Joe Locke & Kit Connor shot 7 hours of 'sexy stuff' for Heartstopper season 3

While Heartstopper is often known for its softer take on a queer love story, featuring two teen boys who haven't gone further than kissing, the leads say the upcoming third season turns up the sexiness.

In a new cover story with GQ Hype, Joe Locke and Kit Connor discuss season three's progression of their characters' romance, including their physical intimacy.

"We have had a really nice slow progression in terms of us as actors and as people getting to know each other and getting more comfortable with one another, starting with the kisses in season one and building up," Connor said. "By season three, we know each other very well. So it meant that in terms of approaching those more raunchy scenes, it still.... It's always something that’s slightly weird about it."

He also revealed that "we shot the sexy stuff for seven hours, which, you know, that'll do it. We were both just knackered. Joe developed this huge scab on his chin—"

"Oh, it was horrible," Locke added.

"We both had our own stubble," Connor said.

"We were kissing so much that it wasn’t healing so it was getting worse and worse," Locke continued. "All the scenes that are filmed in Charlie's house, if you look closely, either you can see the scab or my chin's really smooth. They had to VFX it out because it was so bad. The day of, everyone was like, 'It's fine. Honestly, Joe, on camera, it looks fine.' But clearly it didn’t, because they fully just smoothed out my chin."

"That was fun. That was fun to kiss," Connor said.

Later in the interview, the two Heartstopper stars also discuss fan interactions, referencing Chappell Roan's calls for her private life to be respected. "I found the reaction to Chappell Roan's post this week really interesting and fascinating, and really hopeful," Locke said.

"It's intrinsic with social media… there's too much there," Connor added. "Unfortunately, it's human nature to just dig a little bit further and you become overfamiliar."

Elsewhere, they talk about their Hollywood heroes. Connor mentioned Andrew Scott as someone he's been calling "one of the best actors alive" for his entire career. Locke added that he looks up to Colman Domingo.

"I like the way that he has done all he's wanted to do… I also love that he can wear a sparkly top on a red carpet and then play a really [intense character] and no one… he just has that versatility."

The third season of Heartstopper premieres on Netflix on October 3.