'Heartstopper' star Yasmin Finney on her first sex scene and ignoring online haters
With her roles in “Heartstopper” and “Doctor Who,” Yasmin Finney is redefining what is possible for the next generation of trans actors.
When she first read the open casting call for Elle Argent, the Black transgender artist who lies at the heart of the beloved high school friend group in Netflix’s “Heartstopper,” Yasmin Finney could hardly believe her eyes. Having gained a social media following for documenting her own experiences as a Black trans teen growing up in the United Kingdom, Finney, like many of her followers who brought the casting notice to her attention, believed the role would be a perfect fit.
That would be just the first of many times in recent years that the stars would align for Finney, who — through her work on “Heartstopper,” which returns for its third season Thursday, and the new “Doctor Who” — has quickly become one of the most prominent trans people in the world. It’s a responsibility that weighs heavily on Finney, 21, who has been forced to wrestle with the thorny process of self-discovery in early adulthood under the public spotlight.
“I’ve really been lucky to have a trans character do so well and to get so much love and support. I think that’s quite rare to have that, but I feel quite protected with the ‘Heartstopper’ fan base,” Finney said on a recent video call from her flat in London. “I’m very blessed to have Elle enter my life almost three years ago now.”
When the hit coming-of-age series debuted in 2022, “Heartstopper” — based on Alice Oseman’s acclaimed graphic novels about two British teens (played by Joe Locke and Kit Connor) who fall in love at an all-boys school — introduced a newly transitioned Elle, who had just transferred to the local all-girls school. In the show’s third season, which largely explores the angst of first-time sexual experiences, Elle, now a student at an intensive arts school, wants to take her relationship with her boyfriend, Tao Xu (William Gao), to the next level, but that kind of intimacy forces her to confront — and confide in Tao about — her struggles with gender dysphoria.
“What ‘Heartstopper’ did so well in seasons one and two is it didn’t throw it in people’s faces of how bad it can be to be a trans person; it was a world of escapism and a world of fantasy. And this season, we get a taste of realism with Elle and what it can be like for trans people,” said Finney, who worked closely with Oseman to flesh out Elle’s story this season.
Rating: 5