- I think this season, there's a few different storylines,
which all, sort of, build up and have this climax
revolving around shame. Shame between peers,
and being shamed or being ashamed of something you've done,
and how that really affects people,
both kids and grownups.
- 'Sex Education'
deals with a lot of issues in a very
humorous and light-hearted way.
And I think people maybe, perhaps, find that digestible,
but also it was, like, about time that
we start having these conversations
and opening up inclusion and
diversity on our screens.
Hey MTV News! I'm Asa,
we are the cast of 'Sex Education,' and these are
the top five things we've learnt from our show.
- First thing I've learnt, I guess just
how wide the sexuality spectrum is.
I think, for me, that was something I learned.
There was a scene in one of the later episodes whereby you
see a whole bunch of different flags.
And me, as an actor, Ncuti, I was like,
"Oh, I didn't know."
I thought I knew the LGBT flag,
and then there was all these other flags. And I was like,
"What is that? Who is that?
"What does that? Who is that?
"Who is that? Who is that?"
And I thought it was really,
it was great to learn,
and it's great to be, like,
yeah, you don't know everything.
[Laughs]
Do you know what I mean?
Just 'cause you're on the show,
or you're on 'Sex Education'
doesn't mean that you're, like, a sex wizard.
Playing Eric, it kind of,
it gives off the perception that
I'm kinda, like, I'm an all-knowing activist
on sexuality issues
and that's very much not the case.
Most definitely a staunch believer of
diversity and inclusion.
It's a perception, I think,
if you're in a public eye,
or if you've played a character such as Eric, that
you do. And I'm still learning and
that was really great to still learn.
- The next thing I learned from 'Sex Education'
would be how important it is to be able to be yourself
and be able to be, like, comfortable in your own skin.
There are loads of different reasons
that people can't do that,
that you wouldn't think of, like, off the top of your head.
And people that you wouldn't expect it from.
Like, everyone has things that
they're made to feel like
isn't OK or is
weird or, like, too different,
and that's probably been the most eye-opening thing for me,
in which I think I've taken from it, which is great.
I think today, in our, like,
society, and in this generation,
there's a big problem with people seeing
the shiny version of someone,
especially with social media and stuff like that.
Someone's life appears perfect, and they might have
everything, and everything's
so great for them, and they don't
have any worries or any problems or any stresses,
but everyone does, like behind. No one's perfect,
and I think that's, like, a thing that
I learned playing my character, this season especially.
- The next thing I learnt from 'Sex Education' is probably
that the grownups, the grownups,
everyone's just as [beep] up as each other,
whether you're a teenager or you're an adult.
Everyone's got issues, everyone's still figuring it out.
No one knows what the answer is
and you probably never will.
It's life's, the kind of, series of questions that you'll be
faced with and you probably won't always
have the answers to them.
I think this show does a great job of
highlighting that in every aspect of people's relationships,
whether they're romantic or your family or your friends,
there's always hurdles.
Otis grows up a lot between season two and three,
and I think we really see that in his
relationship with his mum.
One of the first times we see them be openly kind of -
Well, to just not be at each other's necks the whole time.
And we really see them support each other
and we see Otis deal with
some difficult things in his family, which in season one,
he probably might've thrown a tantrum about,
but now that he deals with it in a much more mature,
much more considerate way.
I think that's one of the big things I valued
coming into this season.
- The next thing I learned from 'Sex Education' is that
intentionality is very essential when cultivating
and creating a character.
I learned that a lot from watching other
cast members, like Jemima [Kirke],
seeing the way that she was so particular about being
mindful of how she interacts with us outside of set,
or like while she's on set.
That was something that I hadn't previously
had to do as a musician,
just because the intention that
comes out of my music is, like,
already there.
I'm obviously, I'm intentional with like staging and
other things, but it's like,
I don't necessarily have to think about it because
it's just, like, me, it's inherent.
I think something that I've actually
taken away from the character wasn't really about, like,
the strength or the fiery passion that they had.
It was moreso about the awkwardness of being a teenager
and, like, self discovery,
Aand just the - Obviously they're a child,
so they're going through life,
just, like, trying to grasp on to, like, strings to
create, like, who they are.
But, I think that awkwardness is
something that, like, I've been able to tap into,
in the other art forms that I've had,
and it made me try to reflect more on, like,
childhood and that
childlike behavior for my music, as well.
- The last thing I learned from 'Sex Education' is that I am
really uncomfortable with shaming people. [Laughs]
And there were a few scenes that were
very hard for me to do
just because, you know,
there's always a moment when you're acting that there's
really no difference between the feeling you're experiencing
and the feeling you would experience
if the moment was occurring in reality.
And it definitely broke my heart a few times to do
some of those scenes.
I had to take breaks because
I was very emotional doing it, but it,
I was just kind of surprised to learn about myself that
that would really make me uncomfortable.
And, you know, the thing I probably thought of the most
when doing this character is my children because
that's the thing that puts me in the responsible role
and puts the most pressure on me to give them
what they need rather than what they want,
and all those obligations.
I do feel quite - I feel she's quite relatable for me.
So it wasn't that, I mean, it's horrible to say,
it wasn't that hard.
[Laughs]