Joe locke gay.

‘Heartstopper’s Joe Locke Reflects on His “skinny gay twink” Stereotype and Navigating Typecasting in Hollywood

Joe Locke rose to fame as Charlie Spring in Netflix’s Heartstopper, a role that earned him an Emmy nomination and solidified his place as a breakout actor. He has since stepped into the Marvel society with Agatha All Along and will return for the upcoming Heartstopper film. But beyond the screen, nothing captures fan attention more than when actors drop the curtain and share the real stories behind the scenes, just as Locke recently did with refreshing honesty.

Joe Locke reflected on the stereotypes he faced in his Hollywood career and how navigating typecasting shaped his path in the industry.

Inside Joe Locke’s journey through typecasting and queer representation

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In his chat with Charlie Cox on Variety’s Actors on Actors, Joe Locke reflected on how he is frequently sent auditions for roles that pair his appearance—young, slim, and queer. While he understands why those parts appear his way, he expressed a desire to scout characters outside that mold. “And I’m really fine at playing that, because I am a ski

‘Heartstopper’ star Joe Locke comes out as gay

Joe Locke, one of the stars of “Heartstopper” on Netflix, came out as gay in an interview with Teen Vogue.

Locke, 19, said he has been out since he was about 12 years mature, but has not felt the demand to come forward publicly with it.

“People have assumed and written it, [but] I haven’t ever corrected anyone because I haven’t felt the need to — I’ve never specifically stated my sexuality [until now],” he said.

Locke, who plays an out gay character, Charlie Spring, in the show, explained what was truly crucial to him — with all the fame and widespread attention that comes with stardom — was privacy, which he and his co-stars feel is difficult to arrive by now. He explained how it has affected his family’s lives too.

“It’s a weird guilt I sometimes sense that, by association, their lives are affected by choices in my life,” Locke said to Teen Vogue. “It’s a mutual thing. I need to learn my boundaries and people require to learn theirs. Most attention comes from a really good place, and I hope I always appreciate that.”

However, these boundaries hold been pushed in the past, specifically with “Heartstopper

Netflix star Joe Locke understands the importance of playing Charlie Spring in Heartstopper. The actor, who came out as gay before his claim to fame, is speaking publicly about his sexuality.

“It’s really nice to carry on getting to know Charlie, growing with him, and using the things that I learned from the craziness of last year to position into Charlie as a character,” Joe told Netflix’s TUDUM in August 2023, ahead of Heartstopper‘s second season.

“Charlie is probably the most confident nature in the exhibit. I’ve learned a lot about confidence from him,” the British star added. “About the distinct types of confidence, and how you don’t always demand to be an outwardly extra-confident person to be confident in who you are, and accept in staying genuine to your morals.”

Playing Charlie brought a sense of confidence to Joe’s hold life, especially in terms of helping young people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think coming out is stupid, that it’s still a thing that people have to do,” he shared during an interview with The New York Times in July 2023, revealing that he had come out at 12 years old in a since-deleted social media post. “I had just told my mum, and I was on highest

Joe Locke Addresses Backlash To His Gay MCU Character: “The Marvel Fandom Is Far Less Nice”

Agatha All Alongactor Joe Locke opens up about portraying a male lover character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The next Marvel Studios TV show that will be coming out of the MCU timeline this fall is Agatha All Along, serving as the first WandaVision spinoff series after Kathryn Hahn's debut as Agatha Harkness. The Marvel TV series will explore Agatha after the events of WandaVision and her path to gaining her powers back after what Scarlet Witch did to her in the finale.

In a new feature piece by Variety, Locke shared his thoughts on joining the MCU, as well as some of the responses to him playing a gay character in the franchise. To Locke, who is openly gay himself, he felt it was contradictory of Marvel fans to initially call for "authentic casting," only to then call his character "a campy gay stereotype," sharing the following:

I’ve never really thought about it. It’s one of those things that gets a bit stressful if you think about it too much. But being in a Marvel series is the most pinch me thing. [...] I thought you get cast in a Marvel show, you get paid to get