Warning: This story contains spoilers for Season 1 of Netflix’s Heartstopper.
Cat’s out of the bag! Olivia Colman stunned fans when she made a surprise appearance on Netflix’s newest series Heartstopper, which premiered Friday, April 22.
News of 48-year-old Emmy award-winning actress’ casting had been kept firmly under wraps by Netflix until the show’s premiere, revealing Colman as actor Kit Connor’s mom.
“We spent most of the shoot not knowing who was playing my mum” Connor, 18, explained in an interview with Hello! on Friday. “We got to film with her for two days. It was really just me and her and it was an utterly incredible, enlightening experience. I think it’s an honor for any actor to be able to work with an Oscar winner of this kind of caliber.”
Fans were pleasantly surprised by the A-list reveal, taking to social media to express their excitement.
“Olivia Colman turning up in #Heartstopper is my Andrew Garfield No Way Home moment,” one fan said after watching the series.
“#heartstopperspoilers SOBBING AT THE FACT THAT OLIVIA COLMAN IS NICK’S MUM I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC SO MUCH AND WATCHING OLIVIA AND KIT ACT OPPOSITE EACH OTHER IS A TREAT,” another Twitter user wrote.
Heartstopper star Joe Locke — who plays Connor’s onscreen boyfriend, Charlie Spring, in the Netflix hit — also shared his elation over the Fleabag actress’ role.
“Olivia Colman is my mother-in-law,” he wrote on his Instagram profile on Friday.
Heartstopper stems from Alice Oseman’s webcomic turned novel about two boys falling in love and trying to navigate their sexuality in the pressure-fueled world of adolescence.
The heart of the show lies in the relationship between the boys and fans could not contain their happiness after watching Coleman play a role in young queer content.
“I swear nothing made my gay heart flutter more than seeing Olivia Colman pop up at the end of the #Heartstopper premiere” one fan’s tweet read.
“Not Olivia playing a queer teens mom!!! I’m here for it!” another added.
The Crown actress appears in the coming-of-age romantic comedy in a supporting role throughout the eight episodes, including the season’s final scene where Connor’s character Nick Nelson comes out to his mother as bisexual.
“We were reading [the scene] through and suddenly a tear rolls down her eye, and we were only giving 50%!,” the Rocketman actor recalled in an interview with The Gay Times on April 22. “And I was just thinking, ‘Oh, god, I’m gonna have to step up my game now,’ as if I didn’t already have to!”
Heartstopper is now streaming on Netflix.
