Ncuti Gatwa via Instagram Stories (August 31st, 2023)

Reminiscing about previous [Pride] events, he shares a moment from a few years back. ‘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. She wasn’t – but I knew she was Rwandan,’ he says. Gatwa himself was born in Kigali, Rwanda, in 1992. His family fled the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi population two years later and settled in Scotland. (He graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow with a degree in acting.) He got talking to the woman and asked her why she was at Pride. ‘It just blew my mind that she was there,’ he says.

Up until this point, Gatwa has been telling the story with comedic delivery, but he grows thoughtful. ‘I can feel myself getting emotional just thinking about it,’ he says quietly. ‘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,’ he says. ‘I thought I was the only one in the world.’

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‘Shout out to [screenwriter] Laurie Nunn for giving nuance to this gay, Black character and gifting him to the world,’ he says. ‘He’s so fierce and unashamed. It was healing for me, and great for people to see themselves represented. It taught me the importance of representation: it’s so powerful and necessary.’
- Ncuti Gatwa on Eric Effiong (x)

At times, Gatwa’s casting in those projects has been dismissed as an exercise in ‘box-ticking’. Gatwa scoffs. ‘First of all, you don’t know anything about me. Secondly, tick f*cking boxes! People need to be f*cking seen. What are you going to do, tell the same stories? Have the same people fronting things for all of eternity? Representation and inclusivity and branching out… it enriches us all. How embarrassing. You people with your tiny mindsets – open a book, look out the window and then f*ck off.’ There’s something stirring about witnessing Gatwa angry – and not just angry. In some ways, it’s unexpected. Like many of the characters he’s played, Gatwa is a joyful presence. Dancing and cackling through the shoot, on set he exudes confidence. Although, ‘that’s on the outside’.

- Ncuti Gatwa to Elle UK (x)

Ncuti Gatwa photographed by PETROS for Elle UK, October 2023

Ncuti Gatwa wins ‘The Modern Pioneer’ award and stars on one of five covers to celebrate the return of the ELLE Style Awards.

Four seasons of Eric Effiong

Ncuti Gatwa as Eric Effiong on the poster of the final season of ‘Sex Education’, premiering September 21st

“The Doctor will see you now…”

Art by Jonah Kensett

Collider ranks Ncuti’s Loved-Up Ken as the 5th best Ken in the ‘BARBIE’ movie.

Ncuti Gatwa’s Ken fumes “does the title of ‘long term distance, low commitment, casual girlfriend’ mean nothing?!” after Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey) abandons him at the campfire guitar recital. During the ‘Ken is Me!’ epiphany, this loved-up Ken realizes he doesn’t care anymore – “I just miss my friend Barbie!” His Barbie lovingly rushes to his side, proving some Barbies and Kens are still meant to be.

Gatwa originally auditioned for another role in Barbie, but was called back months later to audition for one of the main Kens. He was delighted to learn Mackey, his Sex Education co-star, had been cast as 'his’ Barbie and sent her a message of himself lip-syncing to Aqua’s 'Barbie Girl’ in celebration.

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