Olivia Colman Proud of Kit Connor for Coming Out, Slams His Bullies

Olivia Colman has come to the defense of Heartstopper co-star Kit Connor after Connor came out in what appeared to be a response to accusations that he was queerbaiting fans. Colman said the 18-year-old was "a very beautiful human being."

The two star as mother and son in the Netflix series, a series that follows two teenage boys who start dating. In the show, Connor's character, Nick Nelson, comes out to his mother, telling her he's bi.

At the premiere of her latest film Empire of Light, Colman told Variety, "I am so proud of him, but I am not proud of how people bullied him."

She added, "I think people should be allowed to have their own journey. But I'm incredibly proud of him as a young man to deal with all of that and be in the spotlight. It's unfair."

"But he's amazing. He's a very beautiful human being."

Connor decided to quit Twitter in September. He did so after a video appeared online seeming to show him holding hands with actor Maia Reficco who stars in Cuban Girl's Guide.

About a month later he tweeted again.

"Back for a minute. I'm bi," Connor wrote. "Congrats on forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye."

The writer behind the graphic novel series on which the show Heartstopper is based, Alice Oseman, tweeted at the time in support of Connor, "I truly don't understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes. I hope all those people are embarrassed as F**K. Kit you are amazing."

Although forced out, Connor--who also portrayed a young Elton John in the feature Rocketman, said in a panel recently that playing a bi teen in Heartstopper "was a real pleasure to be able to portray that journey and those experiences."

He added that there was a "shockingly low amount of representation, especially [of] male bisexual characters."

"It is shocking because a huge amount of the LGBTQIA+ community is made up of bisexual people. It's a huge community but we really don't get much representation."

Production for Heartstopper's season 2 just wrapped.