Ncuti Gatwa says Black people ‘must be flawless’ to get half the praise of ‘mediocre’ white people

Ncuti Gatwa has opened about his struggle to feel acknowledged for his achievements, as a Black man in a world where “white mediocrity” is celebrated.

The Rwandan-Scottish actor, 31, who rose to fame on Netflix’s hit comedy series Sex Education, explained that he has felt immense pressure to be “exceptional” at what he does because of the colour of his skin.

However, the Doctor Who star revealed that he is now in a place where he realises that he should not have to be “flawless” in order to be worthy of praise.

“We’re trained to be like, ‘If I’m not exceptional, I won’t be loved.’ Certainly, I think that was my thing,” he told Attitude magazine.

“So, yeah, I think I’m just learning now like, ‘Oh, you are allowed to be loved.’ You don’t have to be excellent or aspire to that term, ‘Black excellence’. What the hell?”

“There’s so much white mediocrity that gets celebrated, and Black people, we have to be absolutely flawless to get half of [that] anyway,” he continued.

“So, I’m slowly training myself out of that and being like, ‘No shit. You deserve love just for existing.’ And that has taught me to be a lot more loving as well, in a weird way.”

Gatwa has previously admitted to having “imposter syndrome”, even as he accepted the award for Modern Pioneer at Elle magazine’s 2023 Style Awards, explaining that he hides his self-doubt by “cracking jokes all the time”, which can be misconstrued for confidence.

“I have so much imposter syndrome,” he said after receiving the award. “I have so many insecurities. I like to make other people feel happy so there’s less focus on me.”

He added: “I become this loud figure that’s cracking jokes all the time. It comes across as confidence, but at the heart of it, it’s not. Real confidence is something I have to work on daily.”

Also in the Attitude interview, Gatwa addressed the backlash he received after being announced as the first Black actor to star as the Doctor since the BBC show’s inception in 1963.

“It’s not something I’ll avidly keep up on. The hate? It is kind of fascinating to me because there’s so much energy they’re putting into it,” he said.

“I think they need to go find a hobby is one thing. But another thing is that we do see a shift happening in casting, in positions of power and in the status quo. I mean, not a fast shift, things could tip over the other way a little bit quicker, but you see people kind of malfunctioning because things are changing.”

In a five-star review of Gatwa’s debut, The Independent’s critic Ed Power said the actor “knocked it out of the park”

“Amid the hype and hyperbole, Gatwa makes playing the Doctor look effortless,” he wrote.

The 14th series of Doctor Who is set to begin on 11 May on BBC at midnight.