Kit Connor teases casting in Broadway’s Romeo and Juliet
Kit Connor is teasing a big Romeo and Juliet themed announcement. (Getty/Canva/Instagram)
Heartstopper star Kit Connor has hinted at his next big project, and fans think they’ve worked out exactly what he’s up to.
On Monday, (15 April), the actor – best known for playing Nick Nelson, Charlie Spring’s boyfriend in Netflix’s teen drama Heartstopper – cryptically posted an “R” on his Instagram profile.
The turquoise letter appeared next to half of a “+” symbol in the graphic, with fans left assuming that there was a second part of the image somewhere on Instagram.
And they were proved correct.
At the same time, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes actress Rachel Zegler had posted the other half of the image, with the letter “J”.
As mysterious as the pair tried to be, captioning the images with just a heart and a sword emoji, fans were very quick to guess that “R + J” probably stood for Romeo and Juliet.
Adding fuel to fire, Connor was later spotted following a newly created Instagram account called “romeojulietnyc”. Plus, he tagged the location of his Instagram post as “Verona”, the Italian city in which Shakespeare’s tragedy is famously set.
Fans have therefore concluded that Connor will soon be swapping the corridors of Truham School for Broadway, with the pair starring on stage as the star-crossed lovers.
“Wait… there’s no way… [Kit] and Rachel? I’m so cooked,” declared one social media user.
A second wrote: “Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler in Romeo and Juliet, I can’t do this, I can’t breathe.”
And a third warned: “If Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler are playing Romeo and Juliet, I will become the most annoying person on Earth.”
Another simply wrote: “It’s Broadway, baby.”
Connor has previously appeared on stage, in London productions of Welcome Home, Captain Fox! and Fanny and Alexander, prior to his Heartstopper fame.
If he is indeed set for Broadway, he’ll following in the footsteps of on-screen boyfriend Joe Locke, who recently got his big theatre break by starring as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd.
Spider-Man actor Tom Holland is set to star as Romeo in the upcoming West End production of the play, opposite Black Bad Education actress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers. The part has traditionally been played by white actresses.
Hundreds of predominantly Black, female and non-binary actors condemned the racist abuse aimed at Amewudah-Rivers after her casting announcement was announced.
An open letter condemning the discriminatory comments, signed by the likes of Ghosts star Lolly Adefope, former Doctor Who companion Freema Agyeman, and On Chesil Beach‘s Tamara Lawrance, read: “The racist and misogynistic abuse directed at such a sweet soul has been too much to bear.”
Romeo and Juliet is due to open in London on 11 May and run for 12 weeks.
