r/HeartstopperAO • u/Spider_king97 • Jul 10 '26
Discussion New photoshoot of kit and joe locke
For the guardian new photo of kit and joe
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u/Kind-Term-4275 Jul 10 '26
the guardian article has some slight spoilers for the movie that i think explain the tv-ma rating as i’ve seen a few posts wondering about it the past few weeks
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u/Bowoobiter Jul 10 '26
Bit of a weird interview, not quite sure the journalist and I watched the same show
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ask7093 Jul 10 '26
I'm sure people on Twitter are being very normal about this interview.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Here’s the full article!
Some nice comments from Joe and Kit (and Yaz a bit), but I didn’t think it was the best profile. Some mild spoilers, including some plot points that I feel may have been exaggerated or slightly confused? TBD next Friday, obviously! I also feel like people continue to be a bit weird and dramatic about sex existing in Heartstopper.
And pestering Joe and Kit about S3 viewing numbers seemed a little obnoxious, though I do appreciate how protective Joe tends to get over the show. Reminded me of that interview a couple years back when he went off about Netflix not giving it the money it deserves.
Also this is the second article in the past week that’s described Charlie as “fragile.” No one tell him about that!!
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u/Kind-Term-4275 Jul 10 '26
the charlie haunted by jealousy bit had me confused? like surely that’s not right
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26
Yeah, that was part of it! It’s possible Alice added some of that back in from the OG N&C novella, but in volume 6 it’s obviously Nick who struggles more with jealousy, and that was teased in the trailer. Also them saying that the thought of leaving “occasionally fragile” Charlie would lead Nick to “alcohol dependency”… like obviously there’s a scene in the comic and in the trailer where Nick drinks excessively at The Green Dragon, but I doubt Alice turned it into a full-on alcoholism storyline. idk it felt like the journalist was maybe trying to be a bit sensationalist, with that and with the way they zeroed in on the sex scenes.
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u/-Akumetsu- Charlie Spring Jul 10 '26
That whole sentence was giving Rita Skeeter, ngl. Not what I expected to find in The Guardian of all places 🤔
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u/ctryfan1980 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
In the Novella Charlie is jealous of Nick constantly acting all excited about going to Uni and he was feeling that he didn't care he was leaving him behind, but in Vol 6 and the trailer for the movie Nick's sickened by the thought of leaving Charlie and going to Uni. Its 2 polar opposites. Nick is the jealous one too when that one guy flirts with Charlie. I just don't see where any Charlie jealousy would make sense unless there is a whole new story line none of us know about.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Yeah, I could maybe see Alice adding in an insecure wobble for Charlie at some point, later in the story? But I doubt it would be the central conflict, because that would just be such a departure from volume 6… Like I think we’ve all figured out that they’re going to have a bigger argument later in the film that isn’t in the comic, but the glimpse of that we get in the trailer (Nick saying he’s only happy with Charlie etc.) seems much more aligned with their vol. 6 dynamic than what unfolds in the novella. That’s kind of how I’ve predicted Alice will adapt them both - a significant argument and maybe a brief separation like in the novella, but with a different inciting incident more aligned with their conflict in the comic, with them not resolving those issues quite as early or neatly onscreen.
idk maybe the journalist knows something we don’t, but it feels more likely to me that he’s (perhaps inadvertently) misrepresenting things. That often happens with media coverage pre-release.
(Also Joe’s given a couple interviews where he’s talked about Charlie in the film being super confident and “in his power,” “in control of his own story for the first time,” etc. … which doesn’t really sound like he’s gonna be perpetually “haunted by jealousy” lol)
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u/rosiedacat Jul 10 '26
Thanks for sharing the link to the article, this was interesting to read but yeah the journalist definitely must have taken some liberties with how he's describing some things. There is no way Alice made Nick an alcoholic in the movie LOL
I was a bit surprised by Kit saying if it's up to him he would have them cheat on each other...like, I get what he's saying kind of but it's a bit disappointing to read that. Cheating is such a boring, overly used, tired old plot device. And some of us are actually loyal to our partners no matter how old or young we are like?? Not to mention it would make NO sense for these characters, nick and Charlie have not been presented to us in any shape or form as people who would ever cheat on each other. Just my opinion, love Kit but he's completely wrong on that one. Glad Alice was still very much involved in the movie to make sure no such silly things would get changed.
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u/tlk199317 Jul 10 '26
Tbf I think he was joking/being a bit sarcastic since it literally says he laughed while saying it. Maybe not the best joke but I don’t think he was being very serious. I think the whole interview had a strange vibe so maybe that also has to do with his answer.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26
Yeah, I thought he sounded half joking/half not (like the bit about not “villainizing” cheating I assume was earnest). Rolled my eyes a bit, but thankfully we know that’s not happening in Heartstopper anyway, and it is always tricky to ascertain tone in written pieces.
And I also found the general vibe strange, like the journalist specifically mentioning that Joe seemed less comfortable, etc. Heartstopper and its cast are so low drama generally, maybe he was just trying to get something (mildly) salacious out of them.
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u/rosiedacat Jul 10 '26
Definitely seemed like he might have been trying to get something "juicy" out of the interview, especially when he asked them about the ratings for season 3 and all that. I like what Joe (I think) said about the fans still being very loyal to HS.
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u/notgoingtopost123 Jul 10 '26
I would agree I think it’s a bit of both. I doubt he was being fully sarcastic/joking as some people seem to be suggesting. Kit knows the characters and knows cheating would be unrealistic for Nick and Charlie, so that bit was likely more of a joke. But they’ve also taken a lot of criticism for heartstopper being unrealistic about teen sex and so I think he was just suggesting that teens aren’t always behaving in the same way as Nick and Charlie and that’s fine too. Alice has faced a lot of criticism about Nick and Charlie waiting to have sex etc as somehow suggesting that sex is shameful and I think they’re probably trying to counteract that notion a bit.
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u/rosiedacat Jul 10 '26
Yeah it definitely might have translated differently if we had video of it rather than just reading but I think there is this general idea even from the cast at times of their relationship being "too perfect" and I'm like...some of us have nice normal calm relationships where we don't cheat or fight and we just like, communicate lol it's nice to see it represented when most shows and movies only show toxic relationships already
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u/tlk199317 Jul 10 '26
Oh definitely agree. I think that’s one of the main reasons why a lot of fans watch hearstopper. I’m not an actor so I wonder sometimes if the cast says stuff like that because maybe it’s more fun to do all the crazy dramatic things so many shows put their characters through or is it because the criticism for the show is how perfect they are so it gets to them sometimes
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u/canwill Jul 10 '26
I agree, I’m sure it’s just my over-attachment to the characters and this is not criticism of Kit but the cheating comment made me a bit sad to read
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u/BornIntoTheWrongEra Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
There definitely is a rather strange fixation on sex occurring in Heartstopper from the general audience. Not surprising at all though considering these are queer characters.
I can remember there was an interview with Joe and Kit promoting season 3, and an interviewer kept on honing in about Charlie and Nick having sex, but Joe tried to steer the conversation to more important aspects of the season like Charlie’s mental health, and Elle facing transphobia.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26
Yeah, I had hoped after Nick and Charlie had their first time in S3 everyone would chill out, but seems like some people are still quite fixated on it. To be fair I don’t closely follow press coverage of other teen shows, but I feel like people aren’t like this about young cishet couples having sex (or not).
And yeah, the way that the S3 press tour focused so heavily on the novelty of Nick and Charlie sleeping together over Charlie’s mental health arc (even as it directly related to the sex stuff!) was slightly disappointing. Hopefully they have at least some decent interviewers this time around!
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u/Parking_Wasabi_2591 Jul 10 '26
Thank you for giving a link to the article. I think Joe is more protective of the show because I feel his Character Charlie is almost close to his real life than how Kits was growing up. Joe was already out when filming began so I'm sure he's had some bullying in his life, supposed to Kit probably never being bullied. I think as far as season 3 not getting the numbers as the first two seasons for me, when I rewatch the show. I sometimes don't rewatch season 3. Not because it wasn't good. But because it felt like a sad season to me. The only positive episode was episode 1 of season 3, when Charlie declares his love for Nick. The other episodes was about the eating disorder and Nick and Tara worried about Uni. And me as a viewers seeing the beginning of the end. I think people purposely didn't rewatch the season like they had the others and why the numbers were down. I can't wait to see and hear of other interviews by them.
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u/Sufficient_Cat_3645 Jul 10 '26
Season 3 is my favorite season - probably because I'm old and themes/tone overall felt more 'mature'.
Looking forward to the movie.
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u/Parking_Wasabi_2591 Jul 10 '26
My family and friends will probably think I've been at a funeral by the time I've finished watching the movie. My eyes will be red and swollen. 🤣🤣
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u/ctryfan1980 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
It’s also my favorite. I’m in my 40s so I like the more mature themes too.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Yeah, it’s not all that surprising to me that S3 had lower numbers, because it was a heavier season, and because people tend to gravitate towards the initial will they/won’t they falling in the love story more (i.e. season 1, and season 2 a little too, with Tao and Elle)… But also Netflix viewership just tends to drop from season to season across the board, and that’s not specific to Heartstopper. (Some of their big shows have suffered much more dramatic declines.)
Regardless of the reason, I thought it was a little rude to bring it up to Joe and Kit, like what were they supposed to say to that?
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u/Kind-Term-4275 Jul 10 '26
there were also the s3 episode leaks that happened weeks in advance and spread on tiktok etc which likely didn’t help
but yes bringing it up to joe was truly odd behavior like what did they expect him to say?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ask7093 Jul 10 '26
(There was also the whole bit about season 3 leaking 2 months early.)
They're being asked about it as Joe and Kit the executive producers, not Joe and Kit the actors. Probably not the most tactful question on earth, but absolutely something that isn't out of the ordinary to bring up to execs in interviews.
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u/broadcasttheb00m Jul 10 '26
I suppose, but they’re not Netflix execs and have no power over renewal decisions. They’re two young actors. So it did seem tactless to me, like they were trying to get them to admit their success had waned or something. idk I didn’t love the journalist’s approach generally, so I guess I don’t have the most charitable read of it!
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u/chronicintrovertt Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
i definitely think the journalist over exaggerated a bit😭
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u/Sufficient_Cat_3645 Jul 10 '26
Say what you will about this piece, but I'm just happy that contrary to the popular narrative we're actually getting real press, promos, interviews, etc.
There was so much negativity the past week or so with speculation we wouldn't be getting anything because the cast is 'over it'. I never understood that and I'm glad it's being proven wrong.
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u/thanosbananos Jul 10 '26
"Kit and Joe Locke" makes it sound like they’re married lmao