Doctor Who star admits they only learnt how to say their name aged 26
The Sex Education actor is here to set the facts straight, again (Picture: Getty)
The Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa revealed that his mum had to quickly intervene after he wrongly put out a name PSA.
The 31-year-old actor (full name Mizero Ncuti Gatwa) shot to stardom in Netflix’s hit series Sex Education as iconic teen Eric.
But when fame came knocking at his door the screenstar was also forced to, on more than one occasion, correct the public and members of the press on how his first name should be spoken.
This name correction became even more prevalent after he landed his gig as the Doctor in Doctor Who, one of the best known fictional characters in the UK.
He originally told everyone his name was pronounced ‘Shootee’, which turned out to be not quite right.
The Scottish-Rwandan actor explained the sorry tale to Doctor Who co-star Millie Gibson after she asked him how his name is pronounced.
‘My name is pronounced N-shoo-tee,’ he said. ‘It’s like a n [pause] shoo-tee.’
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He continued: ‘Only learned properly how to pronounce it at 26. When I started coming into the public eye I did this whole video like “you pronounce my name Shootee, shoot like a shooting star and then an E on the end”.’
But soon enough his mother called up to the correct the record. ‘My mum called me like “what are you talking about? That’s not how you say your name. That’s not how you say it!”
And Ncuti was quick to share his shock and outrage at being informed of the correct way after a whole lifetime He added: ‘I was like “oh! oh right, thanks for telling me mum. At 26,’ much to Millie’s amusement.
So there you have it.
Ncuti’s first season is currently airing (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)
Ncuti made history as the first Black actor to play the Doctor full-time and he is proudly embracing his heritage as part of the sci-fi role.
Last year he admitted he was shocked to have landed the Time Lord role in the first place.
‘I’m a good actor [but] this is a 60-year-long British institution and I’m a Black man, so I never thought that I’d be chosen to front something that is basically the heart of the BBC,’ he said at the time.
And he’s incorporated his identity in some beautiful ways such as his sonic screwdriver having a Rwandan proverb etched on.
But Ncuti is also keen to emphasise that, at the end of the day, the Doctor will always be the Doctor – no matter who is playing them.
‘Those firsts matter,’ he told Time magazine. ‘But I also just want people to see me as a f**king sick Doctor, who was really fun and smashed it.’
Doctor Who returns with episode three, Boom, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday 18 May.
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