How does it feel to have starred in a Netflix show that has changed the world? The Heartstopper cast knows. We’ve all heard the Spider-Man-inspired adage “with great power comes great responsibility”, and for the stars of the LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age TV series, it’s been a dominant way of thinking since the first season of the show aired in April 2022.
Over a year on, there are Reddit threads, YouTube videos and magazine articles that attest to how Heartstopper has changed so many people’s lives. Quickly becoming a Netflix phenomenon after its release, countless fans of varying ages have praised the show, which tells the wholesome tale of two British teenagers – Charlie, played by Joe Locke and Nick, played by Kit Connor – who fall in love at school, surrounded by a queer friendship group with their own stories to tell.
She joins a long list of MPDG characters who all deserve better.
What makes Heartstopper special, though, is its ability to tackle and normalise the challenges of coming out and coming to terms with your sexuality, while also keeping the most important journey at its centre: love.
As the second season launches, one of the show's stars talks to GLAMOUR about the pressures that come with that, particularly when it comes to creating something that could help and inspire the experiences of young queer people. “You feel a sense of responsibility, which is strange. I'm 20. I have nothing figured out,” Kizzy Edgell, who plays lovable lesbian extrovert Darcy Olsson, says. The irony of feeling like you need to be a good influence on younger generations when you’re still working stuff out yourself is not lost on them (Kizzy uses they/them/he/him pronouns.)
While the first season set up Joe and Nick’s love story, the second season goes broader, allowing the supporting cast – including Olivia Colman as Nick’s mum – to shine even more. We delve deeper into the friendship between Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney), as well as Darcy’s seemingly strong relationship with her girlfriend Tara. But all isn’t as it seems. The layers of self-evasive humour are peeled back, and we see Kizzy’s Darcy develop from a happy-go-lucky queer girl on the surface to something a bit more complex.
“It becomes very clear that for Darcy, humour is a coping strategy,” Kizzy explains. “[This season] you see more of her mind, and you understand her more.
“I guess she stops hiding things as much, which is brave of her. Really brave, braver than me. She is a much bigger person than I am.” When it comes to where Darcy ends and Kizzy begins, the actor insists that they are constantly inspired by their Heartstopper counterpart.
They explain: “When I don't know what to do in a situation, my flatmate and best friend is like ‘oh well what would Darcy do?’ The Darcy thing helps me with my self-esteem.”
Season two sees us get to know the parents and siblings of many members of the Heartstopper gang, including Darcy's. “Seeing Darcy's family gives you so much context about who she is, about why she is the way she is.” We also meet Nick’s brother David (played by Jack Barton), who serves as a sobering reminder of the homophobia and toxic masculinity instilled in all kinds of families. Some of his scenes are hard to watch. “You sort of recoil, it’s shocking,” Kizzy agrees.
It’s interesting to watch the unfolding family dynamics at play and how they impact the characters’ journeys as they come to terms with their relationships and sexuality, and Kizzy admits these elements of the story really resonated with them personally. "[It’s] clearly one of the biggest parts about being truthful as a young person – how you navigate that is is very rocky,” they say, crediting their close relationship with Heartstopper writer Alice Oseman, and their brilliance, as a key empowering factor for both the show and their development.
“We have really, really, really fantastic email chains with each other, which is insane. That's not a normal thing. You don't normally talk to your writer like that.”
Kizzy is openly queer, recently posting on their Instagram Stories “I am trans masculine (not a girl) and my pronouns are he or they btw.” They don’t feel any fear in discussing this part of their life. “I haven’t felt scared to talk about myself,” they tell GLAMOUR. “I know that it could potentially happen, but I don’t feel frightened. Which is nice.”
Darcy and Tara shared a kiss in season one that has gone down as one of the top onscreen LGBTQIA+ moments in history. Set to Clearest Blue by CHVRCHES, the kiss is the couple’s first public declaration of their relationship, and it’s seriously beautiful. The scene has even been called a favourite of Heartstopper cinematographer Diana Olifrova. “I was crying when I shot it, and I cry now watching it because it’s a big blast of positivity and happiness,” she said in an interview. Kizzy also has fond memories of filming this iconic scene, particularly when the crew paused filming to bring out a birthday cake, singing “happy birthday” to their co-star Rhea Norwood (who plays Imogen) between takes.
They praise the show’s intimacy co-ordinator David Thackeray for his tireless work on all intimate scenes. “He walks us through, even in scenes where me and Karina don't kiss – it's if we're touching each other,” Kizzy explains. “He's there and will make sure that we're both okay with what's going on. I don't have that much experience but I think it’s fantastic, and should be in every production ever.”
The closeness between members of the Heartstopper cast is both obvious and as wholesome as the show itself. Kizzy calls onscreen girlfriend Corinna their “rock” and is quick to point out co-star Yasmin Finney’s fantastic work, both in Heartstopper and elsewhere – she’s set to star alongside Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa in the new series of Doctor Who.
But it’s Joe Locke’s role that means a lot to Kizzy. They credit Charlie’s story as “sweet” and a great inspiration to young generations navigating their sexuality, relationships and coming out. “Being awkward, a not quite comfortable gay teenager… I’m not sure it’s something that we’ve seen a lot,” they said. "It’s not comfortable to be queer. You can’t just be bold the whole time. You can’t just be yourself the whole time. It’s hard.”
Social media remains a tough relationship for many members of the Heartstopper cast to navigate. Nick Nelson actor Kit Connor tweeted about feeling forced to come out as bisexual after overwhelming and aggressive fan speculation, and accusations of queerbaiting.
Recently, Kizzy moved away from using Twitter, and admits that dealing with social media remains tricky because they want to remain connected to the show’s fans, while protecting their own peace. “I do struggle with boundaries, putting them in place and saying I don't want to be here because that's that's where everyone who knows the show is,” they say. “I want them to to know that they can reach me if they they want to, if there's something they have to say to me, that's where I connect with him the most – much more than in real life.
“Most of us have now have realised that for our own brain, we have to have a more limited social media presence than we thought. Yeah, we've all taken a little step back.”
Kizzy is quick to credit Kit as a great confidante when it comes to dealing with fame. “Kit especially has given me such good advice about how to navigate this world,” they say. "He's been in it for a long time.”
That said, Kizzy is clear that therapy is another great means of navigating the heightened reality that comes with Netflix fame. “Having someone who isn’t involved in your life to talk to is invaluable,” they say. “No one understands anyone else’s life completely, but having a place to talk about your own life is really important.
They are quick to point out, though, the injustice of the fact that this privilege and resource isn’t easily available to everyone: “Therapy is really hard to access right now through through a healthcare system. And it sucks. It really sucks.”
Kizzy wanted to be a psychologist themselves (“I like knowing people, I like talking to people"), and was going to study psychology before being cast in Heartstopper. So where now, for Kizzy? They’re likely to be a huge part of the show's upcoming seasons – we know we’re definitely getting a third one – which are unlikely to be stopping anytime soon. Writer Alice Oseman has confirmed that there will be six graphic novels in total, with the fifth being released at the end of this year.
They’d love to direct eventually, calling themselves a “cliché” for wanting to do so. But for now, it’s all about playing Darcy – and crocheting by the seaside whenever they can to stay grounded, and not let the responsibility of acting in one of Netflix's most game-changing TV shows get to be too much.
“I do love to crochet. I think it's so good – I go to the sea and I crochet and I'm like, ‘this is the perfect day’. Nothing could be better than that.”
This interview was conducted before the current SAG-AFTRA actor's strike started.
Heartstopper’s second season airs on 3 August on Netflix.
