One of Netflix’s most popular shows, Heartstopper, is coming to an end – not with a fourth and final season, but with a feature film.
The hugely popular coming-of-age drama, celebrated for its tender, joy-filled exploration of queer relationships, began as a passion project by Alice Oseman. She was attempting to self-publish it as a graphic novel series when executive producer Patrick Walters came across it online and expressed his interest in making it for screen. As they say, the rest is history.
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The film is a swan song for the story’s protagonists, Nick and Charlie, played by Kit Connor and Joe Locke respectively.
“I want the movie to be a beautiful and emotional send-off…celebrating what Heartstopper means to people,” says Oseman, who also released the final instalment of her award-winning book series in 2026, and will be doing an international book tour until the end of this year.
The author describes the central theme of the story as “the ordinary magic of our everyday lives” and had previously hinted that the film takes inspiration from her sixth Heartstopper graphic novel, which sees the happy couple face a crossroads in their relationship as Nick prepares to leave home for university, while Charlie continues at Truham Grammar School. Can their love survive the transition into adulthood?
Their best friends are also facing growing pains. In Season 3, Imogen had kissed Sahar, Isaac was navigating identifying as asexual and aromantic, Elle was considering life abroad, and Tao was falling hard for Elle. Their stories will also be integral to the film’s plot.
Much of the original cast will be back for the film. Alongside lead actors Locke and Connor, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, and Tobie Donovan will return as Charlie’s best friends, Elle, Tao, and Isaac, as will Rhea Norwood and Leila Khan as Imogen and Sahar.
Also making a return are Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell as Tara and Darcy, who befriend Elle when she moves schools; Jenny Walser as Charlie’s older sister Tori; Darragh Hand as Michael; Bradley Riches as James; Eddie Marsan as Geoff; and Fisayo Akinade and Nima Taleghani as teacher duo Mr Ajayi and Mr Farouk.
Longtime fans of the show will say one of the best-loved scenes is when Nick comes out as bisexual to his mum, Sarah, played by Olivia Colman.
Colman’s heartwarming line, “Thank you for telling me,” became a viral moment after the first series aired in 2022.
Colman won’t be appearing in the film, though, due to filming clashes. Series creator Oseman believed her character was too integral to lose, so Anna Maxwell Martin is stepping in to play her. The film will also welcome Derek Jacobi in a cameo role.
If you’re looking to be cast in something similar to the Heartstopper series, keep an eye out for open casting calls for TV dramas in your area.
Heartstopper is a welcome reminder that if you want to audition for a Netflix series, you don’t always need to have prior experience. A number of leading cast members – including Locke – had never acted professionally before.
The casting team, which was headed up by casting director Daniel Edwards but also saw involvement from Oseman and Walters alongside director Euros Lyn, used an open audition process, which included a call-out on social media, to find the teenagers.
Part of the reasoning behind that approach was that it would have been unlawful to ask about anyone’s gender identity or sexuality. But an open callout provided the opportunity for undiscovered talent who identified with the characters to come forward.
Over 10,000 people applied for the series in 2020 (Edwards’ website crashed), of whom the team selected 6,000 to submit self-tapes. They reviewed every single one.
“We originally had six months to cast, but, due to COVID, that was narrowed down to two months,” says Edwards, who started his career as an actor. “It meant seven-day weeks, 12-hour days – but we’ve got the cast of our dreams and I’m so proud of them.”
“We needed to open [the casting] up to the fans and also to the people who are hidden and haven’t been seen – the young, queer communities out there,” Edwards says.
For certain characters, the casting process was a bit more challenging because of the specificities Oseman had in mind.
Elle had to be a trans actor of colour, Tara had to be a young woman of colour, and Tao had to be of East Asian heritage.
Since Yasmin Finney was cast for Elle, she has directly seen the impact it has made. “I feel like now the industry is kind of hungry for trans roles,” she says.
On the flip side, when casting Isaac, the team didn’t have a detailed guide on what Oseman was looking for other than that she’d know Isaac when she saw him. Numerous actors auditioned before Donovan made the cut, with just two weeks before rehearsals began.
Donovan was working two jobs to save up for drama school when he got the audition and decided to send in his 30-second tape.
His acting proved just as right for the part as his looks. “In the show, when he bursts out into a line like, ‘I want to believe in romance,’ that’s Tobie adding his stamp on the character, and those little bits clearly mean a lot to people,” Walters says.
Oseman also admits that she was hoping to get a high-profile name to play Sarah, Nick’s mum, but was shocked that Colman said yes.
“I just couldn't believe it...because she’s such an incredible actress,” she says. “She brings so much to that character and all the scenes with Nick’s mum just feel so special and subtle and just really beautiful.”
LGBTQ+ equality charity Stonewall was brought in during production to sense-read scripts, while intimacy coordinator David Thackeray was hired to ensure that necessary protocols were followed and a supportive, safe culture was created.