Trans 'Heartstopper,' 'Doctor Who' Actor Yasmin Finney Talks About Trolls and Onscreen Intimacy

Yasmin Finney, the transgender actor who portrays trans characters Elle on "Heartstopper" and Rose Noble on "Doctor Who," opened up about what the roles have meant, how she deals with trolls, and more.

Speaking with NBC News, Finney acknowledged the fans that have made the Netflix series "Heartstopper" a global hit.

"I've really been lucky to have a trans character do so well and to get so much love and support," Finney said. "I think that's quite rare to have that, but I feel quite protected with the 'Heartstopper' fan base."

The series' first season "introduced a newly transitioned Elle, who had just transferred to the local all-girls school," NBC News recalled. "In the show's third season, which largely explores the angst of first-time sexual experiences, Elle... wants to take her relationship with her boyfriend, Tao Xu (William Gao), to the next level, but that kind of intimacy forces her to confront – and confide in Tao about – her struggles with gender dysphoria."

It's a storyline that fits neatly into the season's other overarching theme, that of mental health. One of the show's other central characters, Charlie (Joe Locke), struggles with an eating disorder, and his months-long journey sees devoted boyfriend Nick (Kit Connor) standing firmly at his side.

The season also embroils Finney's character in the overheated politics of our age, showing in one heart-wrenching episode how Elle – a talented artist – finds that her achievements are overshadowed by culture war vitriol.

"What 'Heartstopper' did so well in seasons one and two is it didn't throw it in people's faces of how bad it can be to be a trans person; it was a world of escapism and a world of fantasy," Finney summed up for NBC News. "And this season, we get a taste of realism with Elle and what it can be like for trans people."

Things also got real as the show allowed its teenaged characters – and the 20-ish actors who play them – to grow up some.

"Finney, who also has gender dysphoria, said the idea of filming her first sex scene was 'quite scary' and 'overwhelming,'" NBC News relayed, "but she credits an intimacy coordinator for helping her and Xu discuss the importance of consent and making those moments 'as natural and as realistic as possible, with the buzz and the beauty of being imperfect.' In the process, the show is able to offer another important example of a trans person in a loving, interracial relationship."

"When I step into the world of Elle, I always have this yearning for what she has, in the sense of that perfect relationship, that perfect unhinged love, which is just so gorgeous to watch," Finney told NBC News. "I don't think it's something that's offered to a lot of trans people, especially not me when I was growing up" – a time when she endured bullying as a youth.

She endures bullying even today, but now it's from online trolls.

"The key to that is you don't respond," Finney advised; "you don't get into that world of negativity. It is keyboard warriors on their phone, with a box of KFC, who are just like, 'Oh, I hate trans people.'"

"When people comment that stuff," the actor added, "it comes from a place of insecurities."

Finney went on to add, "I'm just very sure of who I am, and I think that not many people are, so I think that maybe I can shock people or intimidate people or whatever."

"But I think within the world I live in, I need to remember that there's a bigger picture than people's thoughts. I'm trying to get my rights; I'm trying to live as a human being, like you and everybody else."

Perhaps more of a drawback is the prospect of being pigeonholed. Finney's castmate Joe Locke recently commented on being offered mainly queer roles with the plaintive admission, "there are days that I never want to play a gay character again."

Finney echoed the general sentiment, saying that now that the production on Season 3 of "Heartstopper" is done, she has "realized that the roles that I'm getting are mostly trans. I kind of had this yearning for a connection with another kind of role."

Finney went on to explain, "My next goal in my career is to be able to play a role which doesn't specify a trans identity but also that can just impact people in another way. Elle impacted a certain community, but I just want a role which will be able to impact everyone."

Finney also offered her thoughts on the perennially hot topic of whether cisgender and straight actors ought to play queer roles.

"It's a very important thing that we remember, as an audience member, as journalists, as directors, as producers, as all of the big productions, that it's acting," Finney stressed. "When you're on set, you are there to play a role and to deliver a character."

The actor added that "when the industry allows everyone to get involved, I don't think there will be a conversation on who should play what role, because the roles will just be played by brilliant actors and actresses – and that is it."