‘Agatha All Along' star Joe Locke on learning from Kathryn Hahn, musical theater goals, and the ‘Heartstopper' movie with Kit Connor

Yahoo

08-05-2025

Despite what anyone who has watched an interview with him might believe, Agatha All Along star Joe Locke doesn't think comedy comes naturally to him. "I think I'm quite a funny person when I want to be," he tells Gold Derby, "but I find acting comedy the hardest part for me." You'd never be able to tell watching him share scenes with Kathryn Hahn's hilarious Agatha Harkness on the Disney+ series about the Marvel Cinematic Universe's charismatic witch. Locke's portrayal of "Teen," and then, eventually, Billy Maximoff, is sweet, layered, and a perfect addition to the onscreen coven made up of his costars Hahn, Patti LuPone (Lilia Calderu), Sasheer Zamata (Jennifer Kale), Ali Ahn (Alice Wu-Gulliver), and Debra Jo Rupp (Sharon Davis). As the youngest cast member in a show populated with legendary performers, he more than holds his own.
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Locke spoke to Gold Derby about the most difficult part of preparing for a Marvel project, what Agatha did for him as an actor, his musical theater aspirations, and his upcoming executive producer role on the Heartstopper movie.
Gold Derby: To start, can you talk a bit about what auditioning for a Marvel project is like? What did you know going into this series?
Joe Locke: I knew nothing. They sent me, it was Untitled Marvel Project for an untitled role. The scene they sent was in Episode 1, which is a bottle episode, so it's like a detective episode. They sent me the interrogation scene between me and Kathryn Hahn's character and I was like, "What is this? This isn't a Marvel show. It's a police procedural and a slightly strange, dramatic one. I'm confused." And then after a few auditions, they would tell me more, and more every time I'd get a recall until they told me everything, and I was like, "Oh, OK, that makes way more sense now."
You thought you were going in for Law & Order or something.
Yeah, like has Marvel taken over Law & Order or something?
What did your prep look like for "Teen"/Billy?
A lot of comic book reading! Marvel sent me a link, being like, "Here's every single page of comic Billy has ever been in, ever." I was like, "I'll get reading." But Marvel use this software that I was going to name, but I shouldn't name because they'll tell me off, to securely send files and it's the hardest thing to use. On set, we would always talk about how it's the hardest thing to use. Trying to read a comic, you'll try to scroll a page, but it doesn't do it.
Lovely. Were there nerves about starting for you? Obviously Heartstopper is huge, but Marvel is a different beast entirely. What was sitting on your heart about joining this juggernaut?
I think I was really nervous. We did a week in L.A. before we did the main shoot in Atlanta to do all the exteriors on Blondie Street, which has now unfortunately been knocked down. But that was why we did it early, so we could do it before they knocked it down. I was nervous for that, I think, but then I think I went into Atlanta having met some of the people, having met Kathryn, and the ice was already broken. The team creating Agatha are just the nicest people in the world, and they are so comforting and homely.
I remember one day before one of my first days, I was really nervous and talking to Jac [Schaeffer, creator and director] about it, and she just looked at me, and she put a hand on my face and went, "It was always you, Joe," and that's just the most warm feeling. I don't know, it was great. And also, I just thought, I've been having this amazing experience that so many people would love to have. There's no point being nervous about it, because I should just enjoy this and take from this as an actor as many skills as I can.
SEE Patti LuPone on her Agatha All Along witch and 'getting in trouble' for spoiling Marvel secrets
Absolutely. We're so conditioned to think about big projects like this using a green screen and all kinds of crazy special effects, but that really wasn't the case so much on this series. So how did working on practical sets affect your performance?
It helped so much. When you're acting, it's much easier to act to a person than a green tennis ball. So it definitely was great, and also the sets were so beautiful and so well crafted. It really showed the skills of such amazing craftspeople, and to get to [see] that was really, really, really special.
The cast has talked so much about the real coven that you all formed on set, and obviously several of your cast members were heavyweights in the industry. So did Kathryn or Patti, or any of the coven, ever give you advice on set that really aided your performance, or kind of gave you a boost of confidence?
Yeah, I mean, it's less, like, specific advice other than Kathryn once told me something about… I forgot what it was. But I just took everything I could from them, like every single thing. Like Kathryn has this amazing ability to move her mouth in such tiny little ways, which shows such specific changes of character and emotion that I've never seen in anyone else before. And also, Kathryn has this ability to play such goofy comedy with such truth, which is why it makes it so funny because you believe it. I think oftentimes with comedy, what makes comedy so hard is that it becomes not naturalistic, and she just is so good at doing that. And Patti, everything she does is intentional, and everything she does has a reason behind it. And it may look effortless, but actually everything has such hard work behind it, and such dedication and care which is, is really special.
Yeah, you can definitely tell. They're fantastic in the show. All of you are. How do you think playing Billy has left a lasting impact on you? What have you taken with you from Agatha into your other work?
So much. I think I really always saw Agatha as my drama school, and I didn't go to drama school, and I learned how to be an actor in Agatha in a way. Because in Heartstopper, [my character] Charlie, especially in Season 1, Charlie was very like myself. It was almost like playing a different version of myself, whereas Billy is nothing like me. And so I definitely took way more acting from [Agatha].
I can imagine. It was kind of a masterclass. You had a lot of stuff thrown at you, and a lot of stuff that you had to execute. In terms of what you maybe found emotionally challenging, obviously, there's a huge reveal where we finally learn who "Teen" actually is and that flashback scene is kind of devastating to watch. And obviously, it's had a major impact on who he is. Was that the most challenging emotionally to perform? Or was it the big reveal where you come in floating?
I found actually that the hardest thing for me was working out what this, like, façade of Episodes 2 to 5 were, and how much of that to play. The darker stuff I actually found the easier part. I remember when I was auditioning I did two chemistry read scenes with Kathryn. One was the Episode 2 cars scene when we're on the way to find the coven, and then the other one was the Episode 6, post-reveal, post-mud scene where she comes out and shouts at me, and that was the scene that got me the job. After that chemistry read, I had to do like three more recalls because they were like, "You didn't really nail the comedy of the Episode 2 stuff." And they're right. I mean, I think I'm quite a funny person when I want to be, but I find acting comedy [to be] the hardest. So that was definitely the hardest part for me.
People have said all the time that comedy is actually a lot harder for actors than drama to tap into. Would you want to be part of more comedy in the future? Because I've watched a lot of your interviews, as have your fans, and you are very funny, so I feel like that's a natural thing for you. Is that something you're looking forward to exploring more in new projects?
Yeah, I'd love to do more comedies. I'd love to. I think my sense of humor is very dry, and so maybe more dry comedy would fit.
I think a British comedy you could slip into very easily.
I'd love to do something like that!
Are you hoping to don the eyeliner and the crown again? How are you feeling about your Marvel future?
In a heartbeat. Yeah, obviously, I had the best time, and I would love to carry on playing Billy, and, you know, the door was left open at the end of Agatha, and so I hope one day I get to walk through it.
Obviously you have a very large fan base because of Heartstopper, but, like we said, Marvel is a juggernaut. So I'm assuming that expanded the eyes that are on you in a completely different way. How did you find that shift?
It was great! I think Heartstopper is the best training for that, like in a fan base kind of way. And Marvel fans care so much about the characters, which is so great. I really hope I did the character justice.
Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel
You absolutely did. Especially for fans, to see an openly queer character in the Marvel universe really meant a lot to them. I'm assuming that interactions you have in public with fans might have ramped up as well, because seeing a queer character in, arguably, one of the biggest franchises of all time is so meaningful to people. I know that when we talked at the premiere of the show, you actually said you didn't feel pressure in that way because it felt natural to just have a queer character because queer people exist, and that was fantastic to hear. Have you had any moments with fans, though, just telling you how much that specific thing impacted them?
Yeah, definitely. I, more than anyone, I think, can understand the importance and also the impact of positive representation for people, and less for the people who those characters represent, but also for helping change opinions of people who might not necessarily have wanted one of those characters [to exist] in the first place. I think there's something really special about that. You can't change someone's opinion about something when you come from a place of hate or a place of attacking them. You're not going to win any battles by telling someone that they're an awful person because of x, y, and z.
What you might do is if you show them a positive example of the thing that they might be scared of, and how that actually isn't something to be scared of, then that can slowly over time shift opinions of people and does it in a way that doesn't make them feel alienated and makes them double down on those opinions, and doesn't make them feel stupid. Because, you know, lots of people aren't stupid and have those opinions, but I really hope that increased representation in a positive way will slowly but surely help the world.
Absolutely. You were recently on Broadway in Sweeney Todd and Agatha obviously has musical elements. Would a movie musical or something like that be something that's on your bucket list to tick off down the line?
I want to do the Spring Awakening movie!
Oh, you'd be so good. To play Moritz?
Yeah, either Melchior or Moritz. I don't mind. I'm publicly putting myself out there for that. I was trying to do it secretly and see who I knew I could talk to. But now I'm like, 'I'll just say it out loud.'
That's my favorite musical of all time. It would be so good.
I'd like to do any musical. Like Hadestown, I would love to play Orpheus in the movie. On stage, my voice couldn't handle it, but maybe in a film because you can re-record and re-record. I don't think I could play him on stage. I think I would be up to only one night a week.
SEE Kathryn Hahn reveals the unusual way she found out about her Golden Globe nomination for Agatha All Along
I think you're selling yourself a bit short there, because I did see you [on Broadway] and you were excellent. But you know, training exists. I think you could do it.
I'd love to. My favorite musical of all time is Falsettos, and I'd love to play Whizzer in a movie musical of that film in, like, five, 10 years. So in five, 10 years, you can cast me. Thank you.
I also think if you just wanted to do everything from the Sondheim canon, I don't think anybody would hate that.
I'd love to!
Yeah, that would be so fantastic, especially because movie musicals are the thing now. OK, we're Gold Derby. Obviously, we focus on awards. Do you remember what the first award you ever won was? It does not have to be industry-related.
I think I won my school drama award. I also won a computer science award one year. I was very proud of that. I got just, like, school awards. I won a Blue Peter badge once when I was younger, which, as a British kid, is a big thing.
Yeah, I don't think a lot of Americans know what that is, but that's legendary over there.
Well, I guess I didn't win one, but I got one.
I mean, still a bragging rights thing for sure. What do you hope fans got out of Agatha? What do you hope fans are left feeling when they're finished with this fantastic series?
I hope that we shocked them with some of the twists and the turns of the story. I hope that they feel sad that people are dead, and I hope that they want us, me and Kathryn, in more Marvel things.
I can pretty much tell you that's the case. We're so excited for hopefully more Billy. And Heartstopper the movie, we're so excited for that over here too. That's your first EP venture as well, correct?
Yeah, I'm excited about it! I think that they're going to regret giving it to me because I'm gonna have so much fun with it, but not in a bad way. I'm just really excited to learn everything I can from the experience and take it forward, you know. As an actor, you don't really get to see much of the behind-the-scenes stuff. So it's been, even so far, so nice getting to be in those conversations, and they're really taking us seriously, me and Kit [Connor, his costar and fellow executive producer], which is really nice.
How is Kit as a producing partner?
Great! Yeah, all of our notes so far have been pretty on the same page.
Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney+.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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