Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Ncuti Gatwa
Scottish actor (born 1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Mizero Ncuti Gatwa[1] (English: /ˈ(n)ʃuːti ˈɡætwɑː/ (N)SHOO-tee GAT-wah;[note 1] born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor.[7][8] After a screen breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who (2023–2025).
He began his career on stage at the Dundee Repertory Theatre and was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Mercutio in a 2014 production of Romeo & Juliet at HOME.
Remove ads
Early life and education
Mizero Ncuti Gatwa was born in Nyarugenge, Kigali, Rwanda, on 15 October 1992.[9][10][failed verification] His father, Tharcisse Gatwa, from Rwanda's Karongi District, is a journalist.[11][12]
Gatwa's family escaped from Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and settled in Scotland.[7][8] They lived in Oxgangs in Edinburgh, and moved to Dunfermline when he was 15.[13] Gatwa attended Boroughmuir High School and Dunfermline High School before moving to Glasgow to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2013.[14][15] While studying, he worked at the LGBTQ+ club The Polo Lounge, handing out flyers and later becoming a go-go dancer.[13] The Conservatoire awarded him an honorary doctorate at the class of 2022 graduation ceremony.[16]
Remove ads
Career
Summarize
Perspective
2013–2022: Early stage work and breakthrough with Sex Education
After graduating, Gatwa was granted a position in the Dundee Repertory Theatre acting graduation scheme where he performed in several productions including David Greig's Victoria.[17][18][19] Around this time, Gatwa was attacked by three strangers in the street who fractured his jaw; this was fixed with titanium.[13] He had a brief role in the 2014 sitcom Bob Servant, which was also set and filmed in Dundee.[20] In 2014, Gatwa received a Commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 2014 performance of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at Home, Manchester.
In 2015, he appeared in a supporting role in the miniseries Stonemouth, an adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name.[21] That same year, he performed in the Kneehigh Theatre's production of 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, which was adapted from Michael Morpurgo's The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, about a large-scale rehearsal for the D-Day landings in 1944 that resulted in numerous fatalities.[22][23] Gatwa played Demetrius in the 2016 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe directed by Emma Rice.[24][25]
In May 2018, Gatwa was cast in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education as Eric Effiong;[20] the show was released in 2019 and garnered critical acclaim.[26] For five months prior to this casting, he had been homeless after running out of savings, and had couch surfed.[8][27][28] Gatwa received praise for his portrayal of Eric from critics, particularly for how his character was not relegated to the cliché of "gay or black best friend slash sidekick stock character".[29][30] He has earned numerous accolades for the role, including a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television in 2020, and three BAFTA Television Award nominations for Best Male Comedy Performance, one in 2020, 2021 and 2022 consecutively.[31][29][30][32][33]
In April 2022, Gatwa was cast in Greta Gerwig's Barbie.[34] He performed an excerpt of Romeo and Juliet with Mei Mac at the 2023 Coronation Concert,[35] and topped the Radio Times's TV 100 power list the same year.[36]
2023–2025: Doctor Who
In May 2022, it was announced that Gatwa had been cast in Doctor Who as a new incarnation of the show's protagonist, the Doctor, succeeding Jodie Whittaker in the role.[37] Gatwa, who was cast in February,[38] was the first[39] black actor to lead the series, the fourth Scottish actor, and the first actor born outside the United Kingdom to do so.[40][41][42][43][44] He was expected to take over the role in the third and final of the 2022 specials in October 2022,[45] but the final Thirteenth Doctor story "The Power of the Doctor" revealed that Gatwa would play the Fifteenth Doctor, with David Tennant (who had previously played the Tenth Doctor) returning to play the Fourteenth Doctor.[46][47]
He debuted in "The Giggle", the third of the 60th anniversary specials, on 9 December 2023,[48] and starred in his first full episode, "The Church on Ruby Road" on Christmas Day 2023, which was followed by the show's fourteenth series.[49] His performance in Doctor Who has earned praise from critics. Many writers for The Independent called Gatwa's acting "interstellar" and "mesmerising".[50][51] Naina Bajekal of Time magazine believed that Gatwa was "bringing Doctor Who into a new era".[52] Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times called Gatwa "an absolute delight" and wrote that his "unbridled exuberance makes this an easy sell and serves as a data bridge between new viewers and old."[53] He was nearly cast in the Jesse Eisenberg film A Real Pain as Rwandan genocide survivor Eloge, but scheduling conflicts with Doctor Who led to Kurt Egyiawan being cast in the role instead.[54]
In May 2025 following the broadcast of "The Reality War" it was confirmed Gatwa would leave his role as the Doctor. Gatwa starred in a total of 18 episodes across two seasons between 2023 and 2025. This made his tenure in the main role the second shortest to date of the series since its revival in 2005, ahead of Christopher Eccleston who played the Ninth Doctor for one season.[55]
Stage Work
In November 2024, Gatwa appeared as Algernon Moncrieff in Max Webster's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest in the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre, opposite Hugh Skinner and Sharon D. Clarke, running until January 2025. The play was also broadcast to cinemas worldwide through National Theatre Live from February 2025.[56]
In April 2025, it was announced that Gatwa will star as Christopher Marlowe opposite Edward Bluemel as William Shakespeare in the UK premiere of Born With Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams, directed by Daniel Evans and produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Wyndham's Theatre, in London's West End from August 2025. On 2 May 2025, Gatwa was initially announced as the United Kingdom's spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025,[57] however he was later replaced by Sophie Ellis-Bextor due to "unforeseen circumstances".[58]
Remove ads
Personal life
Gatwa came out as queer in an August 2023 interview with Elle magazine, having previously avoided discussing his sexuality, despite popular speculation, for his "safety and mental health."[59][60][61] In the interview, Gatwa noted that he preferred not to label himself, and that he had been inspired by both his work on Sex Education and an encounter with a Rwandan woman at Manchester Pride some years previously, having "never met another queer Rwandan person before".[59] He later stated that he had "never been in the closet, you know. I just never talked about it. The work I do is what's important."[13][61]
In 2024, Gatwa responded to criticism of his casting in Doctor Who because of his race, stating that "There's so much white mediocrity that gets celebrated, and Black people, we have to be absolutely flawless to get half of [that] anyway. So, I'm slowly training myself out of that and being like, 'No shit. You deserve love just for existing.'"[62][63][64]
Gatwa is a believer in astrology, and is a Libra Sun.[28][13]
Acting credits
Film
Television
Theatre
Audio
Video games
Remove ads
Awards and nominations
Remove ads
See also
Notes
- Gatwa has said he pronounced Ncuti as /ˈʃuːti/ SHOO-tee until his mother told him when he was 26 years old that the correct pronunciation was /ˈnʃuːti/ NSHOO-tee.[2] However, he has continued to use /ˈʃuːti/ when introducing himself in English.[3][4][5] Its pronunciation in Kinyarwanda is [nʃùtí].[6]
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads