivery — it was lovely.”
Heartstopper Season 3 will hit Netflix on Oct. 3, 2024.
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