How old the cast of Heartstopper on Netflix are in real life compared to their characters

Heartstopper is the queer high school series we all needed, and people around the world have fallen in love with Charlie Spring, Nick Nelson and all their friends. The show is set in a British secondary school with most of the main characters being in year 10 or 11, making them mostly 15-16 years old. Heartstopper writer, Alice Oseman, has said “there aren’t enough shows where teens are played by real teens” – and whilst the cast may be older than their 15-year-old characters, their real life ages aren’t too far off. Most of the Heartstopper cast are actually still in their teens.

Here are all the ages of the Heartstopper cast in real life, compared to how old their characters are:

Kit Connor – Nick Nelson

Age: 18

Kit Connor plays Nick Nelson, the rugby boy who is called a “golden retriever” and whom everyone has fallen in love with. In Heartstopper Nick is year 11, making him 16 years old, but Kit is 18 in real life.

Joe Locke – Charlie Spring

Age: 18

Heartstopper’s angsty main character Charlie Spring is played by Joe Locke. In the series we see Charlie celebrate his 15th birthday – with a bowling party naturally, because what else do 15-year-olds do? In real life Joe is 18 years old. His character Charlie is the year below Nick, but in real life Joe is actually a few months older than Kit who plays Nick.

Yasmin Finney – Elle Argent

Age: 18

Yasmin Finney is probably the coolest person on the planet, and plays Elle Argent. In real life Yasmin is 18 years old and mates with Tayce from Drag Race UK! Elle is the school year above Charlie, making her character 15 or 16 in the Heartstopper series.

Sebastian Croft – Ben Hope

Age: 20

One of the worst characters in Heartstopper is Charlie’s ex Ben Hope, played by Sebastian Croft who calls himself a member of the “Ben Hope hate club”, lol. Sebastian is 20 years old, much older than Ben who is 16, the year above Charlie.

William Gao – Tao Xu

Age: 19

William Gao plays Charlie’s film-obsessed mate Tao Xu. Tao is 15 in Heartstopper, in the same year as Charlie, but William is 19 in real life.

Corinna Brown – Tara Jones

Age: 23

Tara Jones is an iconic character, she befriends Elle and says that kissing Nick Nelson helped her realise she’s a lesbian, lol. Tara is played by Corinna Brown, who is 23 in real life and graduated from East 15 acting school back in 2020. Tara is in the same year as Elle in Heartstopper, making her around 16.

Kizzy Edgell – Darcy Olsson

Age: 19

Kizzy Edgell plays Tara’s girlfriend Darcy, who is SO confident and never cares what anyone thinks. Darcy is 16 like Tara and Elle, but in real life Kizzy is 19 years old.

Rhea Norwood – Imogen Heaney

Age: 20

Imogen Heaney, who fancies Nick and asks him on a date in Heartstopper, is played by Imogen Heaney. Imogen is year 11 in the show, making her 16, but in real life Rhea is 20 years old.

Tobie Donovan – Isaac Henderson

Age: 19

Tobie Donovan plays Isaac Henderson, who is friends with Charlie, Elle and Tao. Tobie is 19 in real life, but the character Isaac is in the same year as Tao and Charlie, so is 15 in the show.

Heartstopper is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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