Ncuti Gatwa Says While “White Mediocrity” Gets Celebrated, Black People Must Be “Flawless” to Get Half That

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is getting candid about his battle with acceptance.

The actor, who has faced backlash for his role as the hit show’s first Black lead, recently opened up in an interview with Attitude magazine about what he’s learned over the years regarding what he deserves in life.

“We’re trained to be like, ‘If I’m not exceptional, I won’t be loved.’ Certainly, I think that was my thing,” Gatwa shared. “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?”

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

Elsewhere in the interview, the Barbie actor said he doesn’t understand how someone can be “so angry over something so inconsequential,” regarding his casting as The Doctor. However, he noted that it’s part of the shift he’s seeing with diversity in the entertainment industry.

“We do see a shift happening in casting, in positions of power and in the status quo,” Gatwa explained. “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.”

Ahead of his portrayal of the fifteenth Doctor on the hit U.K. series, the Sex Education alum told The Hollywood Reporter in July 2023 that he was blocking out any scrutiny.

“The British press can be very mean,” Gatwa said at the time. “I just have to focus on the job and stay true to what the Doctor is: a mad scientist alien who has adventures and cares about everyone.”

Season 14 of Doctor Who, and Gatwa’s first season, is set to debut on May 10.