Bradley Riches talks trolls, gory roles and being engaged at 22 as he prepares to return to the London stage in new musical Babies
“I want to kill some people, that would be really fun,” says Bradley Riches, wearing a bright smile. “I want to
go for the most kills in season three. I wanna go evil and I wanna kill everyone. I’m joking!”
It’s not quite what you’d expect to hear from the butter-wouldn’t-melt Gen Z star who’s an integral part of Netflix’s Heartstopper as student James McEwan. When he isn’t redefining what queer representation might look like in the biggest LGBTQ show since It’s A Sin, Riches has been warming the nation’s souls (even Sharon Osbourne’s) on Celebrity Big Brother. Diagnosed with autism aged nine, this year he also put out a book, A Different Kind of Superpower, and in so doing represented another overlooked community.
He’s become a posterboy for unearthing fresh perspectives on mental health, recently fronting a youth loneliness campaign. “Everyone speaks about older generations, how you can feel lonely above 70, but I think when you’re at school or college you think, ‘why do I feel lonely? I’m being stupid.’ But everyone can feel lonely and normalising that is beneficial for your mental health.”
I would love to go back to Heartstopper. I don’t know if there’s any more life to my character, but yeah, if they asked me back and my character was in every single scene I would not say no!
Riches has been a stage actor since being a teenager, making his professional debut in 2016 in the musical Disaster!, but post-Heartstopper, the offers have been hitting at a new rate. “I’ve learned to say no,” he says. “I always overthink but if it doesn’t feel right, it can go.”
This May he returns to where he began, the West End, in Babies, an eccentric-sounding musical about nine schoolkids tasked with looking after a robot baby. He’s also torn up his nice boy image in season two of BBC Three’s Wreck, a horror series about a wellness retreat that goes horribly wrong (hence wanting to kill people in season 3, should it be recommissioned).
“I’ve always wanted to be in a new musical,” he says of Babies. In it, he plays a queer year 11 student who gets paired with the school jock, who develops feelings for his character, Toby. “The story is so ridiculous and silly. They’re all looking after babies but then you see little moments of someone exploring their journey. They’re this group of students who are like, ‘yeah we’re going through this stuff but it makes us who we are,’ which is a really cool message.”
Zooming from his home in Buckinghamshire, the 22-year-old had freshly revealed his engagement to theatre director partner Scott Johnson on Instagram days earlier, after the pair had been dating for four years. “We’ll probably start planning next year and maybe have it the year after or two years’ time. There’s no rush. Nice and slow.”
A lifetime commitment before hitting quarter-life bucks the stereotype, especially as statistics show more of us are choosing to be single. “We’ve been very lucky,” he says. “We always go out on nights out with all my friends still, we’re not in bed by seven o’clock! We are still young and enjoying everything. All my friends are single so we’re the anomaly in my friendship group.”
When people are horrible, it’s from a place of not knowing or not understanding
Bradley Riches on online trolls
“Everyone’s journeys are different,” he adds of Gen Z love. “Maybe some people see relationships as an add on, but we both enjoy each others’ company, as well as doing separate things. We found that early on which is nice. I would never have rushed it if i didn’t find this connection. I didn’t seek it out, it just kinda happened. If I wasn’t in a relationship right now I wouldn’t be looking for one, I’d just keep going with what I’m doing.”
Inevitably, trolls have been trying to ruin the fun. After becoming an advocate for autism, a handful claimed the actor was making up his diagnosis. He responded with a grid post sharing more “real” autism voices, from charities to outreach organisations. “Just because I don’t fit into what you have seen before and fit into what you think ‘being autistic’ is, doesn’t mean I am not autistic,” he wrote.
It must be exhausting having to prove your neurodivergence? “I don’t think I’d ever come off Instagram,” he says. “I wasn’t hurt by it, it was more them being ignorant. The main reason I did it was to educate people. Where people are horrible, it’s from a place of not knowing or not understanding. I didn’t feel offended by it, I don’t care, I don’t owe my existence to anyone, I know who I am. I wanted to write it so they’re not as uneducated and stupid as they portrayed.”
You hope his resilience – the machine-like efficiency with which he dispatches toxic people – will last a lifetime. Away from it all, he unwinds with friends, seeing regional theatre shows “for a tenner… they’re often really good,” and walking his dog. “I’m slowly getting back into my writing,” he says (his book was originally supposed to be a show).
Next up is Heartstopper season 3, pegged for release through Netflix in October. Riches’ character James, who’s also neurodivergent, returns, albeit only for a few lines. He says the cast talks regularly in a group chat. “I was really happy with how I did in the show,” he says. “I would love to go back. I don’t know if there’s any more life to my character, but yeah if they asked me back and my character was in every single scene I would not say no! I don’t know what James will do next, I just leave that to the writers.” (He says “a lot of the other cast” collaborate with writers on their characters’ narrative arcs.)
Regardless of his future on the show that made him, he hopes to write more books, and has had “exciting” conversations with publishers. How will he keep up? Being 22 probably helps; he says work hasn’t yet tired him out.
“There are so many people in the world and so many stories to tell,” he says. “Every queer story’s different, every single community, the disabled community, there’s so many stories to be told. I’ve got so much to write about!”
Bradley Riches stars in Babies at The Other Palace theatre from 31 May