If you’re watching Heartstopper Forever, you might realize that there’s a new actress playing Nick Nelson’s mom.
Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman gave an incredibly moving performance as Sarah Nelson in the first two seasons of the Netflix series, but she was unable to return for the third season or the series finale movie.
Series creator Alice Oseman decided to recast the role for the finale due to the character’s importance.
Alice shared with Tudum, “When beginning to work on the Heartstopper Forever screenplay, I knew how important it was that Sarah, Nick’s mum, appeared in the story. Since Season 1, we have seen how close Nick is with his mum; she’s one of the few people he can turn to in moments of crisis. 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. Sadly, Olivia Colman was not able to join us for the film, so we made the very difficult decision to recast the role, rather than exclude the character. We are deeply grateful for Olivia‘s beautiful performance as Sarah in Seasons 1 and 2 of Heartstopper, through such iconic moments as Nick coming out as bisexual, and we know that her performance will live on in the hearts of every Heartstopper fan.”
Sarah Nelson will now be played by actress Anna Maxwell Martin in the movie, which is streaming now.
Anna is an acclaimed English actress best known for her work in TV shows like Bleak House, Line of Duty, Motherland, and most recently, Apple TV’s Star City.
“We are overjoyed to welcome the incredible Anna Maxwell Martin into the role of Sarah for Heartstopper Forever,” Alice 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. I can’t wait for Heartstopper fans to experience her interpretation of Sarah Nelson.”
Learn all about the behind-the-scenes special that you can watch after the finale film.
Posted To:Anna Maxwell Martin Heartstopper Heartstopper Forever Netflix Olivia Colman