Heartstopper’s Joe Locke: “There are days that I never want to play a gay character again”

Joe Locke, one of the stars of Netflix’s Heartstopper, is the subject of a lengthy interview and profile piece in Variety.

Locke, 20, shot to fame when the first season of Heartstopper aired in 2002. It was his first professional acting role. He beat around 10,000 other actors through an open casting call.

The show details the romantic relationship between two school boys, Charlie and Nick (played by Locke and Kit Connor). In real life, Locke is also gay. He came out aged 12 to his family.

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Heartstopper’s success has led to further roles. Locke recently made his Broadway debut in Sweeney Todd. He’s also filmed the role of WandaVision spin-off television series Agatha All Along for Disney+.

Disney has not confirmed who Locke is playing, but we do know his character is gay. This has led fans to speculate that he will be revealed as Wiccan, the out, grown-up son of Wanda Maximoff.

“Overwhelming”

Locke says landing a role in the Marvel universe is a “pinch me” moment. He’s also grateful for the Heartstopper role that made him a star. However, he’s also aware that many viewers confuse him with his most identifiable role, and how ‘Charlie’, an out-gay teen, is regarded as a trailblazing figure.

“I find all of it quite overwhelming,” Locke told Variety. “In a good way, but still overwhelming. Sometimes I feel very accepting of it, and some days I want to push it away because I’m afraid of — I don’t know — the responsibility of it, almost.”

When the interviewer says that seems a lot to put on the shoulders of someone who is still young, Locke replies, “Yeah, and there are days that I never want to play a gay character again. Most of the casting I get sent are for gay characters.”

He was disappointed that he had to turn down a role as a straight character in a movie this summer due to scheduling conflicts.

Locke wants to prove to the industry that he’s not “a one-trick pony who was just the guy from ‘Heartstopper.’”

“Which in itself is maybe a problem of the industry, or a problem of me and my internalized homophobia,” he adds. “I don’t know.”

Locke expresses excitement about joining the cast of Agatha, although he says his hopes of getting buff were quickly dashed.

“I thought you get cast in a Marvel show, you get paid to get really muscly and hench,” he says (‘hench’ is British slang for fit and muscular). “‘We want you to stay small and twink-y’ is basically what they said, in a very corporate way.”

Patti LuPone

Among those to praise Locke was one of his Agatha castmates, Broadway legend Patti LuPone. She praised his maturity despite his increasing fame at a relatively young age.

“Think about it. He is in the Marvel universe. He did a Broadway musical. I don’t know how I would have handled it at his age. And yet he is embracing all of this and rising to the occasion. I don’t think there’s anything he will not be able to do.”

Agatha All Along debuts on September 18. The third season of Heartstopper, which Locke says will show his and Connor’s characters begin to explore a sexual relationship, arrives October 3.

Check out the latest trailer for Agatha All Along below.

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