Trivia / First Kill

• Dawson Casting:
  • 16-year-old Juliette is played by 26-year-old Sarah Catherine Hook, who is actually older than Gracie Dzienny, who plays her older sister Elinor.
  • Calliope's actress Imani Lewis is a mere 22 years old – still six years older than her character.
• Duelling Works: With Heartstopper.
• Invisible Advertising: The show was given very little in the way of promotion beyond a single trailer (which dropped less than a month before the series premiered), relying on the cast and showrunners to advertise it through interviews, BTS reels, and their own social media accounts. Word has also gotten out via fan campaigns.
• No Budget: As you can likely tell by the choppy editing and the CGI effects that look unfinished, the crew wasn't provided nearly enough money to make the show look believable, and this also affected the marketing. This was also brought up in reviews as a common point of criticism against the show too.
• No Stunt Double: Most of Calliope's stunts were done by Imani herself, as she took kickboxing in preparation.
• Screwed by the Network: First Kill managed to develop a huge and vocal following, and its numbers and ratings were ~90 million hours viewed in the first month and a 61% critical score and 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; all nothing to sneeze at. This is despite a low budget, and an apparent lack of marketing. Netflix still cancelled the show after one season, with the reason given was "viewing numbers vs. cost", implying low viewership was to blame. Another explanation was the show's 43.11% completion rate, or the critical reviews which tended to criticise the show as predictable or underdeveloped.
• Sending Stuff to Save the Show: After the cancellation was announced, a worldwide effort was launched by the fandom to convince the network to either renew the show or negotiate the rights to another platform. The #SaveFirstKill movement even plastered their pleas onto billboards in LA and New York.
• What Could Have Been: There was originally going to be a shower scene where Cal and Juliette would have their conversation before heading into the auditorium. However, the water was too cold and presented an electrical hazard. As a result, the girls simply have their conversation after the shower (as you may have noticed their hair was wet after changing clothes).
• Word of God:
  • You've probably noticed that Calliope loves to give neck kisses to Juliette. Imani clarified at least twice, reinforced by Schwab, that it's a "power thing".
  • Juliette flashes her fangs more often than most vampires on the show simply because Sarah Catherine loved having them in and would do so on camera at any opportunity.