Kit Connor’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

Kit Connor is a man of many talents and those talents are reflected in his best movies and TV shows. While his breakout role was in Netflix’s Heartstopper series, Connor has been steadily acting in movies and TV since he was just eight years old. Some of his earliest roles may have been in unnamed parts, but they demonstrate his ability to become one with the ensemble, while his more recent roles demonstrate his ability to stand out from the crowd just as easily.

Connor has appeared in movies, television, streaming series, and even on stage. He starred opposite Rachel Zegler in the newest Broadway adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, praised for his stage presence and his take on a softer Romeo. Not all of his best movies and TV shows have required a softer approach to playing a character, but he certainly has a knack for drawing the audience in.

10

Mr. Holmes (2015)

Kit Connor As Boy

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Mr. Holmes

pg-13

Drama

Crime

Mystery

Release Date

July 17, 2015

Runtime

104minutes

Cast

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    Laura Linney

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    Milo Parker

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    Hiroyuki Sanada

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    Ian McKellen

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Mr. Holmes provides Kit Connor with only his third movie role. It does not, however, provide him with a role in which he could really show off his acting abilities. Here, he plays an unnamed boy in a story of Sherlock Holmes, and while he blends in well to the overall feel and setting of the picture, it is not the best of his best work. It is, however, a great BBC movie, which is why it lands among his best anyway.

The movie features Ian McKellen as the titular Holmes, but it features him as a Holmes long past his prime and living on his own secluded estate in retirement. Holmes has become cut off from those he cares about, wallowing in his own loneliness, and is slowly losing his memories of his cases. When he becomes upset with Dr. Watson’s fictional account of the case that led to his retirement 30 years earlier, he becomes determined to write his own account, but has trouble recalling the details, leading him to retrace his steps with the help of his housekeeper’s son.

The movie is a great exploration of a time in Holmes’ fictional life that rarely gets brought to the screen.

Rust Cohle from True Detective, Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, and Dr House in House

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9

Grandpa’s Great Escape (2017)

Kit Connor As Jack

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Grandpa’s Great Escape

Family

Adventure

Comedy

Drama

Release Date

January 1, 2018

Runtime

64 minutes

Cast

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Tom Courtenay

    Grandpa

  • Headshot Of Kit Connor

    Kit Connor

    Jack

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    Jennifer Saunders

    Miss Dandy

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    David Walliams

    Barry

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Grandpa’s Great Escape is inspired by the children’s book of the same name. The made-for-TV movie is one of the earlier projects in Kit Connor’s career. Early in his career, Connor worked on a lot of television projects, but those projects largely featured him in smaller, or even uncredited, roles.

In Grandpa’s Great Escape, Connor stars as Jack, who is determined to break his grandfather out of a senior living center where he suspects the person running it of elder abuse. His grandfather suffers from dementia and still believes himself to be in the middle of World War II, where he flew fighter planes. The movie is both heartfelt and funny, creating a fun family-friendly adventure and allowing Connor to show his dramatic chops at a young age.

Though the movie likely has not been seen much outside of the UK, it’s still one of Connor’s best.

8

Get Santa (2014)

Kit Connor As Tom Anderson

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Get Santa

PG

Comedy

Family

Release Date

December 5, 2014

Runtime

102 minutes

Cast

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    Jim Broadbent

    Santa Claus

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    Rafe Spall

    Steve

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    Warwick Davis

    Sally

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    Jodie Whittaker

    Alison

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Connor’s theatrical debut was in the holiday comedy Get Santa. In the grand tradition of Christmas hijinks on the big screen, it takes a story of warmth and holiday cheer and adds some screwball elements to it.

Here, Santa (Jim Broadbent) finds himself arrested and trying to get out of jail before Christmas. Tom (Kit Connor) witnesses the incident and believes wholeheartedly that the man is Santa. Tom’s father (Rafe Spall) is out on probation himself and trying to keep his nose clean so he can spend time with his son. He ends up dragged into his son’s desire to help Santa, misses his probation meeting, and possibly discovers that Santa Claus is the kind of person who believes in second chances.

Get Santa is laugh-out-loud funny. It features some ridiculous ideas (like Dasher the reindeer communicating through flatulence), but it also features some heartwarming sequences (like Santa bringing some Christmas magic to prison inmates). Connor plays the role of the typical child who believes in magic while the adults around them take more convincing. That means there is a certain level of wide-eyed-innocence required for the part that Connor nails. He also, however, nails the comedic aspects of the role too.

7

Ready Player One (2018)

Kit Connor As Reb Kid

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Ready Player One

PG-13

Sci-Fi

Thriller

Action

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6/10

5.9/10

Release Date

March 29, 2018

Runtime

2h 20m

Cast

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    T.J. Miller

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    Hannah John-Kamen

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…a great moment in movie history to be a part of.

Ready Player One is a visual effects and pop culture masterpiece. The movie takes place in a future where kids find freedom in a virtual reality. When that freedom is infringed upon, however, their conflicts bleed over into their real lives.

Connor does not have a large role in this movie. In fact, outside of the small main cast of kids, most of the roles in the movie are smaller. The reason Ready Player One ranks a little higher than Connor’s earlier roles is because it is such a high-profile project for Connor to be part of, no matter what kind of screen time he gets in it.

The movie features some impressive virtual reality battle sequences with characters that belong to all different production houses. It’s a technical and contractual marvel that so many creatives were willing to allow their properties to be included in the movie. Even if the movie was not as well received as some might have hoped for, and a sequel might never get made, it’s a great moment in movie history to be a part of.

Ready-Player-One-(2018)-Tye-Sheridan-as-Parzival,-Wade

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6

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

Kit Connor As Eli Ramsey

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

TV-14

Romance

Drama

History

Release Date

April 19, 2018

Runtime

124 minutes

Cast

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    Jessica Brown Findlay

    Elizabeth McKenna

  • Headshot Of Lily James

    Lily James

    Juliet Ashton

  • Headshot Of Matthew Goode

    Matthew Goode

    Sidney Stark

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    Michiel Huisman

    Dawsey Adams

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The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful underrated period piece. Though most critics reacted favorably to it, the movie mostly flew under the radar. It’s great for fans of period movies, romances, and detective stories as it manages to combine elements of all three with a modern tone and some serious star power in the form of leading lady Lily James.

Inspired by the novel of the same name, the movie follows a writer (James) who begins to exchange letters with a man on the island of Guernsey, an island that had been occupied by the Germans during World War II. Intrigued by his membership in the titular society and how they came to be (formed as a way to defy the soldiers and be out after curfew), she makes the journey to the island to get to know its members and unravel the mystery of what happened to one of them.

Connor plays the grandson of one of the members of the society. While his role in the movie as a whole takes a backseat to the adults of the ensemble, it still demonstrates that he is able to hold his own among them at a young age.

This is the second time Connor plays the grandson of English actor Tom Courtenay. The first was in Grandpa’s Great Escape.

5

His Dark Materials (2019-2022)

Kit Connor As Pantalaimon

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His Dark Materials

Drama

Adventure

ScreenRant logo

8/10

22

8.6/10

Release Date

2019 – 2021

Network

BBC, HBO Max

Cast

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    Andrew Scott

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    James Cosmo

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His Dark Materials marks the most recent adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s novel trilogy for the screen. Each season of the series loosely adapts one of the novels, finally bringing the story to its conclusion, which previous adaptations have been unable to do.

The story follows Lyra (Dafne Keen) and her daemon Pantalaimon (Connor) as they are pulled into an adventure that teaches them how the world around them – and other worlds beyond theirs – really work. Lyra is an orphan raised by scholars and Pan is the animal-like manifestation of her own soul in her world. When they go on a search for a missing friend, she also becomes the subject of a prophecy and becomes embroiled in the middle of a conspiracy before meeting a boy from a world very different from hers.

Connor’s work as Pan is his first voice over work. As the physical and sentient manifestation of Lyra’s soul, Pan’s journey in the story very much has to mirror her own. Even as Lyra’s hiding her fear, Pan is giving voice to it. He has to have an innocent curiosity at the beginning and a coming-of-age by the end. Connor’s voice is able to reflect all of that perfectly, making Pan line up with Keen’s exquisite performance as Lyra.

4

Warfare (2025)

Kit Connor As Tommy

Warfare 2025 Film Poster

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Warfare

R

War

Action

ScreenRant logo

7/10

Release Date

April 11, 2025

Director

Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland

Cast

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    D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai

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    Charles Melton

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Warfare is inspired by real accounts of the war in Iraq in the 2000s. Written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, it draws on Mendoza’s own experiences in the military for its story. The movie follows a group of Navy SEAL’s while on a mission in Iraq in 2006.

Connor is a member of the large ensemble task that also includes Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn, Riverdale breakout Charles Melton, and more. The movie does not simply explore war with a heroes-versus-villains approach as so many action movies do. Instead, it focuses on the impact of war on those soldiers in the middle of it as the psychological and emotional toll plays out among the carnage.

It’s not the kind of movie that can be labeled as “fun” or “entertaining” as Screen Rant’s own review points out. It is a movie that demands the attention of the audience though, as its very capable cast, including Connor, embodies the horrors of what they have seen.

3

The Wild Robot (2024)

Kit Connor As Brightbill

The Wild Robot Movie Poster

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The Wild Robot

PG

Animation

Drama

Sci-Fi

ScreenRant logo

8/10

92

9.3/10

Release Date

September 27, 2024

Runtime

101 Minutes

Cast

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    Lupita Nyong’o

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    Pedro Pascal

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Connor’s second voice over role comes in the animated movie The Wild Robot. The science fiction movie focuses on a robot that becomes shipwrecked on an island inhabited by different animals. While the robot (voiced by Lupita N’yongo) initially seeks to activate a locator in her system to be rescued by the company that made the robots, she eventually learns to live among the animals on the island. After accidentally destroying a nest of goose eggs, except for one, she keeps that egg and raises the goose that hatches, Brightbill.

Much of the story involves the robot essentially learning to become a parent. Brightbill as the young goose who does not fit in with the flock because of his relationship with a robot and a fox (Pedro Pascal) who raised him is also a highlight. Connor is fantastic as an insecure Brightbill who longs to fit in and eventually rises to the occasion to become a hero.

The Wild Robot was nominated for three Academy Awards and won nine Annie Awards.

2

Rocketman (2019)

Kit Connor As Young Reginald Dwight

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Rocketman

R

Biography

Drama

Fantasy

Music

ScreenRant logo

8/10

8.5/10

Release Date

May 31, 2019

Runtime

121 Minutes

Cast

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    Bryce Dallas Howard

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While Taron Edgerton has (rightfully) received most of the praise when it comes to the movie Rocketman, he is not the only actor in the movie to have brought Elton John to life. Connor plays the entertainer as an adolescent – before he gains his stage name and learns to have the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Rocketman was a breath of fresh air when it landed in theaters in 2019. The movie takes a standard biopic and injects it with a healthy dose of magical realism and magnetic performances, making it one of the best movies of 2019. It follows the rise of Elton John to superstardom, though it does it with plenty of musical fantasy sequences instead of playing the story straight, which fits right in line with Sir Elton John’s desire to turn every performance into something astounding.

Connor is Reginald Dwight, long before Elton John becomes his most theatrical. He still gets to play the piano and sing in a few scenes, but his scenes are mostly about selling Reginald’s desire to be more than what others see him as and the awkwardness of growing up, which Connor nails perfectly.

Collage of Johnny from Sing and Taron Egerton as Elton John and Eggsy in Rocketman and Kingsman

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Heartstopper (2022-Present)

Kit Connor As Nick Nelson

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Heartstopper

Romance

Drama

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8/10

22

9.5/10

Release Date

April 22, 2022

Showrunner

Alice Oseman

Cast

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    Olivia Colman

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    Kit Connor

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Heartstopper is adapted from the graphic novels of the same name. The series is a celebration of LGBTQ+ identity and relationships. While it is initially the story of a cozy romance between two young men with their friends playing supporting roles, the storylines gradually become more mature as the series progresses, dealing with subjects like eating disorders alongside that romance.

Connor is one of the male leads in the ensemble as Nick Nelson, a rugby player that Charlie (Joe Spring) has a crush on. He eventually finds that the feelings are mutual as the two progress from a friendship to a romantic relationship.

Connor won the Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance for Heartstopper. The series won seven more Children’s And Family Emmys and has won a GLAAD Media Award for all three seasons.

Nick is one of the most empathetic characters in Heartstopper. While he is initially presented as a typical jock in order to encourage speculation about him among Charlie’s friends, he proves himself to be the person most in tune with the feelings of those around him. He can see when others are pretending to be something they’re not in order to fit in, instinctively knows when others are uncomfortable when they try to hide it, and becomes someone who reaches out to everyone in Charlie’s friend group.

Connor’s role as Nick means he has a lot of dramatic moments in the series as the characters regularly go through roller coasters of emotions. It also, however, means, that he gets to play a young person experiencing first love, and he brilliantly carries that role well. Heartstopper might be Kit Connor’s best TV show right now, but his talent indicates that he will steadily gain even better roles.