Where do you go once you’ve reached happily ever after? That was the challenge for Heartstopper creator and executive producer Alice Osman heading into season two of her syrupy sweet smash hit Netflix series about young queer love. Season one of Hearstopper, which took the world by storm when it premiered in April of 2022, followed out gay teen Charlie (Joe Locke) as he falls head over heels for popular, seemingly straight rugby player Nick (Kit Connor). By the end of the first season, Nick has discovered his bisexuality, come out to his mother (Olivia Colman), and is completely smitten with Charlie. Now that the two boys were madly in like-like, where was Heartstopper to go?
“In season two, we get to actually see them being in a real relationship,” says Oseman, Zooming in from Kent, England. “Being happy and excited to be together, and seeing them kind of just get to know each other a bit better and understand each other more.”
Oseman, who uses she/they pronouns, pulled from her own series of graphic novels to continue Charlie and Nick’s journey. “Their story is very, very similar to volume three of the comics,” she says. While Nick and Charlie are still decidedly in the honeymoon phase of their teenage dream of a romance, season two of Heartstopper also deals with thornier subjects, as Nick deals with the awkwardness of coming out and Charlie grapples with the aftershocks of years of bullying. “Balancing the lightness with the darkness is kind of the core element of writing Heartstopper,” Oseman says.
Doing this isn’t always easy, especially when your show became a worldwide phenomenon for fans who love to see their favorite characters happy. “Showing these beautiful, adorable, wholesome, lovely moments that Heartstopper is known for while also exploring real issues that real people are dealing with can be really hard,” she says.
Oseman managed that in part by expanding the purview of the series, spending more time this season with Nick and Charlie’s queer group of besties—Tara (Corinna Brown), Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), Tao (William Gao), Elle (Yasmin Finney), and Isaac (Tobie Donovan). “We have so much more going on for the supporting cast,” Oseman says, excitedly. And it’s true: Cracks begin to show in girlfriend’s Tara and Darcy relationship;. Tao and his trans BFF Elle take their friendship to the next level. Even book-loving Isaac gets space to interrogate his own sexuality.
Within the friend group, almost every letter of the LGBTQ+ spectrum is represented in some way. Oseman, who has previously said that she identifies as asexual and aromantic, says that representation was “definitely intentional” as she “wanted to show a real diverse range of experiences.”
“Although the show is very focused on Nick and Charlie, I really wanted us to feel that it has this big queer friendship group at its heart,” she continues. “It’s just kind of part of what Heartstopper is: showing all these people with different experiences, but also reassuring you that no matter who you are, you can find joy and love and friendship and happiness and hope, and all that good stuff.”
Of course, the teenage LGBTQ+ experience is not only good stuff. Following the massive success of season one, 18-year-old Kit Connor tweeted that he felt he was “forced” to come out as bisexual, after rabid Heartstopper fans accused him of queerbaiting. At the time, Oseman voiced her support for Connor, replying to his tweet, “You owe nothing to anyone. I’m so proud of you my friend.” (The entire twitter thread has since been deleted). When asked about the situation over Zoom, Oseman voices her support for her entire cast, without singling out Connor in particular. “I feel so proud of all of them, because I feel so proud to have a cast who cares so much about the story and are putting themselves out there, being amazing representatives of the queer community and inspiring people,” she says. “They’re so inspiring for so many young people now. I just feel very proud of all of them and protective of all of them, and I want to support whatever they’re doing.”
Real world drama aside, this season, Nick, Charlie, and their group of besties get to experience queer romance in the most romantic place of all: Paris, France. Shooting on location in the City of Love “was a big challenge,” says Oseman. “It was really difficult. Filming in a big city in very public places around some very popular cultural landmarks—that’s kind of one of the biggest challenges you could face for making a TV show.”
Heartstopper shot for 9 days in Paris to capture its class trip episodes, which see the friend group visit iconic Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. “It was very intense,” Oseman recalls. “There were a lot of very early mornings. We had two of those mornings where we were up the Eiffel Tower at 7:00 AM as the sun was rising before all the tourists arrived, and we had a small shoot in the Louvre as well.”
The early mornings were all worth it. “It was really, really magical,” Oseman said. “Although everyone was kind of exhausted and stressed out, I think everyone really treasured that experience, for sure.”