Sebastian Croft vs Kit Connor: How Do They Compare?
Both are London-born actors in their early twenties. Both got early starts as child performers. And both ended up on the same Netflix show, which is why their names get typed into the same search bar about a thousand times a day. Sebastian Croft plays Ben Hope on Heartstopper, the character fans love to hate. Kit Connor plays Nick Nelson, the rugby-playing lead whose physical transformation between seasons became its own talking point.
The comparisons go beyond the show. They’re separated by about two years in age, two inches in height, and two pretty different approaches to training. Here’s the breakdown.
Image: Edward Maestom / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Croft, born in December 2001, has been working since he was a kid — he played the young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones back in 2016 and carried the lead in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans in 2019. He’s lean, around six feet in the right boots, and he’s never been an actor who sells himself on physique.
Image: Amy Hecht / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Connor, born March 2004, is the younger of the two but the one who’s visibly packed on muscle on camera. He started even earlier than Croft — Get Santa in 2014, voicing Pantalaimon across all three seasons of His Dark Materials, and young Elton John in Rocketman in 2019.
Side-by-Side Stats
| Stat | Sebastian Croft | Kit Connor |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Weight | ~150 lbs (68 kg) | ~154 lbs (70 kg) |
| Age | 23 | 21 |
| Date of Birth | December 16, 2001 | March 8, 2004 |
| Build | Slim, lean | Athletic, broad-shouldered |
| Eye Color | Brown | Blue |
| Hair Color | Dark brown | Light brown |
| Net Worth (est.) | ~$1 million | ~$2 million |
Weights and net worth figures are published estimates, not confirmed by either actor.
Height Comparison
Croft has about two inches on Connor. Stand them side by side and the gap reads clearly — Croft’s eyeline sits above Connor’s, though Connor’s wider frame and thicker neck make the difference less obvious in group shots. Cast photos from Heartstopper press tours back this up: Croft is usually among the taller guys in the lineup, Connor near the middle.
Context helps. The average adult male height in the UK is about 5 ft 9 in (175 cm). So Croft sits an inch above it and Connor an inch below. Neither is an outlier. Connor has joked about this himself in interviews — people assume he’s much taller because of how he’s framed on screen and because Nick Nelson is written as a big rugby lad. Camera angles, platform shoes, and a 60 kg scene partner will do that.
Career Comparison
Connor’s résumé is longer and skews bigger-budget. After Rocketman and Slaughterhouse Rulez, Heartstopper made him a name in 2022. He made his West End debut in 2024 as Romeo in Jamie Lloyd’s production of Romeo & Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre opposite Rachel Zegler — a sold-out, physically brutal run. Then came A24’s Warfare in 2025, which required an actual military boot camp before filming.
Croft’s path has been scrappier and more varied. Game of Thrones, then the Horrible Histories film, then Ben Hope in Heartstopper. In 2024 he led Prime Video’s Dead Hot alongside Vivian Oparah. He also releases music and has been open about being queer, which he addressed publicly in 2023 after backlash over a voice role.
Fitness and Body Approach
This is where they split hardest.
Connor deliberately bulked for Heartstopper. Nick is a rugby player, and between seasons one and two Connor added noticeable size — heavier compound lifting, more food, visible upper-body thickness by season two. He’s talked openly about the strangeness of that: being praised for getting bigger while playing a show that handles body image and disordered eating as plot points. By season three the physique was built in enough that the show’s own storyline nodded at it. Boxing has also been part of his routine, and the Warfare prep layered on military-style conditioning — rucking, carries, endurance work rather than hypertrophy training.
Croft hasn’t gone that route. He’s kept the same lean, runner’s frame he’s had since his teens. No publicized bulk, no trainer name attached, no transformation arc. He stays active through everyday stuff — walking London, football, travel — and his build has stayed consistent across six-plus years of on-screen work. For the kind of roles he takes, that’s the point. Ben Hope isn’t a rugby player.
Image: UKinUSA from Washington, D.C., USA / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Key Differences
- Height: Croft is about 2 inches taller at 5 ft 10 in vs Connor’s 5 ft 8 in.
- Age: Croft is about 27 months older, born December 2001 vs Connor’s March 2004.
- Build: Croft is slim and consistent; Connor is noticeably broader through the chest, shoulders, and arms after deliberate bulking.
- Training: Connor lifts, boxes, and has done military-style conditioning for film roles. Croft has no publicized gym program.
- Weight: Despite being shorter, Connor is estimated to weigh slightly more — a muscle-mass difference, not a height one.
- Stage work: Connor has West End credits; Croft’s output leans toward screen and music.
- Role demands: Nick Nelson required a visible physical build. Ben Hope didn’t.
Short version: Croft’s the taller, leaner one. Connor’s the shorter, heavier, more visibly trained one. If you’ve only seen them in Heartstopper, you’ve probably got it backwards — the show’s framing makes Connor look like the big one in every scene.
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Last Updated: November 1, 2026 | Source: Healthy Celeb
