Netflix's queer, coming-of-age romance Heartstopper about two boys falling and love and stumbling about trying to communicate that to each other and openly express themselves has just released its first full season and there's a pretty stunning guest appearance amidst all the young love. While the heart (pun intended) of the show lies with the heartwarming relationships of the two boys Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nicholas Nelson (Kit Connor) and their friends, the webcomic turned novel based on by Alice Oseman also shows the importance of support on such a coming-of-age journey. This is best exemplified by Nick's mother Sarah. Sarah is shown to be kind, if a bit oblivious throughout the season before finally supporting her son in one heartwarming scene at the end. But it all came as a bit of a shock when Olivia Colman appeared on-screen to play the part!
Colman is a legendary actress with an Oscar win for her performance in The Favourite and a Primetime Emmy for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown among many other roles including in Fleabag, The Night Manager, The Mitchells vs the Machines, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, but there was nary a peep that she was even in Heartstopper. An issue of JÓN Magazine had previously teased that an award-winner would take the role, but there were no indications otherwise of who that could be. Colman in particular sticks out in a series made mostly of newcomers. Her moment at the end of the season shines through as she responds to Nick admitting his bisexuality with only pride and love for her son.
Oseman and producer Patrick Walters had discussed the idea of Colman playing Nick's mom, but they considered it no more than a pipe dream at the time. In an interview with Metro, Oseman even admitted that she thought sending Colman the role was "the stupidest idea ever" due to the level of fame and acclaim she had. She added, "I thought there was no way she would want to be part of this or anyone famous would want to be part of this. I was proven wrong!"
Playing opposite of Colman in the scene, Connor admitted to some nervousness and awe at the actress' innate ability to act, telling JÓN:
It was honestly insane. We spent two days filming with her and it was an honor to be able to work with someone of her calibre. She is utterly just so talented and just makes it seems so effortless. A lot of my really important scenes as a character are alongside her, so I felt like it was something I really wanted to get right. The last scene I have with her is one of the ones I sort of circled thinking 'I need to get that right' It's something I didn't take lightly, being able to work with her.
Apparently, Connor had nothing to worry about as Walters described the scene moving the veteran actress to tears, saying:
In their scene when he’s coming out to her in the rehearsal she was just looking at Kit and his performance was so moving she just burst into tears and forgot her lines. It was a kind of amazing dream. In being there with her on those days, she seemed to really respond to Kit and what he was doing in those scenes and to feel like the open communication between a mother and a son of that age, she said that was really lovely and nice to play.
Heartstopper also stars Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Cormac Hyde-Corrin, Sebastian Croft, Tobie Donovan, and Rhea Norwood. Oseman created and wrote the show based on her work with Euros Lyn on board to direct. Walters executive produced the series which hails from the production company See Saw Films.
All episodes of the first season of this charming, coming-of-age romance are up on Netflix right now.