Sex Education Actor Ncuti Gatwa Comes Out as Queer

The actor who plays a popular character on the Netflix series Sex Education has come out as queer.

Ncuti Gatwa, 30, who plays Eric, a teenager who is out and gay and whose storyline revolves around his love journey, disclosed for the first time publicly that, like his character, he is part of the LGBTQ+ community.

His portrayal of Eric, who is open and confident about his sexuality and can help others understand what it means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, has been a key message conveyed on the show.

Although people have assumed he might not be straight, the actor made it official understatedly.

During an interview withElle UK, Gatwa recalled a time at Manchester Pride with friends when he spotted another Rwandan woman who looked like his aunt. As they held hands, she confided in him that she didn’t know why she was there. He told her that it didn’t matter and to be proud of who she was.

“I had never met another queer Rwandan person before,’ he said. ‘I thought I was the only one in the world.”

Gatwa, who was in this year’s blockbuster hit Barbie, also talked about working with Ryan Gosling, who played Ken in the movie.

“I was so nervous I hardly spoke for the first month [on set],’ he recalled. “There was a time when I was talking to Greta [Gerwig], and I turned around, and Ryan Gosling was looking at me, and his eyes were so blue that I just… fell over. I just drowned in his eyes.”

As for his future, Gatwa will be making history this fall.

Gatwa is set to be the new Doctor on the cult hit show Doctor Who, where he will be the fourteenth Doctor — and the first Black and gay actor to play the character — to travel through time and space in the British sci-fi mainstay.

Sex Education’s fourth and final season will hit Netflix on September 21.