The new series Heartstopper is a love story with two queer teens, Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor), front and center. That’s why the creative team went all in on crafting the show with authenticity at its core, from only casting actors that had “an essence of that character in them,” according to executive producer Patrick Walters, to hiring LGBTQ+ crew members for the production on set.

Behind The Making Of 'Heartstopper'

As series director Euros Lyn describes in the making-of video above, “We wanted to find a cast that was truly diverse, that represented the characters authentically.”

Walters echoes that “casting Heartstopper authentically was the absolute priority. It’s the only way we could have ever done it. The spirit of the piece is all about making people who don’t feel seen, seen.” 

Especially when it comes to a trans character like Elle Argent, as played to joyous MVP status by Yasmin Finney, he says “there’s only one way you can cast that character. And that extends across all of the parts, in that we found someone who has an essence of that character in them.”

The behind-the-scenes video further emphasizes how representation didn’t stop with the casting. Rather, Lyn was adamant that as many people on the crew behind Heartstopper, from the photographers and designers to makeup and hair team members, be from the LGBTQ+ communities, “so they could bring their experiences and identify the bits of the story that can only be from an LGBTQ perspective.”

The Heartstopper team even enlisted an LGBTQ+ consultant to help accurately portray adolescence for queer teens today. Jeff Ingold, who has worked as the head of media for LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall UK, shares in the video that crafting an LGBTQ+-minded space was at the heart of bringing Heartstopper to life. “We did a lot of conversation and training around what was happening in schools these days,” Ingold says. “So, particularly for the cast, they could take that into the roles. And for the crew, they could also understand why the show matters and what it’s gonna mean to the audience who watch it.”

Series creator and writer Alice Oseman, in particular, was thrilled with how quickly the Heartstopper cast took to each other on set. “It’s so nice to see that the cast have all become such good friends. You don’t know if that’s gonna happen. They might all hate each other,” she says in the video. “But in this case, they’ve just really bonded. Like, immediately.”

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community himself, Lyn understands the importance for a queer story like this to be told with such joy in front of and behind the screen, since, as he says, “TV and film is the art form of our age.”

Ingold is also hopeful that LGBTQ+ people can watch the show and see their younger selves reflected back to them, since a show like Heartstopper might not have been available to watch growing up. As Ingold recalls in the video, “That was something that I was robbed of growing up. I didn’t get to see two boys in school having a fun, nice time and showing that that was a possibility. And if you can’t see that when you’re growing up, you don’t think you can have it.”

He goes on to say, “The damage and trauma that that can do is a lot, so I think the hope that this show will give to lots of young LGBT kids is hugely important.”

Watch the full behind-the-scenes video above for more queer joy from in front of and behind the camera.