Heartstopper actor Kit Connor has revealed a film project he did in Belfast earlier this year was the “hardest thing” he has had to do in his career.

The 19-year-old English actor was speaking to Magherafelt-born fashion designer Jonathan Anderson for Interview Magazine.

During their chat, the pair discussed Connor’s upcoming project as the lead role in mystery-horror ‘One Of Us’.

The allegorical feature film will depict members of a family as they start dying one by one at a funeral, while the Emmy winner’s character searches for the stranger in their midst.

Callum Woodhouse (The Durrells), Charlotte Hope (The Spanish Princess), Siobhan Fallon-Hogan (Rushed) and Ian Beattie (Game Of Thrones) will be among the stars in the film.

Kit plays Nick Nelson in the Netflix LGBTQ+ coming of age drama Heartstopper which has received rave reviews since its release in April 2022.

The show’s second series has recently released on Netflix to rave reviews, with season 2 sitting at 96% on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

In his interview with JW Anderson, Connor said he has been making a “conscious effort” to take on more difficult roles.

"In all honesty, the one that’s more appealing is definitely the role that I think I’m going to be good at,” he said.

"But I’ve been making a conscious effort over the last year or so to go for things that are more difficult. I just did a film earlier this year in Belfast, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do. Who knows if I succeeded, but I think it was a good thing to do.”

Heartstopper follows teens Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick who discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love.

Speaking about having to grow up as a child actor, Connor told Anderson: “I wouldn’t want to be dramatic about it, but I definitely think I was forced to mature in certain ways that made me speak a bit like an old man at times.

"But then I also sometimes felt, whether this was true or not, a little socially stunted. I never went out to parties really—although maybe I just wasn’t popular, who knows? But I never did those things.

"A lot of my friends and family would be going out on holiday and I’d be working. That was the only thing that did have a sort of lasting impact. But for the most part I really loved growing up on film sets.”

Last year Connor announced he is bisexual and suggested he was “forced” to come out publicly.

He told Anderson: “I found it very disappointing, especially given my age—although I don’t think that it should be something that is speculated on at any age. I really wanted to have that boundary.

"It was my private information and my personal life that I wanted to keep to myself. So I was kind of frustrated with myself that I gave into it. What I learned from that experience is that there are certain things I want to keep private in my life.

"I’ve also learned that people are always going to have something to say. Even with me coming out, people will still have something to say—whether they believe me or not, whether they suddenly think, “Oh, now can he play straight roles?” But whatever they say, they’re going to say something.”

Replying to the teenage actor, Mr Anderson called him “incredibly human and a huge inspiration to many people”.

"You should hold onto that because there are not many people who could deal with that pressure,” the NI man said.