'Heartstopper' Star Kit Connor On Coming Out Before He Was Ready
| 07/08/23
Kit Connor Talks Coming Out
In October 2022, Kit Connor, English actor and breakout star of Netflix's Heartstopper, came out as bisexual in a post on his now-deactivated Twitter account. "I’m bi,” he wrote, “Congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye."
In the months leading up to this tweet, Connor - who plays queer teen Nick in Heartstopper - had been dealing with accusations of queerbaiting and speculation about his sexuality from fans of the series. So while the 19-year-old star did set the record straight by coming out, it wasn't exactly on his terms.
Now, Connor has revealed that he's looking at the experience in a slightly different light. In a new interview with British Vogue, he shared, "I think ‘forced’ isn’t the right word I would use, but I would say that I would have preferred to do it another way."
"I also don’t know if I would have ever done it," he added. "But at the end of the day I don’t regret it. In many ways it was really empowering."
Connor also told British Vogue about coming to terms with his bisexuality, saying, "It was just a very natural process for me. I didn’t really have an ‘oh, sh*t’ moment. It just became more and more evident."
But while his family was "super accepting and inclusive and wonderful," he found school to be "a very heteronormative atmosphere."
“It wasn’t hugely inclusive," Connor shared. "It wasn’t really accepted in a lot of ways…It’s the experience of maybe you’re too straight to be gay and you’re too gay to be straight. So it’s like, ‘Where do I sit?’"
"But I feel much more secure in myself now," he added.
Connor also noted that when he first rose to fame with Heartstopper, his sexuality "wasn't something [he] was ready to talk about.” When asked about how he felt in response to pressure from fans, he said, "I wasn’t angry. I was just slightly disappointed."
In addition to returning for Heartstopper Season 2, premiering August 3 on Netflix, Connor has landed roles in upcoming films A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow and One Of Us.
It's his hope that viewers won't "go and watch everything I’m ever in now and go, ‘Oh, it’s Nick from Heartstopper.'”
"I also don’t want to be labelled as anything, as a heartthrob or as the queer actor or as this or that. I want to be labelled as an actor who can do different things,” he said.
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