The actor is in the midst of a huge year that includes a supporting role in box office juggernaut Barbie<\/a>, the final season of Netflix smash-hit Sex Education<\/a> and the launch of Doctor Who\u2019s bold new era.<\/p>\n Between these projects, he found time to talk to Elle<\/a>, where he discussed the importance of representation and criticised those who would cynically brand his casting as some kind of \u201cbox-ticking exercise\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cFirst of all, you don\u2019t know anything about me. Secondly, tick f**king boxes! People need to be f**king seen. What are you going to do, tell the same stories? Have the same people fronting things for all of eternity?<\/p> \u201cRepresentation and inclusivity and branching out\u2026 it enriches us all. How embarrassing. You people with your tiny mindsets \u2013 open a book, look out the window and then f**k off.\u201d<\/p>\n Gatwa makes history as the first Black actor to be cast as the regular lead in Doctor Who, although fans will know the first Black Doctor to appear on the show was played by Jo Martin<\/a> in 2020\u2019s Fugitive of the Judoon.<\/p>\n He shot to stardom in the Sex Education cast, where he played Eric Effiong; a beloved character, but one he is confirmed to be parting ways with after season 4. Previously, he said the cast had \u201coutgrown\u201d the school-set show.<\/p>\n However, he did praise creator Laurie Nunn for her work on his celebrated role, and went so far as to say that Eric \u201cundid a lot of the internalised hate I had\u201d.<\/p>\n Gatwa added: \u201cShout out to Laurie Nunn for giving nuance to this gay, Black character and gifting him to the world. He\u2019s so fierce and unashamed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was healing for me, and great for people to see themselves represented. It taught me the importance of representation: it\u2019s so powerful and necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox \u2013 you can sign up for a\u00a07-day free trial\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our Sci-Fi<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310, PLUS a \u00a310 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n There’s not long to go until the Fifteenth Doctor arrives. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36358,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all.jpg",1080,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all.jpg",1080,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/doctor-whos-ncuti-gatwa-says-representation-on-screen-enriches-us-all.jpg",1080,720,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"There's not long to go until the Fifteenth Doctor arrives.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ncuti](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/sex-education-season-4-ncuti-gatwa-dd66c71.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Ncuti")
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