Kit Connor

Kit Sebastian Connor (born 8 March 2004) is an English actor and producer. He gained recognition for starring as secondary school student Nick Nelson in the Netflix teen series Heartstopper (2022–present). He won the inaugural Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance for the role.

Kit Connor
Connor at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Kit Sebastian Connor (2004-03-08) 8 March 2004 (age 21) Croydon, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

Connor previously appeared in the films Get Santa (2014), Rocketman (2019), and Little Joe (2019), had a recurring role in the CBBC series Rocket's Island (2014–2015), and voice roles in the series His Dark Materials (2019–2022) and the film The Wild Robot (2024). He has since starred in a Broadway musical adaptation of Romeo & Juliet in 2024, and the film Warfare (2025).

Early life

Kit Sebastian Connor was born in the South London Borough of Croydon on 8 March 2004.^[1][2][3] His parents, Richard and Caroline, are in advertising. He has two older siblings.^[4] He is from Purley^[5] and attended the Hayes Primary School in Kenley, as well as Whitgift School in South Croydon,^[6][7] where he completed his A Levels in drama, English literature, and history.^{[8][non-primary source needed][9][non-primary source needed]}

Career

Connor made his onscreen debut at the age of eight with minor appearances in Chickens on Sky One,^[10] the television film An Adventure in Space and Time, and the soap opera Casualty.^[11] In 2014, he starred as Tom Anderson in the holiday comedy Get Santa, and as a recurring character Archie Beckles in the CBBC series Rocket's Island.^[12][13]

Connor had a recurring role playing young Petya Rostov in the miniseries War & Peace and as Bob Sheehan in the miniseries SS-GB.^[14][15] He made his stage debut in Welcome Home, Captain Fox! at Donmar Warehouse.^[16] He had roles in the 2018 films The Mercy,^[17] The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,^[18] Slaughterhouse Rulez,^[19] and the BBC One television film Grandpa's Great Escape.^[20] He starred as Alexander in the Old Vic Theatre production of Fanny & Alexander.^[21]

In 2019 Connor portrayed a teenaged Elton John in the musical film Rocketman, and played Joe Woodard in the drama Little Joe.^[22][23] In the same year, he began voicing the part of Pantalaimon in the BBC One and HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials.^[24][25] In April 2021, it was announced that Connor would star opposite Joe Locke in the Netflix series Heartstopper, an adaptation of the webcomic and graphic novel of the same name by Alice Oseman.^[26] He originally auditioned for the role of Charlie but ended up cast as the other lead, Nick Nelson.^[27]

In 2024 Connor was part of the voice cast of DreamWorks Animation's The Wild Robot, an adaptation of Peter Brown's novel of the same name.^[28] He made his Broadway debut playing Romeo opposite Rachel Zegler's Juliet in a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet directed by Sam Gold with music by Jack Antonoff.^[29]

Connor was named a 2023 Screen International Star of Tomorrow.^[30] In 2024 Connor was named to Forbes' 30 under 30 Europe list in the Entertainment category.^[31] He was also highlighted in Variety's Young Hollywood Impact Report^[32] and on The Hollywood Reporter's 2024 Next Gen Talent list.^[33] In 2025, Connor appeared in Warfare, an A24 war film written and directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.^[34]

In April 2025 it was announced that Connor will star in a Heartstopper feature-length film that will serve as the series conclusion. He will also serve as an executive producer of the film.^[35] Connor will also next star in an upcoming film adaptation of the novel A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey.^[36] He will lead the cast of the upcoming mystery-horror film One of Us.^[37]

Personal life

Connor at Capital Pride Parade in 2023

In October 2022 Connor came out as bisexual in a Twitter post.^[38][39][40] Connor has objected to speculation about his sexuality in the past^[41][42] and had quit Twitter the previous month due to harassment and claims of queerbaiting after he was photographed holding hands with actress Maia Reficco.^[39][43] In his coming-out tweet, Connor said fans were "forcing an 18 year old to out himself" and "missed the point" of the Heartstopper television series.^[38] Many fans expressed support for Connor and criticised how people were treating him, as did Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman, co-stars Joe Locke, Sebastian Croft, Kizzy Edgell, and Olivia Colman, journalist Mark Harris, and Labour Party MP Nadia Whittome.^{[39][43][40][44][45]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	Get Santa	Tom Anderson		[12][46]
2015	Mr. Holmes	Boy		[47]
2017	The Mercy	Simon Crowhurst		[17][48]
2018	The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society	Eli Ramsey		[18]
	Ready Player One	Reb kid		[49]
	Slaughterhouse Rulez	Wootton		[19]
2019	Little Joe	Joe Woodard		[23]
	Rocketman	Young Reginald Dwight		[22]
2024	The Wild Robot	Brightbill	Voice role	[28]
2025	Warfare	Tommy		[34]
TBA	A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow †	Orion Maxwell		[36][50]
	One Of Us †	Youngest		[37]

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	An Adventure in Space and Time	Charlie	Television film
	Casualty	Barnaby Lee	Episode: "Away in a Manger"	[11]
	Chickens	Clem	Episode: "Episode Six"	[10]
2014–2015	Rocket's Island	Archie Beckles	Recurring role (season 2), Main role (season 3); 18 episodes	[13]
2015	The Frankenstein Chronicles	Joey	Episode: "A World Without God"	[51]
2016	Grantchester	Charlie Jones	Episode: "Episode 5"	[52]
	War & Peace	Young Petya Rostov	Recurring role; 3 episodes	[14]
2017	SS-GB	Bob Sheenan	Miniseries; 3 episodes	[15]
2018	Grandpa's Great Escape	Jack	Television film	[20]
2019–2022	His Dark Materials	Pantalaimon	Voice role; 22 episodes	[24][25]
2022–2024	Heartstopper	Nick Nelson	Lead role; 24 episodes	[53][54]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2016	Welcome Home, Captain Fox!	Small Boy	Donmar Warehouse, London	[16]
2018	Fanny & Alexander	Alexander Ekdahl	The Old Vic, London	[21]
2024–2025	Romeo + Juliet	Romeo	Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway	[55]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Developer	Ref.
2017	Blackwood Crossing	Finn (English voice)	PaperSeven	[56]
2020	Dreams	Foxy (English voice)	Media Molecule	[57]
2022	A Plague Tale: Requiem	Lucas (English voice)	Asobo Studio	[58]

Accolades

Award	Year	Category	Nominee / work	Result	Ref.
Annie Awards	2025	Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production	The Wild Robot	Nominated	[59]
Children's and Family Emmy Awards	2022	Outstanding Lead Performance	Heartstopper	Won	[60]
Dorian Awards	2022	Best TV Performance	Heartstopper	Nominated	[61]
Drama League Awards	2025	Distinguished Performance	Romeo + Juliet	Pending	[62]
iHeartRadio Music Awards	2025	Favorite Broadway Debut	Romeo + Juliet	Nominated	[63]
Las Vegas Film Critics Society	2024	Best Youth Performance – Male (under 21)	The Wild Robot	Nominated	[64]
National Television Awards	2022	Rising Star	Heartstopper	Nominated	[65]
Queerty Awards	2023	Closet Door Bustdown	Himself	Nominated	[66]
	2024	TV Performance	Heartstopper	Won	[67]
Royal Television Society Programme Awards	2023	Leading Actor: Male	Heartstopper	Won	[68]
TV Choice Awards	2024	Best Actor	Heartstopper	Nominated	[69]