Kit Connor, the star of Heartstopper, has criticised generalisations about people’s sexuality based only on how they appear or act.
For a video for British GQ, the actor, who portrays Nick Nelson in the Netflix series, was looking back at some of the show’s most famous sequences with his co-star Joe Locke, 19, who plays his love interest Charlie Spring.
Kit, 18, spoke further about the time his character, Nick, approached his buddy, homophobic bully Harry Greene (Cormac Hyde-Corrin), at the cinema after watching a scene in which Nick confronted his friend, homophobic bully Harry Greene (Cormac Hyde-Corrin).
In the Netflix series, Harry and Nick are friends because Harry assumes Nick is gay, but a fight breaks out after hurtful comments are made about Charlie.
‘There are many ways to view masculinity in Heartstopper,’ Kit noted.
‘The idea that you can tell someone’s sexuality based on the way that they look, the way that they talk, the way that they walk, the way that they dress, is quite frankly ridiculous and it’s really quite harmful.’
He added: ‘Heartstopper, one of the strong messages it sends is the fact that, to do that, is frankly wrong.’
It was something the actor felt after coming under heavy scrutiny as others wondered about his sexuality.
Kit came out as bisexual after being accused of queerbaiting last year, but says he felt ‘forced’ to do so.
Kit remarked in a November tweet, ‘Back for a minute. I’m bi. Congratulations on forcing an 18-year-old to come out. I believe some of you missed the show’s message. Bye.’
The following month, Olivia Colman, who plays Kit’s mother in the series, said she was proud of him but not of how he was bullied.
‘I think people should be allowed to have their own journey,’ she said.
But she added that she was ‘incredibly proud of him as a young man to deal with all of that and be in the spotlight’, and while what happened was unfair, Kit was a ‘beautiful human being’.
Heartstopper is streaming on Netflix.