Where was Heartstopper filmed? 5 fun facts about Netflix’s new LGBTQ+ drama

The highly anticipated release of Heartstopper, the adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, is fast approaching! The new romantic teen LGBTQ+ drama will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday, April 22, and will surely be a hit among viewers, considering its glowing critic reviews.

Heartstopper has a huge following around the world for its wholesome boy-meets-boy love story. It follows teenage classmates, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) who strike up a friendship that develops into something more. If you’re curious about the upcoming show and want to impress your friends and colleagues with your knowledge check out where Heartstopper was filmed and these five fun facts about the show below!

Where was Heartstopper filmed?

According to What’s on Netflix, the eight-episode show based on the popular series of graphic novels was filmed entirely in England. More specifically, the shot scenes in and around Herne Bay,  a coastal village in the Canterbury district of Kent, England, UK, according to IMDb. Production took place in late April 2021 and continued until June 2021.

Of course, as per the comics, a lot of scenes will take place at Truham Grammar School, this is, unfortunately, a fictional place, but it will come to life in the Netflix drama, as teased in Alice Oseman’s recent Instagram post.

Fun fact #1: The series uses real teen actors

According to an article from The Guardian, Kit Connor and Joe Locke were approached for the roles of Nick and Charlie, as producers wanted to “more authentically depict” the teenage experience. This is something Alice Oseman also felt very strongly about.

“There aren’t enough shows where teens are played by real teens,” she told the publication in March.

Fun fact #2: Hearstopper is based on real life

In an article with Sean Z, Alice Osman revealed that she drew inspiration from her own life for the series.

“Often for me, it’s taking elements of my personal experience as a queer person,” Alice said in the May 2021 interview.

"“Much of Heartstopper comes from my own life – I too went to a single-sex grammar school in a conservative town in the south-east of England, and the world of Heartstopper and the people in it are all inspired by what life was like there.”"

Fun fact #3: Hearstopper is in the same universe as other Alice Osman novels

According to the Heartstopper Wiki, the webcomic series begins about “8 months prior to the events” of Solitaire (2015). And is” set in the same universe” as Radio Silence (2017), I Was Born for This (2018), and Loveless (2022).

Fun fact #4: Alice Osman maintained creative leadership throughout the production of the show

Alice wrote and executive produced the eight episodes of Heartstopper coming to Netflix this month with the help of See-Saw Films. According to a video interview with Gavin Hetherington, the production company behind the series “took a chance” on the webcomic writer by encouraging her to write the screenplay. She told Gavin:

"“They asked me to just try writing the first three episodes, ’cause I had never done any screenwriting before, and I could have been terrible, in which case they would have had to find someone else, but thankfully they really liked what I wrote and I got to write the whole thing. And it’s been the best.”"

Fun fact #5: Hearstopper challenges LGBTQ+ stereotypes

In an interview in May 2019, Alice Osman revealed she deliberately wanted to challenge LGBTQ+ stereotypes with her graphic novels by making an athletic teenager character part of the community.

“I wanted to challenge the idea that a person’s sexuality is determined by their appearance or their interests, or vice versa. People can be complex and multi-faceted,” Alice told The Reading Realm.

Don’t miss the new Netflix show when it premieres on April 22.