Manx actor Joe Locke attended the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles for the very first time at the weekend.

The 21-year-old was invited to attend the 97th edition of Academy Awards ceremony at The Dolby Theatre alongside his ‘Heartstopper’ cast-mates Kit Connor and Yasmin Finney.

Locke is best known for his breakthrough performance as Charlie Spring in Netflix’s Heartstopper, and recently appeared in the well-received Marvel TV show ‘Agatha All Along’ on Disney+ alongside well-known actors Aubrey Plaza and Kathryn Hahn.

After his performance in the latter, he was nominated for two awards; the Independent Spirit Awards for ‘Best Breakthrough Performance’ and the Saturn Awards for ‘Best Younger Performer in a TV Series’.

The Douglas-born actor honed his talent by taking part in the local ‘National Theatre Connections’ programme organised by the Isle of Man Arts Council and Kensington Arts.

Locke wore custom French luxury brand ‘Celine’ to walk the red carpet at the prestigious event, in a runway ensemble featuring a tailcoat and a sparkly gold sequinned waistcoat.

The evening brought together the very best of Hollywood to celebrate and award films across the last year, with the likes of Adrien Brody winning Best Actor for his performance in ‘The Brutalist’ and Mikey Madison winning Best Actress for her title role in ‘Anora’.

Talking to the fashion and lifestyle magazine GQ prior to the Oscars, Locke said: ‘It’s the most exciting and terrifying thing!

‘I find it quite anxiety-inducing, but it’s also four years ago this week I got my first job, and it feels very full circle to now be able to go to the Oscars.

‘I went to Disneyland [the day before the ceremony], that was my prep. I love a long bath before I start getting ready and a huge mug of green juice, whatever the hotel I’m sitting in has, which feels very LA.’

Talking about his attire for the evening, Locke added: ‘We wanted to find something that was a bit more special for the Oscars.

‘This Celine look I’m wearing has this gold waistcoat, which has 44,000 sequins in it and feels very elevated - something that you can only really wear to the Oscars. It fits me so well, and it feels very me.’

Posting a selection of photographs on Instagram, he said: ‘Saw this guy called Oscar, he was pretty cool.’

Locke is not the first Manx actor to walk the red carpet at Hollywood’s main event.

Back in 2013, Sam Barks performed with her co-stars from the film Les Miserables at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony.

She took to the stage with fellow actors Aaron Tveit, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Jackman, Sacha Baron Cohen and Russell Crowe to perform a medley from Les Misérables as part of a salute to movie musicals of the previous decade.

Immediately after the Oscars, Barks flew back to the Isle of Man to begin work on her second film ‘The Christmas Candle’.