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Joe Locke (actor)

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Joe Locke
Locke in 2022
Born
Joseph William Locke

(2003-09-24) 24 September 2003 (age 21)
NationalityManx
OccupationActor
Years active2021–present

Joseph William Locke (born 24 September 2003) is a Manx actor. He is known for his lead role as high school student Charlie Spring in the Netflix teen series Heartstopper (2022–present), for which he received a nomination for the inaugural Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance.[1][2]

Early life and education

Joseph William Locke was born on 24 September 2003. He grew up in Douglas, Isle of Man.[3][4][5][6] He attended Ballakermeen High School.[7][8] He told ITV's This Morning in April 2022 that he was studying for A-Level exams in politics, history and English.[9]

While in high school, Locke and three fellow students submitted a petition to government officials to investigate the feasibility of welcoming Syrian refugees to the Isle of Man.[3]

Career

Locke participated in the 2020 National Theatre Connections as well as productions at the Gaiety Theatre and with the Kensington Art Centre's youth group.[10][11]

In April 2021, it was announced Locke would star as lead character Charlie Spring in his debut television role in the 2022 Netflix coming-of-age series Heartstopper, an adaptation of the webcomic and graphic novel of the same name by Alice Oseman.[12] He was chosen out of 10,000 other potential actors who were up for the role through an open casting call.[13][14] While Locke was 17 at the time of the filming, his role has him playing a 14–15 year old student in an English boys' grammar school.[14][15]

In November 2022, it was announced that Locke had been cast in Marvel Studios' WandaVision spin-off television series Agatha: Darkhold Diaries for Disney+.[16]

Personal life

Locke came out on Instagram when he was 12 years old and told his mother he was gay. Realizing he was ready to be out to his family but not the world, he deleted the Instagram post and did not come out again until he was 15.[17] Locke has spoken about his experiences of being a young gay man from the Isle of Man and their parallels with Charlie's story in the Heartstopper series.[18][19]

In August 2022, the Isle of Man's health minister, Lawrie Hooper, announced that the government would change its blanket ban on gay men donating blood after Locke called for the "archaic" rule to be changed in a video message played at the island's annual pride celebration.[20][21]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2022–present Heartstopper Charlie Spring Main role
2024 Agatha: Darkhold Diaries† Billy Kaplan Post-production[22]

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue Ref.
2022 The Trials Noah Donmar Warehouse [23]

Accolades

Award Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Children's and Family Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Lead Performance Heartstopper Nominated [24]
National Television Awards 2022 Rising Star Heartstopper Nominated [25]
Queerty Awards 2023 Performance – TV Heartstopper Won [26]
WhatsOnStage Awards 2023 Best Professional Debut Performance The Trials Won [27]

References

  1. ^ Williams, K-Ci (22 April 2022). "Netflix's Heartstopper Stars Want Everyone to See 'How Amazing and Beautiful Queerness Is'". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  2. ^ Schneider, Michael (1 November 2022). "Netflix Leads Nomination Tally for First-Ever Children's & Family Emmys". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Turton, Sam (29 November 2019). "Students present Syria petition". Isle of Man Today. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  4. ^ Cleal, Sam (producer) (29 April 2022). Kit Connor and Joe Locke take the BFF Test. BuzzFeed UK (Online video). Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  5. ^ @joelocke03 (24 September 2021). "Apparently I'm an adult now?!". Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022 – via Instagram.
  6. ^ "Heartstopper's Joe Locke in running for National Television Award". ITV News. 27 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Students petition Tynwald to reverse Syrian refugee position". Manx Radio. 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Netflix show starring Manx actor streams next week". Manx Radio. 17 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ^ Duke, Simon (28 April 2022). "Heartstopper actors force hasty change to This Morning schedule". ChronicleLive. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Joe's heart-stopping moment, as he gets picked for lead Netflix role". Isle of Man Today. 2 May 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Manx actor lands role in Netflix series". 24 April 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  12. ^ Stroude, Will (22 April 2021). "Heartstopper: Kit Connor and Joe Locke to star in Netflix adaption of gay graphic novel". Attitude. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Joe Locke". 1883 Magazine. 21 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  14. ^ a b Harrison, Ellie (25 April 2022). "Heartstopper's Joe Locke: 'Lots of queer teenagers feel like they don't deserve love'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Who Plays Charlie Spring In Netflix's Heartstopper? Everything You Need To Know About Joe Locke". Capital FM. 22 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  16. ^ Otterson, Joe (1 November 2022). "Heartstopper Star Joe Locke Joins WandaVision Spinoff Agatha: Coven of Chaos for Disney+ (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  17. ^ Piepenburg, Erik (29 July 2023). "They Put the Heart in 'Heartstopper'". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  18. ^ James, Alastair (13 April 2022). "Heartstopper's young stars are ready to share the love in Netflix's most uplifting LGBTQ series yet". Attitude. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022. The conversation then turns to how the actors relate to their characters. As a young gay man, Joe, who is 18 and from the Isle of Man, compares his schooldays with what Charlie goes through.
  19. ^ Levesley, David (3 June 2022). "Joe Locke: 'I'd love to play the first queer Disney prince or Marvel superhero'". Soho House. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022. While his generation are universally well equipped on navigating sexuality thanks to social media, and growing up gay, he says, wasn't too big a deal at school, the Isle of Man's policies on it have not always been as forward-thinking.
  20. ^ "Manx actor Joe Locke calls for gay men blood donation U-turn". BBC News. 15 August 2022. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  21. ^ Wakefield, Lily (17 August 2022). "Isle of Man vows to drop queer blood ban after Heartstopper actor calls out 'archaic' rule". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Marvel's Agatha: Coven of Chaos series wraps filming in Atlanta for Disney+".
  23. ^ Millward, Tom (29 June 2022). "Heartstopper's Joe Locke and William Gao among the cast of The Trials at Donmar Warehouse". WhatsOnStage. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  24. ^ Schneider, Michael (11 December 2022). "Heartstopper Leads All Winners at 1st Annual Children's & Family Emmys (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  25. ^ Earp, Catherine (13 October 2022). "National Television Awards: Full winners list". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Performance TV Winners". The Queerties. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  27. ^ "The 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards – full list of winners". WhatsOnStage.com. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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