Heartstopper Forever but also the end

Over the last few years, Heartstopper has been a staple of teen entertainment, one of Netflix’s series that actually managed to connect with the youths. Kit Connor and Joe Locke became breakout stars, and now they’re saying goodbye via a film, Heartstopper Forever, in which Nick and Charlie try to navigate a future involving college, growing up, and moving on. It looks sweet.

The premiere for Heartstopper Forever was yesterday in London, and even though it’s just been four years, Connor and Locke went from teenagers to twenty-somethings while making this series, and they look so grown up! Time! Why! They also look like they dressed for completely different events.

Every time I see something like this, I am reminded of a wedding I went to at which the dress code was “California casual” and everyone had wildly different interpretations of what that meant (to this day, no one can agree). Joe Locke looks like he’s dressing for his first day at the finance firm, while Kit Connor looks like your favorite bartender. Both are compliments, they just don’t belong at the same event.

With Heartstopper winding down, both actors are onto other things. Joe Locke, of course, has a corner in the MCU as Billy Maximoff/Wiccan. He isn’t 100% confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, but there have been some hints that he will be in that film. And last year he was on the West End stage, plus he’s got a couple other movies in the can, coming up later this year and next year. Kit Connor is also busy, with several movies in the hopper, including Alex Garland’s adaptation of Elden Ring, a fantasy video game series. The end of Heartstopper looks bittersweet, but the boys are already moving on. They grow up so fast!

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What else happened today…

It’s the baseball All Stars break, so let’s look at some athletes and their families at the big event. A lot of effort was made, but as a cohort, baseball players are not nearly as stylish as basketball and football players. Still more stylish than hockey players, though. (Go Fug Yourself) 

Cat science! Sometimes when cats groom each other, they’re actually bullying, because cats are loveable assholes! Also, every name in this article is GREAT. The cat scientist is named Morgane Van Belle. I would not be surprised to find out that she is also a mysterious widow whose rubies have been stolen! (Celebitchy) 

John Early made his directorial debut this year with Maddie’s Secret, a sort-of satire of after-school specials about a chef with an eating disorder. It’s a great film, especially if you remember that one after-school special with Calista Flockhart about bulimia. Now, though, Early has teamed up with perfumer Marissa Zappas for a fragrance inspired by the film, and it comes complete with a Nineties-style commercial and the tagline “If good got you here, secrets take you there”. John Early’s humor is very specific. (OMG Blog)

Former child star Ashley Johnson recounts nearly being “kidnapped” from set while starring in Growing Pains in the Nineties. The man had a gun and somehow got all the way onto the lot and to the soundstage and actually nabbed Johnson, retaining one of her shoes. I say “somehow” because on one hand, I can fully believe it, given America’s gun culture, but, also, this was after the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer, so I kind of can’t believe production facilities weren’t paying a little more attention to the physical safety of everyone working on set?

Anyway, probably kids shouldn’t be acting professionally at all. The more we hear from former child stars, the more I’m like, shut the whole thing down. (Page Six)