Doctor Who Actor Ncuti Gatwa Comes Out As Queer

Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa has officially and casually come out as Queer.

In an interview with Elle UK, Gatwa, 30, shared his Queerness as he recalled a story that happened a few years ago at Manchester Pride. 

‘I Thought I Was The Only One In The World’

‘I remember being at Manchester Pride, going through the streets with all my boys, shaking my cha-chas, living it up, when I saw this woman who looked exactly like my auntie. She wasn’t – but I knew she was Rwandan,’ he said. 

Gatwa spoke to the woman and asked her why she was at Pride.

He continued, “I can feel myself getting emotional just thinking about it. We were holding hands, and she said to me, ‘I don’t really know why I’m here. I’m just here.’ I told her, ‘Honey, you don’t need to know. You absolutely. Do not. Need. To. Know. You’re here. Be proud of who you are”. 

“I had never met another queer Rwandan person before. I thought I was the only one in the world.”

Gatwa was born in Kigali, Rwanda. At the age of two, he moved with his family to Scotland to escape the Rwandan genocide.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ncuti Gatwa (@ncutigatwa)

‘You Can Find A Tribe, You Can Find Your People’

In May 2022, it was announced that Gatwa was cast as Doctor Who, becoming the 14th actor to take on the role. 

Prior to being cast in the titular role on Doctor Who, he was best known for playing gay teen, Eric Effiong in the Netflix series Sex Education.

Speaking about playing Eric in Sex Education, Gatwa said, “He’s so fierce and unashamed. It was healing for me, and great for people to see themselves represented. It taught me the importance of representation: it’s so powerful and necessary.”

He went on to share that, “It undid a lot of the internalised hate I had. I’ve experienced racism my whole life, and while I always believed in myself, always knew [racists] were stupid and uneducated, I guess it did misinform my view of how the world works. It makes you think everyone has that opinion and you’ll constantly have to fight through life – then you learn that you don’t: you can find a tribe, you can find your people.”