![]() ![]() “When I meet teenagers who have read my books, from some I get the impression they’ve had such a better experience being LGBT+ in school now, but for others it sounds exactly the same. But haven’t things progressed over the past decade? She isn’t convinced. Oseman says the reaction of the other students was based on her own experiences of school. It’s far from the woke inclusivity you might presume today’s teens would embrace. Charlie has already come out as gay in school and is the subject of regular mockery, while anti-gay jokes are a recurring motif of Nick’s laddish friends’ chat. Heartstopper is set predominantly in a grammar school – a boys’ equivalent of the one Oseman attended – where homophobia is rife. Photograph: Rob Youngson/Neflixĭespite the story’s warm-and-fuzzy quality – the joy Nick and Charlie find in each other practically bounces off the screen – the show makes it quite clear that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for gay British teens. Kit Connor as Nick Nelson in Heartstopper. Age meant much of the cast was new to acting: William Gao, who plays Charlie’s exuberantly cynical best friend Tao, was discovered via an open casting their other friend Elle is played by trans TikTok sensation Yasmin Finney in her TV debut. ![]() Kit Connor – best known for his role as the young Elton John in Rocketman – is Nick, while newcomer Joe Locke is Charlie. It’s the norm for teens on TV to be played by twentysomethings, but “there aren’t enough shows where teens are played by real teens,” thinks Oseman. Oseman also felt it was important to fill the cast with school-age actors. I think people will still understand it.” Like how British audiences have no problem grasping the minutiae of the US school system? “Exactly!” I really, really wanted it to be set in Britain – I think that’s so integral.” Terminology such as “form groups” has confused overseas readers of the comics, but she insisted on keeping “all of those little British things. Oseman, who grew up in Kent, “wouldn’t have said yes to adapting it if they’d wanted to set it in America. Despite being aimed at a global audience, there is no Sex Education-style, vaguely transatlantic setting here. One of the stipulations was that it remained distinctively British. But Oseman was determined to stay true to the story’s roots. Heartstopper is the sort of meticulously crafted passion project that, done carelessly, could make for a painful page-to-screen translation. She began reshaping the comic into a TV show in 2019 and is still writing new chapters of the web version as we speak – aiming to draw a page every day of her working week. It took off quickly, popularity-wise – and then proceeded to take over Oseman’s life. Yet she was determined to turn the origin story of Charlie and Nick’s relationship into something “optimistic and joyful”. ![]() Solitaire was a relatively “dark” book about mental health, says Oseman, who is unwaveringly smiley and inclined towards brief, efficient explanations. Oseman started Heartstopper in 2016, plucking the two protagonists from her YA debut novel Solitaire, where they appear as supporting characters. Alice Oseman, photographed around Rochester castle for The Guardian. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |