Joe Locke and Kit Connor from Heartstopper get along well

(This seems to be the general tenor of the War Camaraderie, says Gandolfini. “It was an incredible bond that I’ve certainly never had with a group of 16 men,” he explains. “Noah Centineo says we fell in love.”)

Garland first learned of Connor in what he describes as a “classic middle-aged man” way: the filmmaker's daughter is one Heart stopper fan, and when Garland saw the show himself, he saw an actor who seemed not only charming but also talented.

“The thing about Kit is that there's something disarming about him,” Garland says. “In terms of acting, there is real craft and that craft is not some kind of wide-eyed ingénue. This is someone who works extremely hard at what he does.” And with Connor War For his role, which, according to Garland, required a lot of physical and psychological endurance, the filmmaker discovered that “as a human being, as a young man, there is some steel in him.”

Rachel Zegler, who plays Juliet to Connor's Romeo, was relieved by “how much he cared about the work,” she told me in an email. “We both seemed to have the same fears about making this coveted material eight times a week for so many people. And in shared fear, a bond is created. Over time, I grew to like him more and more.” He also “teases me a lot, which is nice to relieve the tension when working on a tragedy.”

When we speak, Connor has only been in rehearsals for weeks Romeo + Juliet. He already describes this production and War also life-changing. “Sometimes I hold back and think: 'Wow, I'm kind of walking among my heroes,'” he tells us at the table. It's a reward in itself, “just having the opportunity to have these people, see them up close and work with them or meet them or talk to them.” He assumes that he Andrew Scott has always been called one of the best actors in the world since he's been giving interviews, and he's also kept an eye on how he's doing War Co-star Joe Quinn is “having a hell of a career.” He loves nothing more than telling a friend he enjoyed his latest project: “It's really nice to watch a movie, meet a person and say, 'That was fucking incredible.'” He had the same feeling, as he and companion Heart stopper Castmate Tobie Donovan visited Locke on Broadway.

“When you first joined, I was like, 'Oh, this is really special,'” Connor remembers, although he admits he didn't even know Locke could sing. “In this incredible theater and this beautiful room and all these people. And that is Joe. That's one of the best examples of just saying, “Oh my God, I can see my friend doing this really incredible thing and blowing everyone's socks off.”

“There is currently a need for young, talented people in the industry,” he says. “It’s just cool to step back and be able to see it up close.”