Joe Locke of Heartstopper Wants to Play “First Gay Disney Prince”

Joe Locke hopes that in his new Netflix LGBTQ+ adolescent series Heartstopper, which launched last month, “people will see themselves.”

Joe Locke is on the hunt for his next leading role.

After making his onscreen debut in Netflix’s smash LGBTQ+ adolescent series Heartstopper, the British actor, 18, said in an interview with The Independent that he wants to do more projects that “mean something.”

“I would love to play the first gay Disney prince,” Locke said. “That would be a dream.”

He was chosen from a pool of 10,000 young performers to play Charlie Spring in Heartstopper, a film based on Alice Osman’s graphic novel of the same name. The British coming-of-age drama follows Charlie, who has recently been outed, as he falls in love with Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), a popular rugby player with whom he sits in class.

Charlie’s buddies are played by a skilled young ensemble, and the production has won praise for its representation of the LGBTQ+ community. Heartstopper has maintained a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score since its Netflix premiere last month.

Locke said that he hopes “people will see themselves” in the Netflix show. “I want it to say to young queer people: ‘You deserve to have this story. This happiness is not out of your reach. You do not deserve the things in a classic heterosexual love story because you happen to be queer,'” he said.

The young actress also gushed about working with Oscar winner Olivia Colman, who portrays Nick’s mother Sarah.

“They kept her a secret for ages,” Locke said. “Then one day on set, Kit whispered something to me, and I started screaming.”