Nobody causes internet hysteria quite like British actor Kit Connor. The very modern teen idol talks to Chris Godfrey about sudden fame, working out, and the return of the Netflix sensation.

Nothing could have readied Kit Connor for his newfound teen idol status. Sure, the His Dark Materials star had done his first red carpet interviews aged 10 and worked with Steven Spielberg before he’d even done his GCSEs. But the kind of exposure that came with playing a lead in Netflix’s megahit Heartstopper? “I don’t think anyone’s ever really prepared for it,” says Connor. “Suddenly you feel like there are a lot more eyes on you.”

The first season, launched in relative obscurity in April last year, transformed the up–and–comer into an immediate superstar – the kind of hot young thing who sits front row at Loewe and JW Anderson shows, whom paparazzi wait for outside industry parties and whose presence at fan meet–and–greets causes total chaos. With season two launching next month, Connor is poised for another wave of hysteria.

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Few things tap into the nostalgia of our wistful youth like the budding flowers of first love. This factor is what makes a series like “Heartstopper” so powerful and life–affirming, as these types of stories show that no matter how lost you feel as a teenager or young adult, there’s someone out there who can love you for who you are.

Based on the web comic by Alice Oseman, which eventually grew to be a graphic novel as well, Netflix’s adaptation charts all of the awkwardness and tenderness of first love while navigating the complexity of friendships and relationships. One scene from “Heartstopper” that taps into these feelings so directly is the triple date that Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) join their friends for.

However, while those milkshakes might have looked good on screen, Locke and Connor assured British GQ that this was not the case. Though the duo enjoyed shooting the scene, as it had many of the cast members working together for the day, they clearly had deep trauma from how bad those milkshakes tasted in reality. “I see that milkshake; I can just instantly feel a little bit sick,” said Locke while rewatching the scene with Connor.

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A year ago, Joe Locke and Kit Connor were kids preparing for their exams. Now, courtesy of Netflix’s breakthrough queer sensation Heartstopper, they are reckoning with suddenly being stop–you–in–the street, internet–boyfriend famous.

It’s afternoon at Rowan’s, a bowling alley and arcade in North London. The kind of place where the floors are sticky and the fizzy cola never quite tastes right. As most grown adults are wallowing in hungover states, two of the most famous young men in the country – Joe Locke and Kit Connor, the stars of Netflix’s Heartstopper – are here surrounded by kids’ birthday parties. It’s the closest they now get to incognito, since almost no one their age is kicking around. But while the boys are distracted shooting hoops, playfully competing against each other, a stray teenager spots them and whispers into her mum’s ear.

I wonder what she says. How she tries to summarise the sheer power of Heartstopper, the show that changed the pair’s lives and deeply affected many of the millions who watched it. How she describes these two men who, a year ago, enjoyed their respective normalities: studying for their GCSEs, living at home with their parents, preparing for the release of a queer TV show many – including Netflix – thought would pass by on the cultural calendar as nothing but a mild, if important arrhythmic blip.

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Following the success of his lead role in Heartstopper, we meet Kit Connor to unpack the secret formula to being Britain’s next big acting talent.

It’s 11 am on a Wednesday morning and I’m pacing around Kenley Aerodrome, a former military airfield in south London that played a key part in the Battle of Britain back in 1940. Today it’s the backdrop for a gliding school and picturesque dog walks on sleepy Sunday afternoons. It’s also the place where actor Kit Connor learnt to ride a bike at the tender age of six. A nasty fall left him too traumatised to cycle again for years, but thankfully he’s put his bicycle-related trauma to one side to meet me here on what is possibly the windiest day of the year. Perfectly on time, he emerges from a grove of trees, clad in Carhartt and towering much taller than I’d anticipated at more than 6ft. He gives me a friendly wave and a reassuring smile before joining me on a walk around his former stomping ground. “I’m so sorry I brought you somewhere so windy!” he says attentively, pushing his messy chestnut curtains out of his eyes. There’s a hint of facial hair growing through and it’s clear that the last of his teenage features are starting to fall away. Manhood is impending.

The 18-year-old grew up just down the road in Purley, with his advertising exec parents and older siblings – a brother and sister who are currently at university. Connor, being the youngest, was somewhat reserved growing up, but it was actually this timidness that led him into acting. “My parents signed me up for Stagecoach [Performing Arts School]. I think it was just to get me out of my shell. I was quiet, especially around new people, so I was very much in need of something to help me become more confident.”

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