Joseph William Locke was born on September 24, 2003, in Douglas, Isle of Man, and grew up in the same place. He attended Ballakermeen High School, where he was studying for A-Level exams in politics, history, and English at the time of his debut television role in 2022.
Locke's early life was marked by his involvement in the arts, with participation in the 2020 National Theatre Connections, productions at the Gaiety Theatre, and with the Kensington Art Centre's youth group. He also submitted a petition to government officials to investigate the feasibility of welcoming Syrian refugees to the Isle of Man, along with three fellow students, while in high school.
In 2021, Locke was announced to star as Charlie Spring in the Netflix coming-of-age series Heartstopper, an adaptation of the webcomic and graphic novel of the same name by Alice Oseman. He was chosen from an open casting call of over 10,000 potential actors and played a 14-15-year-old student in an English boys' grammar school. Locke, who was 17 at the time of the filming, received a nomination for the inaugural Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance for his role in Heartstopper.
In addition to his work on Heartstopper, Locke has also been cast in Marvel Studios' WandaVision spin-off television series Agatha All Along for Disney+, playing a goth character initially referred to as "Teen," who is later revealed to be Billy Maximoff / William Kaplan, also known as the son of the Scarlet Witch. Locke took on the role of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Broadway in January 2024.
Locke has been open about his experiences as a young gay man from the Isle of Man, having come out to his family at the age of 12, but then deleted his Instagram post and came out again at 15. He has spoken about the parallels between his own story and the story of Charlie Spring in Heartstopper.
In August 2022, Locke called for the Isle of Man government to change its blanket ban on gay men donating blood, which led to the government announcing that it would lift the ban. Locke has been recognized for his advocacy work, including being a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
