Ncuti Gatwa is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He stars as Eric Effiong in the Netflix original series Sex Education for which he has received much acclaim.
In 2015, he appeared in a supporting role in the miniseries Stonemouth, an adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name. That same year, he performed in the Kneehigh Theatres production of 946, which was adapted from Michael Morpurgo's The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips about the rehearsals for the D-Day landing in Devon with numerous fatalities. Gatwa played Demetrius in the 2016 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe directed by Emma Rice.
In May 2018, Gatwa was cast in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education as Eric Effiong. The show was released in 2019 and garnered critical acclaim. Gatwa received praise for his portrayal of Eric from audiences and critics alike, particularly for how his character was not relegated to the cliché of "gay or black best friend slash sidekick stock character". He has earned numerous accolades for the role, which include winning a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television in 2020, and earning three BAFTA Television Award nominations for Best Male Comedy Performance, one in 2020, 2021 and 2022 consecutively.
On 8 May 2022, it was announced that Gatwa had been cast in Doctor Who as the fourteenth incarnation of the show's protagonist, the Doctor. Gatwa, who was cast in February, will be the first black actor to play a primary incarnation of the character and the second to play an incarnation overall, following Jo Martin's appearance as the Fugitive Doctor. He is expected to first appear in a special episode to celebrate the BBC's centenary in 2022, before continuing in the role full-time from the following year.
Gatwa will also appear as 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels in the upcoming war drama miniseries Masters of the Air on Apple TV+.
