Joe Locke

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]

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

In 2022, Locke began starring as Charlie Spring in his debut television role in the 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] Locke, who was 17 at the time of the filming, played a 15–16-year-old pupil in an English boys' grammar school.^[14][15]

In 2024, Locke starred in Marvel Studios' WandaVision spin-off television series Agatha All Along for Disney+.^[16] He played a goth character initially referred to as "Teen",^[17] who is later revealed to be William Kaplan.^[18] In the same year, Locke took on the role of Tobias Ragg in the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Broadway.^[19]

In April 2025, it was announced that Locke would star in a feature length film, Heartstopper Forever, which will serve as the series finale of Heartstopper. He will also serve as an executive producer of the film.^[20] In July, it was announced that Locke would make his London West End debut in the fall, in the U.K. premiere of Clarkston, a play by Samuel D. Hunter.^[21] He debuted in the role on 17 September 2025 as "Jake".^[22]

In January 2026, it was announced that Locke was going to join Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman in Ian Charleson upcoming film Elsinore.^[23]

Locke came out on Instagram when he was 12 years old and told his mother he was gay. Realising he was ready to be out to his family but not the world, he deleted the Instagram post. He came out again at 15.^[24] Locke has spoken about his experiences of being a young gay man from the Isle of Man and the parallels with Charlie's story in Heartstopper.^[25][26]

In August 2022, Isle of Man 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.^[27][28]