In 2022, the perfect teen show hit Netflix, grabbing the hearts of thousands of viewers with its innocent, puppy-love, coming-of-age story. Adapted from the Alice Oseman graphic novel by the same name, Heartstopper became known for its accurate portrayal of the bisexual experience through the eyes of Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), who undergoes several stages of enlightenment upon meeting his classmate, Charlie (Joe Locke).
Throughout the story, we also meet plenty of other students who take center stage at their appointed times, including Elle and Tao, who pose several other concerns that teens suffer throughout high school, including transphobia and lack of self-esteem. In general, it depicts a semi-romanticized high school experience through the eyes of a group of British teenagers. Now finally renewed for a third season, Heartstopper will return to our screens very soon, but leaving the lingering question behind: Where is the series filmed, and will it be affected by the ongoing WAG and SAG strikes?
Where is Heartstopper filmed?
Considering the so-often somewhat cloudy weather in Heartstopper, in addition to the very obvious British high school and accents, it is not entirely surprising that the series was actually filmed in the United Kingdom. More specifically, the scenes at the school are located in the Berkshire town of Slough, near Reading. Although many of the moments in the show trace back to Berkshire, the location does tend to shift in accordance with the plans.
The E-ACT Burnham Park Academy was also often used to film, although the location was officially closed to the public in 2019 after the academy closed its doors in light of the decrease in the number of pupils. Aside from the academy, Kent’s Herne Bay High School, the nearby Herne Bay Beach, and Twickenham Studios in Richmond-upon-Thames were also used as filming locations.
During the second season, we also debut an entirely new filming location: Paris, France. Unlike many may have believed, Heartstopper did not actually use a green screen to film its Paris parts (or at least, that we know of), but they did tour around the city of love, and some of the most obvious locations include the Sacre Coeur Basilica, situated atop the Montmartre hill, the Museum of Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre-Dame and of course, the Louvre.
Surprisingly enough, the cast also filmed in slightly less crowded places, as was the case with the Le Marais neighborhood, the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and the gorgeous Place Dalida where Tara and Darcy stop by and take a picture with a statue of the queer icon, Dalida.
Does this mean Heartstopper is free from the strikes, and therefore, from the delays currently happening in Hollywood? Not necessarily. The strikes are currently happening in the United States, far from the United Kingdom, and it seemingly appears that the series is still in development. While we still don’t have a release date for season 3, you can probably expect Heartstopper to reach your screen much sooner than any of the US-based Netflix shows.
