The message of inclusion in the media comes with strings attached. Any culture does it, as long as it is dumbed down for the white demographic. Even on the Netflix series ‘Sex Education,’ things aren’t what they seem. Ncuti Gatwa‘s early experience on the show exemplifies how appeasement of a dominant white audience is still a priority while making global content.
Ncuti Gatwa, who plays Eric on the show, talked about the not-so-surprising request made of him. During the first season of the phenomenal Netflix series, the actor was asked not to speak in slang. They were worried it would make things confusing for the white audience tuning in. But Gatwa didn’t submit to such cultural regression.
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‘Sex Education’ Star Ncuti Gatwa On Facing Discrimination On The Show
‘Sex Education’ breakout star Ncuti Gatwa is opening up on racial prejudice he faced during the beginning of his hit Netflix series. In a conversation with British Vogue, the Rwandan-Scottish actor talked about how one of the producers discouraged him from ad-libbing during the first season. His dialogue wasn’t endearing for a specific demographic.
Ncuti Gatwa told the outlet about putting his foot down, saying, “It’s not for white people to understand. There are many white people in this show for white people to understand, but I want this other group of people to understand Eric. And that’s what you want too.’ And they got that. We were all constantly learning on that job.”
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Ncuti Gatwa Teases His Character’s Fate On ‘Sex Education’
In the interview with Vogue, Ncuti Gatwa gave a little taste of what’s to become of his character on the Netflix series. Ncuti plays Eric Effong, Otis’ best friend from a deeply religious Ghanaian-Nigerian Family. In season three, he cheats on his boyfriend Adam with Oba, a photographer he meets in Nigeria. Unfortunately, Ncuti Gatwa is leaving the show because of scheduling conflicts with ‘Doctor Who.’
While he was tight-lipped about plot details, he did hint his character “gets the ending he wants,” saying, “Things get tied up. And there was one scene that I particularly fought for, and I managed to get it in, which was great. Aimee [Lee Wood] and I wrote it, and we were redrafting it until like 3 a.m. the day before. I’ve never written for Eric before so that felt big, and it was a scene that meant a lot to me in terms of Eric’s journey and relationships. It felt very necessary.”
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