Top 98 Quotes & Sayings by Ncuti Gatwa
Explore popular quotes and sayings by Ncuti Gatwa.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
I grew up in a working-class area, and I stood out - for my voice, my appearance, I did dance and things like that. But I always had faith in my charm.
I was born in Nyarugenge, a district in Kigali, Rwanda.
Being a 25 year old man with no money or job affected my sense of self-worth. Rejection became unbearable. Auditions weren't just acting jobs, they were lifelines.
People really cannot understand the concept of a black boy in a tracksuit in London being from Scotland.
I went to drama school so I had quite a regimented classical training, regimented process of analyzing a script. I'll go through the whole script and highlight everything my character says about me, and in another color I'll highlight what other characters say about me, and I'll highlight all the things I say about other characters.
I was supposed to move into a new place and it fell through. So for five months before Sex Education, I was couch-surfing among all my friends. I didn't have a home.
My mum and dad were born into nothing and came to this country with nothing. They've had to make so many sacrifices so I wouldn't have to make any, and always supported me.
Within church communities, within black communities, and within black church communities, gossip is thy friend. Gossip will be thy friend!
Costume really helps you feel in character.
I went to school in a place called Dunfermline, which is in Fife - it's like the middle of Scotland - so I didn't have sprawling lawns of green and high school bomber jackets and an amazing clock tower.
My mum is a fashion inspiration to me. She always goes to great lengths to get ready in the morning, from her hair to her makeup to her nails, and matching her suit with her shoes.
I was a wild teenager.
The only thing stopping me from being on the streets was the fact I had friends. But you can use up that goodwill. Or you feel scared to ask people for help. Your pride kicks in. So my life before 'Sex Education' was so different. To go to my audition, I had to get my friend to transfer me 10 quid so I could top up my Oyster card.
I used to be a really great dancer. I used to do it quite a lot and then I stopped. Now my body has forgotten all that training.
I think there's quite a narrow representation of gay people on TV and I think that we need to push that. And I think that we need to allow for a lot more stories to be told.
I think it's quite natural as an actor to compare yourself to how well other people are doing and how other people might've played that role you auditioned for. There's a lot of comparison you can do as an actor, which is natural, because it's a competitive industry. However, we're all individuals, so you can only ever be yourself.
I was blown away by the amazing atmosphere at Moshions's studio. The amount of work, love and dedication that went into the bespoke clothes felt so personal. It was stunning.
To be able to show your creativity or your creative expression on your body is a very powerful thing.
It's incredibly important for the world to see a gay black character that's comfortable with themselves on screen.
I developed depression. But I never let people know how down I was feeling. That would have been another burden for my friends to take on. My mind became my biggest enemy.
In a small way, I'm driven by proving people wrong: because of the background I come from, I think a lot of people have doubted that I would get this far.
That's the thing about 'Sex Education,' the shooting situations are so bizarre that nothing is a surprise any more. It's just another day at the office.
First and foremost, at drama school it gets drilled into you that you say yes to anything. If they say, can you tap-dance with a monkey on your head in your audition, you say yes.
At home, I was very traditional, studied, made sure I brought home those A's and B's, made sure I went to Bible study. Outside of that, oh, I was such a little chav!
Those are my dreams. Buy mum a house, build a school in Rwanda. Then carry on making enough money to buy soaps from Lush.
I always had faith in my charisma.
I am from Scotland and moved down to London when I was 21.
When people talk about diversity and inclusion, sometimes there's a bit of an eye-rolling mentality or ticking boxes. But I feel like that's kind of necessary at times, because the playing fields are not level in the first place.
There was one scene in which I wore a wig, full make-up and stilettos and thought, 'Oh my God, my family, all my friends in Tottenham! Nobody's ever seen me like this before... ' It was definitely a challenge but it helped me become braver as an actor.
I try not to leave Tottenham - it's my happy place.
Maybe six months out of drama school, I was working at the Dundee Rep Theatre, I worked there for about a year, and I had an audition for the National Theatre of Scotland. I went into the audition room and when I came out I realized my fly was undone. I did this whole dramatic speech with my fly hanging low.
My mom put me in this extracurricular dance class when I was a kid. And so I think that just started the creative part of my brain. That's what activated that.
Adebayo Oke-Lawal is so talented. He takes risks to make his suits different.
When we have gay characters on TV, they're just, kind of, gay for the sake of being gay. That's their personality. That's their whole backstory, that's their future story, that's their present story - it's just gay. Nobody's just gay.
I love theater, and I love that you have to be so intensely in the character and you have to hit that place every single night. It's just really good training. It was just a very good way of falling in love with my craft.
I was in a play just outside of London and started auditioning for 'Sex Education,' but I just completely had the mindset that it's a Netflix show, they're not gonna hire me anyway.
I couldn't believe I was homeless and working in Harrods. How many people must be going through this in London?
Because my parents are Rwandan, there was always a lot of colour and artwork in our house and that informed my love of bright and vibrant clothes.
I was temping at Harrods. I'd wake from the double bed I shared with my best friend, leave the house in a slick-looking trench coat and polished brogues without a hair out of place. I was complimented for looking so presentable.
I think I have that love of colour in common with Eric, my character on 'Sex Education.' That said, his look is often slightly off-kilter - the shoes will be a bit too 'out there,' or the trousers will be leopardprint or something. I like to think I'm a bit more put together than him.
I would like to try to cap rent prices.
Asa Butterfield is a big prankster.
I mean, in theatre, you can't really save that much money when you live in London.
It's very important to see a black gay teen represented.
I love that I get to play a black character who's not a stereotype, who is not afraid to be vulnerable, who comes from a loving home situation. I know it sounds stupid, but for me, these tiny, little glimpses into people's lives matter.
A lot of our sex education at school is so biological.
You get on the tube and you notice everyone's looking at you, and you're like, 'What's on my face?' It always takes me a couple of seconds to remember I'm on a Netflix show that airs to the entire world.
I was a working-class kid in a middle-class environment. Fashion was my way of saying, 'You can tap me for this and tap me for that, but you can't deny I look good.'
When I lost weight due to only eating once a day, people said how lean and healthy I looked.
Make-up are the first people the actors go to on set every day - they see you at your most vulnerable. Then they paint the character on you, they're integral to that transformation. It's such an intimate art form that you develop a really close relationship with your make-up artist.
Hair in the black community is such a big thing culturally. The barbershop is a place for black men to socialise, catch up and bond. It's the same for black women in the salon. Going there is my favourite thing to do in the week. You catch up with people, someone comes around with food, someone else is selling something.
I was homeless.
I'm most proud of my heritage; being able to shape people's perception of Rwanda or Rwandans.
Just before I got 'Sex Ed,' I was going to give up acting. I was like, I have to put an end to this. So I was working constantly in the theater and somehow still just couldn't afford to live in London.
The world has been set up in such a way that we don't even realise how ingrained certain things are, like how much we live in a patriarchal society or how institutional racism is ingrained in how we see the world. We don't realise how many things are being set in stone, in our heads.
I have faith, but I'm not the biggest fan of organised religion. There's a lot of hypocrites in church. A lot of hypocrites.
I'd been warned that acting was an unstable profession and knew my parents couldn't support me financially. I had assured them I was going to work as hard as possible to make this career happen so their hard work, as immigrants who fled Rwanda and sacrificed everything for me, wouldn't be in vain. But I was falling short on my promise.
You make your own destiny.
My first professional set was 2014, and it was for a show called 'Bob Servant' for BBC Scotland. I was working in theater for Dundee Rep Theatre doing 'Hecuba,' and I also got this other job, 'Bob Servant.' It was only three days filming.
The black gay experience isn't one that is often told.
Related Authors
Immaculee Ilibagiza Quotes
Rwandan
Author
Paul Kagame Quotes
Rwandan
Leader
