The year 2023 is about to finish as Ncuti Gatwa’s year. The Sex Education star will follow up a season four of the hit Netflix show this fall with his turn as Doctor Who this Christmas. He will also appear on Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated Barbie this summer.
Speaking about his experiences with these iconic features, Gatwa mentioned to British Vogue recently how he brought his Nigerian-Ghanaian mannerisms to Eric Effiong’s character.
While shooting the first season, he remembered, “There were producers coming up to me like, ‘This ad-lib, I don’t feel like white people will understand it.’”
Gatwa managed to make them understand that white people weren’t meant to resonate with the improv lines, “And I was like, ‘It’s not for white people to understand. There are many white people in this show for white people to understand, but I want this other group of people to understand Eric. And that’s what you want too.’ And they got that. We were all constantly learning on that job.”
Eric’s impact on straight dudes has also been phenomenal. Gatwa mentioned, “When the show first came out, I was living in Tottenham, and the amount of young boys from the block that would come up to me and be like,” lowering his voice to a deeper baritone, Gatwa went on, “‘Oi, I love Eric you know!’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ I used to train at this gym with a lot of ex-cons and bodybuilders, and these guys would come up to me like, ‘Eric’s my favourite character,’ or ‘You’re my girlfriend’s favourite character,’ and I’m like, ‘Don’t lie!’ It was so cool because I could see the show opening up people’s minds.”
Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Simone Ashley, Patricia Allison, and Rahkee Thakra have confirmed their departure from the final seasons of Sex Education.
Gatwa and Mackey will return for their final turns in season four.
