Heartstopper star Joe Locke says he would love to cast Jennifer Coolidge in season two of the popular LGBTQ+ Netflix series. (Netflix/Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
Heartstopper stars have shared their dream cast for a potential season two, and Joe Locke said he wants queer cult icon Jennifer Coolidge to play his “cool” grandma.
The LGBTQ+ Netflix series has earned near-global praise from fans and critics for its joyful depiction of the lives of queer characters, featuring a heartwarming romance for the ages and having an amazing cast of actors.
Fans have dedicatedly waited for any news that the series – which follows the lives of friends-turned-boyfriends Charlie (Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) – would be picked up for more seasons.
While season two has not yet been announced, Locke has already put forward who he would want to work alongside in the future.
The 18-year-old, who made his acting debut in Heartstopper, told RadioTimes that he would want Coolidge to play his character’s “cool grandma”.
“I always say, I want Jennifer Coolidge to be my cool grandma. My American grandma,” Locke said. “That would be quite cool.”
He hinted it would only be fair play given Connor got to act alongside beloved British actor, Olivia Colman. The Oscar-winning actor played Nick’s mum, and there was a heartwarming scene between the mother and son that even inspired a diehard Heartstopper fan to come out to their parents.
Similarly, Connor told Variety that he’d seen a “lot of brilliant actors” who said they were dying to be involved in Heartstopper season two, and he had his eye on who he would want to partner with on the show in the future.
“Connor Jessup from Locke & Key is very keen to be involved,” Connor said. “I’m sure we can get him involved somehow.”
Coolidge is best known for appearing on a variety of camp classics including the Legally Blonde franchise, A Cinderella Story and Best in Show. She’s recently experienced a resurgence after starring in HBO’s The White Lotus and gay Netflix holiday romcom Single All the Way.
Coolidge previously said that she was “never conscious of” her icon status in the LGBTQ+ community because it was the love and connection between her and queer people was always a “mutual thing”.
“It just started from a very young age,” Coolidge explained. “I don’t think when you’re young, you’re very conscious of any decision you make.”
She continued: “You go with what you’re attracted to.
“I think that’s really what most of our youth is, and that’s just what I was attracted to in all my friends.”
Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman said fans could expect future seasons of the show to explore themes of mental health as “that’s something that’s really important in the books”.
“The challenge of writing Heartstopper is exploring those darker issues while keeping the tone so optimistic and hopeful,” Oseman said. “That has been, like, the struggle of writing it for me the whole way through.”
Locke said he would be interested in exploring Charlie’s mental health journey and dealing with an eating disorder in future seasons.
“There are some moments in season one in which Charlie is starting to go on that journey,” he added.
Connor said he would be keen to explore Nick’s familial relationships further as fans would know that his character has a homophobic older brother in the comics.
“For Nick, I think there’s a lot more exploration to be done in terms of his family,” Connor said. “It’s known to fans of the comics that he has an older brother who’s homophobic.”
He continued: “I think that would be a really interesting route to go down, but I think there’s loads of material to go and explore.”
Heartstopper is streaming on Netflix.