Beloved Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa has opened up about his sexuality for the first time.
In a new interview with Elle UK, Gatwa — who’s set to play the first Black and gay Doctor when Doctor Who returns to the BBC in November — reflected on playing fan-favorite gay character Eric on Sex Education and told a story about a fateful Pride encounter several years ago.
“I remember being at Manchester Pride, going through the streets with all my boys, shaking my cha-chas, living it up, when I saw this woman who looked exactly like my auntie,” Gatwa remembered. “We were holding hands, and she said to me, ‘I don’t really know why I’m here. I’m just here.’ I told her, ‘Honey, you don’t need to know. You absolutely. Do not. Need. To. Know. You’re here. Be proud of who you are.’”
“I had never met another queer Rwandan person before,” Gatwa added. “I thought I was the only one in the world.”
Although Gatwa’s roles on Sex Education and Doctor Who have led many to speculate about his sexuality, the actor has kept his private life to himself for most of his career, never discussing his own sexuality directly with the press. But playing Eric for four seasons taught Gatwa “the importance of representation: it’s so powerful and necessary,” he told Elle. That experience clearly lit a fire.
“What are you going to do, tell the same stories? Have the same people fronting things for all of eternity?” Gatwa told the magazine, responding to critics’ claims that his roles are “box-ticking” for marginalized communities. “You people with your tiny mindsets — open a book, look out the window and then fuck off.” (For his part, Gatwa took a good look at Ryan Gosling on the set of Barbie; one time on set, Gatwa joked, “his eyes were so blue that I just… fell over. I just drowned in his eyes.”)
Gatwa’s low-key coming out means that the forthcoming season of Doctor Who, also starring Neal Patrick Harris and Heartstopper breakout star Yasmin Finney, is going to be its queerest yet by a long shot. The queer representation on and off camera will be joyful news to LGBTQ+ fans, many of whom fell off the show during its…more checkered periods. As for Gatwa himself, we’re just glad he feels comfortable now sharing this part of himself. You truly just love to see it.
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