‘The moment I came out of my mum’s vagina I didn’t cry. I didn’t blink,’ Finney tells me. ‘They thought I was dead because I was just so quiet. I was looking at everyone like, “Is this it? Is this what I’ve been waiting for?”’

Yes, Yasmin Finney is a Virgo.

Mariana Maltoni [IG] photographs Yasmin Finney in ‘Yasmin Finney Has Arrived’, styled by Georgia Medley in Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and Tiffany & Co jewelry for ELLE UK June 2023./ Hair by Issac Poleon; makeup by Mona Leanne

Lotte Jeffs conducts the interview.

Fast forward about 16-17 years and Yasmin Finney is a budding model and popular TikToker with 320.4K followers by posting beauty tutorials and dance challenges. Addendum: Finney also speaks to growing up trans in Manchester, England.

Like so many young trans kids, the young Manchestor ‘boy’ was dealing with the reality that everything about her was a girl except her biological anatomy.

In a sweet chapter for Finney, her grandmother bestowed a tutu on her one day as a gift [aren’t some grandmothers wonderful!!!!!], and the future star wouldn’t take it off until her mother was coming through the door from work.

That family chapter is also now resolved — with Finney making good money and being on Netflix. That gig changed her mum’s view of her child’s future survival as a trans human in a harsh world.

The well-loved Netflix series Heartstopper has been praised for its beautifully authentic portrayal of teenage love, with Yasmin's character, Elle Argent adding an important and moving dimension to the storyline. Heartstopper will enter its second season on August 3, with an expanded role for Finney.

Heartstopper is a graphic novel series written and illustrated by Alice Oseman. The story centers around two teenage boys, Charlie and Nick, who attend an all-boys school in the UK. Charlie is openly gay and has had a crush on Nick for quite some time, while Nick is straight and oblivious to Charlie's feelings.

As the story progresses, Charlie and Nick become close friends, with Charlie helping Nick navigate his own feelings when he realizes he might not be entirely straight. The two boys start spending more time together, and Nick starts questioning his sexuality, causing tension in his group of friends.

One of Charlie’s best friends, Elle [Finney] is going through her own challenges at school. After years at the all boys’ school, Elle has officially transferred to the all girls’ school, making this her first year without her trusted group of BFFs by her side.

Though at first she’s convinced she’s the only LGBTQIA+ student, she learns quickly that she’s not as alone as she thought.