Ncuti Gatwa, “Doctor Who” and “Sex Education” star, said in a recent interview with Attitude magazine that black people face pressure to excel, disproportionate to white people, whether in Hollywood or other professions.
The 31-year-old actor noted that “white mediocrity” has been glorified, a luxury that does not exist for black people because they have to be “absolutely perfect” to get attention idea.
“We’re trained to say, ‘If I’m not special, I won’t be liked. Of course, I thought it was my job,” Gatwa said. “So, yeah, I think now I’m learning ‘You have the right to be loved.”
You don’t have to be great or aspire to the term “black excellence.” Absolutely to get half of that,” Gatwa continued. “So I’m slowly training myself to get out of that and I’m like, ‘It’s okay.”
You deserve love just for existing. And it also taught me to love more, strangely. Gatwa is the first black actor to play the eponymous role on “Doctor Who”, a role he says made people “angry over something so trivial” when his role first appeared published.
“We are seeing a shift in casting, in positions of power, and the status quo,” Gatwa added. “I mean, it’s not a quick change, things might go the other way a little faster, but you’re going to see people perform poorly because things change.”
POLL—Is Systemic Racism a Significant Problem That Requires Reform in Policing and Other Areas?
Gatwa revealed in an interview with British Vogue last year that he often faced generalizations about himself in the industry due to his appearance and cultural background.
He said a producer of the first season of “Sex Education” once approached him to warn him about the characters’ improvised lines because the producer feared it would not resonate with viewers’ White skin.
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“I’ve had producers tell me, ‘It’s improvised, I don’t feel like white people will understand it,” Gatwa said. “And I say to myself, White people can’t understand that. There are a lot of white people on this show for white people to understand, but I wanted another group of people to understand Eric.”
That’s what you want too. And they understand that. We are all constantly learning in this business. Gatwa returns in the new season of “Doctor Who,” airing May 10 on Disney+.
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