'Heartstopper' Leads Celebrated at GQ's 'Men of the Year' Event

"Heartstopper" leads Joe Locke and Kit Connor were celebrated at the 2022 edition of the Gentleman's Quarterly "Men of the Year" event, the magazine reported.

The series co-leads, who play a same-sex high school couple in England in the smash hit Netflix series, were introduced as 2022's GQ Men of the Year by another actor, Paul Mescal, who himself starred in the BBC Three/RTÉ One/Hulu 2020 miniseries "Normal People," about a straight couple in high school and college in Ireland.

Locke and Connor, praised by Mescal as "brilliant, brilliant actors," returned the adulation, with Connor recounting how "literally over the last year I don't know how many times I watched 'Normal People,' it changed my life. I was crying in my bedroom constantly."

"This is the most insane moment of my life," Locke declared when it was his turn at the microphone. "This time two years ago I was sat in my bedroom in the Isle of Man thinking I was going to study law, and now I'm here."

Locke went on to say, "Heartstopper meant so much to us personally, and so much to a lot more people in the world than we thought it would, and it's been so great to have been a part of a show that's meant so much to people who felt they haven't seen themselves on screen."

"It's been the craziest year, and I can't think of anyone better to have shared it with than Kit."

GQ related that the "blinding overnight success" of the sweet comedy-drama, which is based on the web comic by Alice Oseman, "made Connor and Locke wildly famous in a way neither anticipated."

That fame brought downsides with it. Locke went into the series as an out gay man, but Connor was shy about making any declarations around his own sexuality. His desire for privacy prompted some to accuse the 18-year-old of "queerbaiting."

Connor initially pushed back and spoke out against pressure to label himself. In September, he withdrew from social media in the face of the onslaught. He eventually returned to social media for a single post, stating in an Oct. 31 tweet, "back for a minute. i'm bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself."

Connor added: "i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye"

Castmates, fans, and Oseman all flocked to show their support, with Locke posting, "You owe nothing to anyone. I'm so proud of you my friend."

With the show's instant popularity, Netflix was quick to green light a second and third season of "Heartstopper." Connor and Locke, along with the other cast members, are currently filming Season 2.

"We grow up with the characters, but we're also growing up [as people]," Locke told GQ in the magazine's "Men of the Year" issue, which Locke and Connor covered. "Their views of the world are changing, and those changes happen quite quickly when you're a teenager because of hormones and school being horrible."

Not that the series itself dwells in a place of pain and misery. Quite the contrary; while acknowledging the universal pains of adolescence, and the singular suffering of LGBTQ+ youth, the series is "a joyous and proudly uncynical work of mainstream queer representation, geared towards an audience who had never had it in that form before," GQ said.

Unlike Locke, who is relatively new to acting, Connor has acted professionally since the age of eight – but his sudden stratospheric fame took him by surprise. The young actor told GQ that his experience has been "like you've just got your license and you're suddenly asked to be a getaway driver. There are certain things that you're asked and expected to do, but you feel so unbelievably unequipped."

A teaser for "Heartstopper," Season 2, has already been released, showing the cast at a script reading and riffing on the breathless greeting the two main characters utter any time they meet: "Hi!"