Quotes from Ncuti Gatwa

Representation goes a long, long, long way.

I grew up with a single mum, an immigrant mum who couldn't speak the language, no money, three kids on her back, coming from Rwanda, and she's done a sterling job with all three of us.

My career had been going pretty well until I took a job touring America. When I returned, it took time to remind people I was back in town and available. For four months - actually a short time for an actor to be out of work - I couldn't book any jobs.

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.

Resilience has always been something I've seen and admired.

Nobody should be getting silenced.

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 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 into 'Skins,' 'Shameless' - I was really into 'Shameless' for a bit.

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.

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.

Unfortunately, when you're a parent and you completely love your child, it can make you act a bit crazy.

What your child wants and what you know is right for them can be very conflicting at times.

High school, as much as it's 'not the real world,' is the real world for your child.

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.

Those are my dreams. Buy mum a house, build a school in Rwanda. Then carry on making enough money to buy soaps from Lush.

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.

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.

I think we've got a very two-dimensional view of what masculinity is, of what strength is, what a guy needs to do.

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.

As an actor you have good spells and bad spells.

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.

If I can encourage people to stand up and take space and make noise, then I'm very happy to do so.

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.