Heartstopper's Joe Locke urges fans to 'learn boundaries' after a stranger called his grandmother

9 August 2023, 15:48 | Updated: 19 April 2024, 09:24

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By Katie Louise Smith

"I need to learn my boundaries and people need to learn their boundaries."

Heartstopper star Joe Locke has urged people to maintain boundaries when it comes to interacting with famous people after he revealed that fans managed to call his grandmother in the hopes of speaking to him.

Joe, who plays Charlie Spring in the hit Netflix series, spoke to Teen Vogue alongside his co-star Kit Connor in a new profile all about the show's huge success and how their new-found fame has impacted their lives.

Prior to starring in Heartstopper, Joe was a student back home on the Isle of Man. He landed the role of Charlie through an open casting call that featured 10,000 other actors. The role literally thrust him into the spotlight overnight.

Of course, with the popularity of the Alice Oseman's original graphic novel series and now the Netflix series, Joe has gained millions of new fans and his privacy has been affected by his sudden rise to fame.

Heartstopper's Joe Locke reveals a fan once managed to call his grandmother. Picture: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, Netflix

"There’s an idea that it's part of the job to lose your privacy, that you lose your right to having privacy," Joe said while discussing the way Kit Connor was forced to come out last year after being accused of queerbaiting. "That's something I hope the next generation of people in the public eye can change…. I think people are understanding that privacy is a nonnegotiable."

Joe then went on to explain how conscious he is that he isn't the only person who has been affected by his fame. He also shares concerns and feels guilty about the sacrifices his family have made for him.

"It’s a weird guilt I sometimes feel that, by association, their lives are affected by choices in my life," he said, noting that his mum has had to create new social media accounts because fans have messaged her or tried to pinpoint her location.

He then revealed that someone had found his grandmother's phone number and called her.

"It's a mutual thing," he continued. "I need to learn my boundaries and people need to learn their boundaries. Most attention comes from a really good place, and I hope I always appreciate that."

Joe Locke stars as Charlie Spring in Heartstopper season 2. Picture: Netflix

Speaking further about the expectations that fans and strangers have about him, Joe added: "People tend to assume that I am Charlie Spring and I'm a sweet, innocent person. Not that I'm not sweet — I'm a nice person, I hope — but I think people assume that I'm a saint, and therefore I can never act or do things in a way that a normal 19-year-old would."

"That annoys me sometimes.”