Who is Ncuti Gatwa? Meet the breakout Sex Education star who will play the titular Time Lord in Doctor Who
Ncuti Gatwa will take over from David Tennant in the next series of Doctor Who, the first black actor to permanently play the Time Lord in the show’s history.
The sex education star will hit Screens as the 15th Doctor for the first time Christmas Day, following a trio of 60th Anniversary specials later this month.
He will star alongside the youngest ever Doctor Who companion, Coronation street star Millie Gibson, 18.
Ahead of his historic first appearance as a time traveler, MailOnline takes a look at the history of the breakthrough star in sex education…
The next Doctor: Ncuti Gatwa will take over from David Tennant in the next series of Doctor Who, the first black actor to play the Time Lord in television history
New Star: His first episode as the Doctor airs on Christmas Day
But who is Ncuti Gatwa? MailOnline takes a look at the history of the breakout star in sex education
Who is Ncuti Gatwa?
Ncuti Gatwa was born on October 15, 1992 in Nyarugenge, Kigali, Rwanda, to a journalist father Tharcisse and his mother Josephine.
The Gatwa family fled the East African country when the actor was just two years old to escape a brutal civil war.
Speaking from the family home of Dunfermline, Scotland, about their son’s new role as The Doctor, Tharcisse told Mailonline: ‘We are very proud. We congratulated him. That’s all we can do. We are just so happy. That’s all we can say.’
Ncuti’s mother Josephine continued: “There is nothing else we can add. We’re not allowed. He has his profession and we have ours.
‘We don’t make any statements about this, but we are of course very proud of him. As parents we are of course proud of Ncuti, of our child.’
The actor arrived in Scotland as a refugee in 1944 and grew up in Edinburgh and later in Fife.
He attended Boroughmuir High School and Dunfermline High School before attending the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
In 2013, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in acting.
Escaped: Ncuti Gatwa was born in Rwanda on October 15, 1992, the son of journalist father Tharcisse (photo) and mother Josephine. The family had to flee the country when the actor was two years old due to a civil war
Proud: His parents sang his praises when he was interviewed by MailOnline, with his father Tharcisse saying: ‘We are so happy. That’s all we can say’ (Pictured Ncuti and his mother Josephine in 2020)
Where does Ncuti Gatwa work?
During his studies he worked as a shot boy and go-go dancer at an LGBTQ+ bar called the Polo Lounge in Glasgow.
In an interview with British GQThe Sex Education actor told how he had a ‘toxic’ time in Scotland’s gay scene.
The Rwandan-Scottish actor added how his sexuality was shaped by the experience.
He explained how he felt “deeply sexualized” as a “queer black kid” in a “white, gay environment.”
“It was very strange to come from high school, where as a strange black boy you were nobody’s favourite, to the gay scene of Glasgow,” he said.
‘I will never forget my first night out. I was in a white gay environment [and] as a black man, I was deeply, deeply sexualized.”
“I couldn’t quite understand the toxicity of that. I couldn’t understand that I was being fetishized.
“I couldn’t walk through this club without every part of me being grabbed. It was weird – but fun! Very nice!’
The Sex Education star has now taken on the role of the 15th Doctor and will make his first on-screen appearance as the Time Lord during the show’s 60th anniversary special.
Ncuti won’t be the only one at the helm of the TARDIS, as his loyal co-star Millie Gisbon will play the Time Lord’s new companion, Ruby Sunday.
Showrunner Russell T Davies confirmed that filming for the fourteenth season ended in July 2023, sharing a photo of the crew and himself with the TARDIS in the background.
Exciting: Ncuti wrapped filming his first season of Doctor Who in July, with showrunner Russel T Davies (pictured) taking to Instagram to confirm filming had finished
Record-breaking: He will take charge of the TARDIS alongside Millie Gibson, who plays Ruby Sunday, with the actress being the youngest companion in the show’s history
What is Ncuti Gatwa’s net worth?
In 2022, it was reported that the 15th Doctor was one of the highest paid young actors in the country, earning £772,131
The accounts for his firm Gemini Moon Limited show raised almost a million pounds in 2021.
The company declared 2022 total assets of £960,055 and owed creditors £237,924, leaving Ncuti with more than three-quarters of a million pounds.
Very different from when he was homeless before playing Eric Effiong in the hit Netflix show Sex Education.
When he moved to London to pursue his dream of pursuing an acting career, he ran out of savings and became homeless.
He ended up couch surfing friends’ couches for five months, and also found himself borrowing £10 from friends so he could pay the Tube fare for auditions.
He said: ‘I can’t seem to cope with it all financially. I was supposed to move to a new place, but that didn’t happen.
“So before sex ed, I was couch surfing among all my friends for five months. I had no house.
‘I was homeless. The only thing that kept me from being on the street was the fact that I had friends.’
Raking in the dough: In 2022, Ncuti Gatwa was one of the country’s highest-paid young actors, with a healthy £772,131
‘No labels’
Raising the big bucks isn’t the only item on Ncuti’s long list of achievements, as he also made his Vogue debut in July.
Leaving little to the imagination, the actor posed completely nude for the publication’s Pride issue.
The 31-year-old actor was stunned as he balanced on black cushions that looked like a work of art.
In the interview for the July 2023 issue of British Vogue, the star left fans confused as he refused to define his sexuality outright.
He told the publication: ‘I’m aware of the confusion it caused, but I actually thought my participation in [the Pride issue] was one statement.
‘I didn’t want to come in front of anyone, but I thought: two plus two is four. I can’t be louder about this. I literally got naked.”
He explained that even though the LGBTQ+ community has made a lot of progress in his lifetime, labels still put a lot of pressure on people.
“If you think it’s that easy, I’m happy for you,” he said. simple.’
“I’m so glad you think it’s that easy, because that’s not how the world works.”
Previously: Ncuti previously starred in Netflix’s hit show Sex Education, as well as numerous plays such as 946, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet.
What did Ncuti Gatwa do before Doctor Who?
Ncuti Gatwa’s star power rose after he appeared as Eric Effiong in Sex Education.
He was on the show until the fourth and final series, which was released on 21 September.
The Rwandan-Scottish actor received a number of accolades for his performance as Eric, including a BAFTA Scotland for Best Actor, as well as a nomination for Best Male Comedy..
Gatwa previously landed a variety of stage roles, appearing in HOME Manchester as Mercutio in a rendition of Romeo in Juliet, and playing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe.
He has also appeared in the stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips called 946.
The Doctor Who star shared Rolling Stone, Great Britain that he plans to make a comeback to the theater, but would only consider doing so after a second stint as a Time Lord.
He told the publication: ‘I plan to come back to it next year, after I’ve finished season two of Doctor Who.’
Since announcing his role in the famous time-traveling show, Gatwa has appeared in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie, and will appear in an Apple+ series titled Masters of the Air in 2024.