Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman has opened up about changing Nick Nelson’s coming out journey for the show.
Over the last few months, queer TV enthusiasts have immersed themselves in the heartwarming Netflix series.
The show, which is based on Oseman’s graphic novel of the same name, follows Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), a “high-strung, openly gay over-thinker,” and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), “a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player”, and their blossoming romantic relationship.
Upon its release in March, the series earned rave reviews from critics – with viewers watching close to 25 million hours of the show during its first full week on the streamer.
While fans have thoroughly enjoyed the feel-good project, some have noticed that Nick’s coming out journey in the show slightly differs from its graphic novel counterpart.
During an interview with Radio Times at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, Oseman revealed why they had to slightly alter the beloved character’s story.
“The comics are so low stakes. When problems arise in the story of the comics, they’re solved almost immediately,” they explained.
“And that is something that people like about the comics, but it doesn’t work for TV because if there’s no drama, people will get bored.”
Oseman went on to say that the only big change incorporated with Nick’s story was “adding more tension and elongating” his coming out journey.
“Like, for example, Nick, who goes on this sexuality journey in Heartstopper – in the show it takes him longer to figure out who he is and feel comfortable with who he is, while in the comics, he sort of figures it out quite quickly, and that’s really nice,” they added.
While Netflix’s Heartstopper incorporated a few changes from its source material, the series has still gone on to reach critical acclaim from both old and new fans.
Due to its immense popularity, Netflix renewed the series for not one but two additional seasons.
“To those who have fallen in love with Nick & Charlie, cried watching Alice Oseman’s magical story brought to life, or felt represented for the first time on-screen, I am elated to announce… Heartstopper has been renewed for TWO MORE SEASONS,” the streamer tweeted in May.
You can watch the first season of Heartstopper on Netflix worldwide.
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