Nick Nelson

Nick Nelson is the rugby-playing golden boy of Truham Grammar, easy and well-liked, the sort of popular kid who's nice to everyone without seeming to try. When he's seated next to Charlie Spring in form group, he's friendly in an uncomplicated way — he just doesn't yet know how much that friendship is about to unsettle what he thought he knew about himself.

Kit Connor plays Nick's self-discovery with such quiet, unforced naturalism that it never tips into a Very Special Episode. There's no torment performed for the audience — just small hesitations, a widening smile, the slow work of a decent boy figuring out what he feels. That restraint is what makes him so tender to watch.