Season 2 is the second season of Netflix's teen drama-comedy series Heartstopper. On May 20, 2022, it was announced that the series was renewed for two seasons. It premiered on August 3, 2023. It is preceded by Season 1 and succeeded by Season 3.
Synopsis[]
Nick and Charlie navigate their new relationship, Tara and Darcy face unforeseen challenges and Tao and Elle work out if they can ever be more than just friends. With exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris and a prom to plan, the gang has a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love and friendship.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Kit Connor as Nick Nelson
- Joe Locke as Charlie Spring
- William Gao as Tao Xu
- Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent
- Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson
- Jenny Walser as Tori Spring
- Sebastian Croft as Ben Hope
- Corinna Brown as Tara Jones
- Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson
- Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene
- Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney
- Stephen Fry as the voice of Headmaster Barnes
- Fisayo Akinade as Mr. Ajayi
- Chetna Pandya as Coach Singh
- Nima Taleghani as Youssef Farouk
- Olivia Colman as Sarah Nelson
Recurring[]
- Alan Turkington as Mr. Lange
- Araloyin Oshunremi as Otis Smith
- Evan Ovenell as Christian McBride
- Ashwin Vishwanath as Sai Verma
- Leila Khan as Sahar Zahid
- Bradley Riches as James McEwan
- Jack Barton as David Nelson
- Bel Priestly as Naomi Russell
- Ash Self as Felix Britten
- Thibault de Montalembert as Stéphane Fournier Nelson
Guest[]
- Georgina Rich as Jane Spring
- Joseph Balderrama as Julio Spring
- Momo Yeung as Yan Xu
- Rachael Stirling as Amanda Olsson
- Laura Hanna as Mariam Argent
- Habib Nasib Nader as Richard Argent
- Baby Queen as Prom Singer
- Euros Lyn as Security Guard
Episodes[]
Production[]
Casting[]
On July 8, 2022, an open casting call for the character of Sahar Zahid was sent out.[1] In September 2022, it was announced that Leila Khan would play the role Sahar Zahid, and it was also confirmed that much of the main cast from Season 1 would return for the second season. Other roles announced included Jack Barton as David Nelson, Nick's older brother; Bradley Riches as Truham student James McEwan; and Nima Taleghani as schoolteacher Youssef Farouk.[2] On November 4, 2022, it was announced that Colman, Chetna Pandya, Fisayo Akinade, and Alan Turkington would reprise their roles in the second season, along with new casting including that of Bel Priestly and Ash Self as Elle's new friends Naomi and Felix, respectively, and Thibault de Montalembert as Nick's father Stéphane Fournier Nelson.[3] On August 3rd, 2023, it was announced that this was the final season to feature Sebastian Croft, as Ben Hope, and his last appearance was in the season 2 finale "Perfect".[4]
Filming[]
The second season began filming in September 2022 at Twickenham Studios, London, and finished in early December the same year.[5][6]
The Berkshire town of Slough set the stage for countless scenes this season. Whether something unfolds at Truham, both on campus and right outside of it, they’re taking place in Slough. The same goes for park scenes, such as the one in Family, when Charlie, Nick, and Nellie sprawl out on a blanket, a noteworthy occasion that ends with Nick posting a photo of Charlie and his beloved pup on Instagram, making things extra official. Then in Promise, a post-exam bonfire party that draws a large gathering of students, was also filmed in Slough. [7] Then in Sorry, when Elle gets an opportunity to display her art at the Lambert School’s “Here and Queer” exhibition. The whole gang attends to show support and a lot plays out on the campus, from Isaac considering his sexuality at the exhibit to Ben apologizing to Charlie for previous wrongdoings. These scenes were shot in Farnham, Surrey.[7] While Heartstopper primarily filmed in the UK, the cast and crew did spend several days on location in France’s capital as they adapted a section of creator and executive producer Alice Oseman’s graphic novels. The time spent shooting in Paris was busy yet beautiful, according to the cast.[7]
In addition, a sequence set in the Eiffel Tower was filmed in "two mornings"; the cast and crew needed to reach there by 06:00 local time prior to being open for public. Oseman made another cameo appearance, this time at a Shakespeare and Company bookstore scene. Other locations include the Arc de Triomphe; the Pont des Arts; a café by the Seine; and the Marais, known as a centre of LGBT culture. Some scenes featured places in the district of Montmartre, such as the Sacré-Cœur, the Musée de Montmartre and a restaurant called L'Escalier. To pay homage to Tara and Darcy's kiss, Tao and Elle is made kissing at prom under ultraviolet lighting. Olifrova painted the camera filters for some of the scenes featuring Nick and Charlie kissing, for artistic purposes.[8]
For the scenes filmed in the Louvre, they were only allowed to bring in a reduced crew and limited lighting set ups. These sequences were filmed documentary style, with the director and cinematographer working alongside the two actors (Kit/Joe and Will/Yasmin respectively). Director Euros Lyn even managed to cameo as the security guard in the Coeur-Marly!
Costuming[]
Whereas the first season features blue-yellow colour palette, the second season features pink-pistachio. Various decors in the series settings, notably Truham, were changed to complement the summer backdrop. Costume designer Adam Dee wanted the series to feature more casual clothing and made T-shirts for Nick and Charlie that resembled the cover of the novel's third volume. Elle also wears clothing mirroring Finney's Bohemian background. Production buyer Zoë Seiffert found a Fjällräven bag matching Charlie's bag in the novel. The art department also contributed to the similarities with the original source material. Donovan collaborated with Oseman in creating a new look for Isaac[9]
Tao's new haircut was inspired by Chow Mo-wan, the male main character of one of his favourite films, In the Mood for Love (2000), whose poster is also featured in his bedroom.[10][11]
In regards to Elle & Tao’s Heartstopper moment at prom, Elle’s dress was an original 1970’s disco gown that the costume department took apart and remade to hide secret UV elements. There were hand-sewn UV beads on the dress that you couldn’t see until they were lit during the Heartstopper moment. As for Tao’s jacket which was also one of a kind and the costume department didn’t have another one to put UV elements on, so they painted UV elements on the jacket after they shot the exterior prom scenes. The UV paint on the jacket was hidden until the dance scenes, which was filmed towards the end of the shoot. Furthermore, the background artists in the Heartstopper prom scene also had UV elements added to their costumes in case they were dancing near the UV lights in the scene. When the costume team were shopping for the prom costumes, they had to take UV forensic torches with them to find fabrics and clothes which would react under UV light. As for Tao’s date shirt and the dress that Elle tries on in the charity shop for the art exhibition, they both feature butterflies. Butterflies are an important theme in Tao and Elle’s budding romance and they reference the butterflies seen in the animation from their Heartstopper moment in Season 1 when they were in the art classroom during Sports Day.
Each member of the supporting artistes at the school are fitted with their own school uniform to wear for the series. That is over 150 school uniforms. Baby Queen wore an original dress created by the costume department for the prom scene.
Paris filming required a lot of costumes. The main casts’ costumes alone were transported in 7 large wardrobe boxes and 6 full suitcases. While in Paris, Imogen wears Eiffel Tower earrings which were handmade by the costume department using miniature Eiffel Tower keyrings bought from a gift shop in Paris.
Charlie wears his original white Converse from Season 1. The only time the costume department changed this was for his Paris outfit to match Alice Oseman’s book cover for Heartstopper Volume 3. Surprisingly, the costume team had a huge collection of socks specifically to work with each character’s outfit. These had to be meticulously tracked for continuity for filming.
At the end of the season, the costumes are stored. This includes over 100 wardrobe boxes. Nick’s hoodies alone fill 7 boxes and Charlie’s jumpers equally also fill 7 boxes.
As she’s away from family and can express herself a bit more, Darcy wears a rainbow scrunchie while she’s in Paris. Throughout the season, Sahar and Imogen wear hair ties in the colours of the Bisexual flag.
Music[]
Baby Queen has the most tracks in the Season 2 mixtape, with 6 songs, including The Cure cover song commissioned for the show. There are many other returning artists from Season 1 featured this season: from Maggie Rogers, Orla Gartland, beabadoobee, Wolf Alice and mxmtoon. Wolf Alice actually has the closing song of "Meet in the first season, and Out in the second season. Moreover, it was always an aim to feature Taylor Swift in the Season 2 soundtrack if possible. Alice Oseman thought “Seven” was a perfect track for Tara and Darcy’s Season 2 storyline. Thus, production sought clearance of the track, as well as the poster for its parent album “Folklore”. This was placed in Tara’s bedroom by the art department in Sorry, foreshadowing the use of the track over a key Tara and Darcy scene in Perfect. Executive Producer Patrick Walters actually wrote a letter to Taylor Swift’s team outlining the scene and the significance of the track, and they were supportive of being involved from the very beginning. This was further confirmed on August 7, 2023 according to Matt Biffa, the show’s music supervisor, confirmed that Taylor Swift was so enamored by the Tara and Darcy scene that she let the team use her song “Seven”, taken from her critically acclaimed album Folklore, plays softly in the background without a whopping price tag.[12]
In the Paris episodes French music tracks were used wherever they could organically placed them, in order to expand the musical palette of the show, and invoke the feeling of new possibilities that the characters are experiencing by being in Paris.For Season 2, Adiescar Chase composed the score and employed electronic riffs to give it a contemporary feel. rearranged some previous tracks and made new ones. In the finale featuring Tara and Darcy, she recorded her singing to represent comfort.[13]
Notes[]
- On May 2, 2022, Kit and Joe were asked what they hoped could happened in this season (prior to the renewal announcement a few weeks later), Joe pointed out that volume three and four of the graphic novels, and how Charlie develops an eating disorder and his mental health takes a turn for the worse. So he's interested in seeing how they tackle it.[14]
- On May 20, 2022, it was also confirmed that Alice Oseman will return as a writer for Seasons 2 and 3. However, their exact episode orders are still to be determined.[15]
- The opening scene of Out, the second season premiere was released, and subsequently, the episode titles for the season were released on June 18, 2023[16]
- A trailer for the new season was released on July 25, 2023.[17]
- On July 25, 2023, while reflecting on the cast dynamic, executive producer Patrick Walters told Tudum on set that “it’s really gorgeous because they’re such a bonded gang in the comic and in the scripts that [Alice] wrote. And then you have these actors who are also equally bonded and love each other so much. It’s an energy of friendship on set, whenever the actors are there and a whole big gang. It’s really nice.”[18]
- Also on this day, Tudum, who was on set for the filming of the season 2 in Nov. 2022 revealed that one of Volume 3’s most anticipated scenes, the Truth or Dare game during the Paris trip. Oseman promised the filmed scene would be super true to the comics. The scene “is so accurate to the comics and I wrote that so long ago now. It’s very weird to see it in real life,” Oseman said. It’s also intentionally designed to look just like the comic strip. “Our director Euros Lyn and DP [Simona Susnea] always see if there’s a comic panel that looks like a shot they could do. They’ll always re-create that shot [if they can]. I love that every time I see it,” said Locke.[19]
- On August 1, 2023, Locke teased that in this season, the series will tackle disordered eating and mental health issues. “As the characters grow up, so does the show,” Locke explains. “I think it’s important we don’t shy away from that while retaining the optimism the show has.” Heartstopper’s more emotionally turbulent moments often rest on Locke and his co-star Connor, for whom he expresses nothing but love. Season two sees them level up with more intimate and stirring performances—a development Locke notes came about naturally. “Our friendships are much like the characters’,” he says. “We’ve matured and got deeper bonds that will definitely last for life.”[20]
- On this same day, it was mentioned that the new season is even more of an ensemble piece. Charlie and Nick’s romance is still the sun around which everything else orbits. But a lot of time is spent on Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Tao (William Gao) figuring out whether they are better off as platonic friends or something more, on revealing that Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) and Tara (Corinna Brown) aren’t quite the picture-perfect couple Elle takes them for, on Isaac (Tobie Donovan) expressing frustration over his friends taking him for granted because he’s not dealing with relationship drama, and on Imogen (Rhea Norwood) turning her attentions from Nick to Ben (Sebastian Croft), the closeted and cruel boy who used to make out with Charlie only when no one else was looking.[21]
- On August 5, 2023, Alice Oseman revealed that she identifies as asexual and aromantic, a term for people who say they don't feel romantic connections.[22]
- On August 29, 2024, a Storyboard/Pre-vis for Darcy's scene with her mom was released on Instagram.[23]
Trivia[]
- On June 30, 2022 (the last day of Pride Month), it was announced that Kit, Joe, Yaz and William were going to be guests on the July 1st, 2022 episode of Celebrity Gogglebox on Channel 4 at 9PM in the UK.[24]
- On July 18, 2023, Kit Connor revealed that in between seasons, he spent quite a lot of time at the gym bulking up to look more like how Nick is drawn in the graphic novels by Alice Oseman.[25]
- On August 9, 2023, it was revealed that the season just missed out on taking the number one spot in Netflix's most-watched list to legal drama The Lincoln Lawyer. According Netflix's Top 10 stats on Tudum it still recorded an impressive 6.1 million total views in its first week.[26]
- Also on this day, Oseman mentioned that the latest episodes for this season are actually largely inspired by Volume 3 of the graphic novel series.[27]
- Shortly after the premiere of Season 2, Sebastian Croft unveiled a new campaign for limited "Queer was Always Here" shirts similar to the previous season.[28]
- Not long after Netflix also revealed that official merchandise for the series would go on sale.[29]
- Kit and Joe really did run on to a live Metro train to film the scene at the end of Heat, however they had to
get off and come back at the next stop.
- During prom in Perfect, Baby Queen recorded her own version of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” especially for the show.
- Production conceived of the prom montage to be set to this track, and Baby Queen spent a day filming it at the school.
- By the end of the day she’d performed the track so many times her fingers were bleeding from the guitar strings!
- Will and Yasmin spent time preparing for the prom dance sequence with a choreographer who put together their ‘impromptu’ dance to the Baby Queen track.
- An extra school badge was created in Season 2 which encompassed a sunshine happy badge, and was used for one of Charlie’s Heartstopper moments in the gym changing room.
- There’s always music playing in the makeup room and the hair & makeup team lets the actors bring their own playlists to play so the team gets a good range of styles.
- The art department added a mini clarinet ornament and mini trumpet ornament into Tara and Darcy’s bedrooms as they are the instruments they play in season 1.
- For Elle’s exhibition piece, the art department was given a brief by Alice Oseman that the piece should be inspired by the style of the Belle Epoque artists Elle would have seen during the trip in Paris.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Merchandise[]
Videos[]
External Links[]
Watch Hearstopper on Netflix- Season 2 at the Internet Movie Database
- Follow Season 2 (@heartstoppertv) on Instagram
- Heartstopper on Wikipedia
- Listen to Hearstopper: Season 2 [Soundtrack From The Netflix Series] on Spotify
- Listen to Heartstopper: Nick & Charlie playlist on Spotify
- Listen to Heartstopper: Elle & Tao playlist on Spotify
- Listen to Heartstopper: Tara & Darcy playlist on Spotify
Listen to
References[]
- ↑ Dedwards Casting July 8, 2022 Tweet - Twitter
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Season Two Sets New Cast & Enters Production - Deadline
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Says ‘Hi’ to New Cast Members - TUDUM
- ↑ Ben Won’t Be Back for ‘Heartstopper’ Season 3 - TUDUM
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Eying September 2022 Filming Start - What's On Netflix
- ↑ 'Heartstopper' Season 2 Officially Wraps Filming - Collider
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Where Did ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Film? - TUDUM
- ↑ Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 With These Never-Before-Seen Photos - Cosmopolitan
- ↑ Study Up on 25 ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Easter Eggs and Fun Facts - TUDUM
- ↑ In the Mood For Love - Criterion
- ↑ Heartstopper costume designer shares how season 2 Paris trip changes Elle and Imogen - Digital Spy
- ↑ Taylor Swift personally offered Heartstopper her song after seeing this ‘beautiful’ queer scene - The Pink News
- ↑ The ‘Heartstopper’ Soundtrack Wants You to Feel the Music (Literally) - TUDUM
- ↑ Heartstopper stars Kit Connor, Joe Locke talk chemistry reads and potential season 2 - EW
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Renewed For Seasons 2 & 3 By Netflix - Deadline
- ↑ Watch the opening scene of ‘Heartstopper’ season two - NME
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Trailer Shows Charlie and Nick Taking Their Love Story to Paris - Variety
- ↑ Hi. The ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Trailer Is Here - Netflix
- ↑ What Happens in ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2? Here’s Why It ‘Won’t Let Anyone Down’ - Netflix
- ↑ With Heartstopper Season 2, Joe Locke Comes of Age - W Magazine
- ↑ ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Captures the Beauty of Queer Teen Love - Rollingstone
- ↑ Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman opens up about season 2 - BBC
- ↑ Aug. 29, 2024 IG post - Instagram
- ↑ Scottygb June 30 2022 Tweet - Twitter
- ↑ Kit Connor Wasn’t Ready The star of Netflix’s teen rom-com Heartstopper was forced to come out by fans. He’s not letting them get to him anymore. - Vulture
- ↑ Heartstopper season 2 just misses out on topping Netflix's most-watched list - Digital Spy
- ↑ Alice Oseman Couldn’t Wait to Bring Two ‘Heartstopper’ Comic Panels to Life - TUDUM
- ↑ Queer Was Always Here campaign - Queer Was Always Here
- ↑ Heartstopper Collection - Netflix shop