Sex Education's Ncuti Gatwa Admits His Time on the Netflix Hit 'Wasn't Always Joyous' Ahead of Final Season

It’s one of Netflix’s biggest hits, but Ncuti Gatwa hasn’t loved every moment of being apart of Sex Education. 

In a Rolling Stone UK cover story, published Monday, the actor, 30, shared that his time on the series “wasn’t always joyous.” He even admitted to sometimes struggling with the show’s creative direction. 

“It was very hard; it was such a big show,” the Barbie actor told the publication ahead of the show’s final season, premiering this September. “When you’re telling stories that haven’t been seen before, there’s always a battle as to how to tell them. It wasn’t always joyous. I feel like we’ve outgrown it and we’ve given everything we can to it.”

The streaming service announced last week that the teen dramedy's fourth season will premiere on Sept. 21 — and that it will be its last. 

In a teaser for the upcoming installment, Gatwa’s character Eric Effiong is seen despairing as his best friend Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) gives a speech to their peers at a school. 

“I spend a lot of my free time thinking about sex,” Otis said in the clip. “I live and breathe sex, all day, every day. Thinking about sex comes very naturally, because I learned everything I know about sex from my mum.”

As the audience gasps, a panicked Otis then struggled to clarify himself, saying, “Please, no! I’m not in a sexual relationship with my mother.”

“Otis for goodness sake just tell them you’re a sex therapist!” cried Gatwa's Eric. 

Elsewhere in his interview with Rolling Stone UK, Gatwa discussed his religious parents' thoughts on the racy series, which is unsurprisingly packed full of sex scenes. 

“We don’t really speak about it, but they have seen it,” he said. “I didn’t want them to, but I couldn’t stop them. And they are very supportive, thankfully. It’s not the most comfortable thought to know that my mum knows what my c-- face looks like but … we move.” 

Last year, it was announced that Gatwa will be starring as the 14th doctor on the BBC’s Doctor Who, taking over the role from Jodie Whittaker. He is the first Black actor to step into the lead role.

Teasing what his take on the iconic character will be like, Gatwa told Rolling Stone UK: “My Doctor is emotionally vulnerable.”

“He hides it with humor, but he’s lonely,” he added. “I can’t say much more than that; I don’t want to spoil anything. But he’s also energetic! The poor cameramen struggled to keep up.”

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The first three seasons of Sex Education are now streaming on Netflix.