Warning: This article contains spoilers for Heartstopper Forever.
Anna Maxwell Martin delivers a standout scene in Heartstopper Forever, where she’s tasked with filling the shoes of Academy Award winner Olivia Colman.
Both actors now share the role of Sarah Nelson, loving mother of Nick (Kit Connor), who has always been a supportive presence in his academic, sporting and personal life.
One of the most iconic scenes of the original Heartstopper series is between Connor and Colman, as Nick tearfully comes out as bisexual to his mother after months of angst.
A similar kitchen table consolation takes place in Forever, with Martin’s version of Sarah providing the final nudge for Nick towards getting back together with Charlie (Joe Locke).
If the substitution of Maxwell for Colman was slightly jarring at first – the two, after all, look nothing alike – the mannerisms and warmth of both performances align here.
We find Nick on an uptick after a period of turmoil, coasting off a major success at work as a dog he’d trained was adopted by a happy family.
Still, his feelings of regret over ending things with Charlie, and his resentment towards cold, absent father Stéphane (Thibault de Montalembert), continue to linger just beneath the surface.
We see, in flashback, that Stéphane had taken any excuse to walk out on Nick in his childhood years, with the result being that he’d learned to suppress his emotions – to paint a smile on his face, whatever his true feelings might be saying.
It’s a trait that had placed strain on his relationship with Charlie, who wished that he could open up about whatever had been plaguing him.
Sarah praises Nick for his growing emotional maturity, arguing that it was already beyond what many fully-grown adults could achieve.
She reveals that she had once needed to go on a similar journey of self-discovery, but hers came too late to prevent the emotional scars left by Stéphane.
Sarah can recognise her own mistakes in their relationship, she says, but over time has found the peace of not blaming herself for his neglect.
Clearly, she wants Nick to be step out of his father’s looming shadow too, giving him some sage wisdom that Stéphane could never understand: “Love is a choice.”
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Rather than think of his and Charlie’s relationship as “fate” or “destiny”, Nick needs to realise that it’s a decision he must make “every day”; relationships aren’t effortless, and they can’t function properly unless both sides are willing to put in the work.
In the case of Nick and Charlie, Sarah sees that their love is strong enough to endure the current hardship – and encourages her son to choose it once more. Whether it lasts forever is anyone’s guess, but he mustn’t “give up on it before it’s over”.
Suffice it to say, the scene is sure to leave some Heartstopper fans emotional, with Alice Oseman’s script providing yet another stellar scene to this sparingly used character. No wonder the role of Sarah Nelson always attracts big-name talent!
Similarly, it becomes abundantly clear why – with Colman unavailable – Oseman saw recasting Sarah as essential. Heartstopper Forever would be missing a vital puzzle piece if not for this closure, which is so intimately connected to the characters’ lived experience as mother and son.
Looking at Colman’s upcoming projects, it’s possible that her Netflix adaptation of Pride and Prejudice or her quirky indie film Wicker may have caused a clash with Heartstopper Forever, as both were in production at around the same time.
Scheduling conflicts had also prevented Colman from appearing in season 3, which the star felt “awful” about, describing Heartstopper as “one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of” (via Forbes).
Hayley Atwell guest starred in that season as Nick’s cool aunt Diane, a move that avoided the need to make an irreversible decision on Colman’s future with the show.
When the recast was announced, Oseman explained (via TUDUM): “While in season 3, we were able to tweak the story to avoid any appearance of Sarah, it felt nonsensical for her to be absent from this final chapter, given some of the emotional struggles Nick faces.”
Oseman added: “Anna perfectly embodies Sarah’s gentle, down-to-earth energy, and it was magical to witness her scenes with Kit Connor during the film shoot.”
Heartstopper Forever is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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