Ncuti Gatwa’s Parents Are His Role Models – Get to Know Josephine & Tharcisse Gatwa

Even when their son's projects clash with their values, Ncuti Gatwa's parents, Josephine Gatwa and Tharcisse Gatwa, support him and are proud of what he has accomplished.

Ncuti Gatwa was born to Josephine Gatwa and Tharcisse Gatwa in Nyarugenge, Rwanda. He was two when they were forced to flee the country as the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis was taking place.

The family experienced racial discrimination in Scotland, where they settled down, with the patriarch having to return to Africa for work. The "Doctor Who" star's parents raised him in the church.

Ncuti Gatwa Could Not Keep His Parents from Watching 'Sex Education'

On how his parents feel about him getting his big break in the raunchy Netflix series "Sex Education" as they are traditional Rwandan Christians, Ncuti admitted, "We don't really speak about it, but they have seen it." He added:

"I didn't want them to, but I couldn't stop them. And they are very supportive, thankfully."

In an interview with his cast mate Gillian Anderson for Teen Vogue in 2020, the actor confided that his mom and dad are his role models after seeing how hard they worked to provide for him and his two siblings in a foreign land.

"They've given me my work ethic and, I guess, a sense of responsibility," he explained. "I guess they instilled in me a sense of walking through this world."

Ncuti greatly admires what his mom went through as a refugee.

When Ncuti was named the first black actor to star in "Doctor Who," his dad said, "We are very proud. We have congratulated him. That's all we can do. We are just so pleased."

Tharcisse Gatwa Is an Academic and Writer

Once in the United Kingdom, Tharcisse enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study philosophy and theology and was eventually awarded his PhD.

The family stayed in the school's housing with other international families. Unable to get work in academia as a black professor in the UK, he temporally moved to Cameroon as "he wanted to do a job whereby his kids could kind of look up to him."

He is still "happily married" to Josephine. The couple live together again in the family home in Dunfermline, Scotland. According to a 2022 report, he is a journalist.

Josephine Gatwa Is Her Son's 'Queen'

Ncuti greatly admires what his mom went through as a refugee who did not understand the language or culture and worked multiple jobs to put all her children through university. He said:

"Yeah, she just seemed to be able to do it all. And I was just like, whoa, you're my queen."

Josephine's igitoki, a "very traditional Rwandan meal," is high on Ncuti Gatwa's list of the things that bring him joy. His other source of pleasure is storytelling.

When Ncuti Gatwa was young, his mom signed him up for a dance class. He suspects this activated the creative side of his brain, which would lead him into acting. His mom accompanied him to the Newport Beach Film Festival at the start of 2020.