Doctor Who’s new lead Ncuti Gatwa might be raking in the cash, but he’s still haunted by fears of being skint.
The Rwandan-born Scottish actor, who fled to the UK as a tot, has opened up about his cash struggles before landing a role in Netflix’s smash series Sex Education in 2019.
Despite now steering the TARDIS as the dashing Doctor, the 31-year-old said he constantly checks there’s enough food in the fridge. Snagging the iconic TV gig has catapulted Ncuti into the millionaire’s club, yet he confessed to The Mirror: “I still wake up and check my bank balance, or I check if there’s food in my fridge. That’s the fuel that drives me stay booked and busy.”
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Back when he was down on his luck, Ncuti was skint and sofa-surfing, relying on mates to fund his auditions. But his fortunes flipped when he scored the part of Eric Effiong in Sex Education, which lasted four series and paved his way to becoming the 15th Doctor on the legendary BBC show.
(Image: PA)
Chatting to Sirius XM, he spilled: “When you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you remember that it inspires you to keep booking more jobs. It’s all very well for me to sit here in my lovely shirts and say the hard times are what fuelled me. But the hard times are hard times and actors all over know that story. It makes the good times even sweeter.”
Ncuti, who also starred in the 2023 Barbie film, is poised to become the highest-earning Doctor yet, thanks to a collaboration between the BBC and Disney Plus to take the show global. In 2022, his company Gemini Moon revealed his personal stake was valued at over £700,000.
(Image: BBC/Bad Wolf/Nwaka Okparaeke)
He’s reported to be worth a whopping £1.58m in total. But despite his worldwide fame, he told The Big Issue last year: “A majority of people are one bad incident or one bad pay cheque away from a really drastic situation. [Checking my bank balance is] because of that brief period where I was struggling, and I feel good that I spoke about it because it can happen to anyone and can be extremely difficult to get out of.
(Image: PA)
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“There’s just so much judgement towards people who are homeless. As someone who grew up working class, who didn’t have money but now has some – and I’m sat here now in my Prada loafers – seeing how the world reacts to you differently depending on your situation is wild.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
