-As a magician... wizard... -As a, as a wizard.
I felt like I could honestly see dragons.
Life gives you lemonades. No. Is that right?
-Lemons give you lemon-- -Lemons.
What is it?
-Hello. I'm George Robinson. -I am Chinenye Ezeudu.
-I'm Ncuti. -And I'm Kedar, and today...
We're gonna be making a perfect cup of tea...
Whilst also talking about identity.
There's nothing better
than a chat over a cup of tea,
-is there? -Trust.
Should we spill the tea?
Let's get stirring.
Ncuti Gatwa is a Scottish-Rwandan actor
who's got a lot of love to give,
but also is still figuring things out.
How'd you describe yourself in a sentence?
I'd say
Kedar Williams-Stirling is still figuring it out.
Twenty six, bruv.
I've only just started.
I'm 45, man.
Don't you talk to me about 26.
How would you describe me
and I'll do how I would describe you.
Energetic, kind,
and bring a fantastic energy into any room.
I would describe you as being really funny
and nice to be around
and you're really talented as well.
Look at you! You're, like, cringing.
But it's all true.
The first word that comes to my mind
is parents. I don't know why.
Interesting.
And you've been growing up, grown up in a few places,
so I guess that is quite a rich upbringing
within itself.
Self is the first word I think about
when I think about identity.
How you are as a person.
What you believe in, what you stand for.
It's in The Matrix, isn't it?
That idea of residual self-image
of how you perceive yourself.
I think it's simultaneously what you think of yourself
inside yourself, but also,
how you present yourself to others,
-if that make sense? -Yeah.
Family. Family influence. Mean a lot.
The experiences that we go through
-shape our perspectives. -Yeah.
Even listening to music.
I'm a completely different person
when I'm listening to pop music.
-I'm more fun. -Yeah.
And when I'm listening to rock music
I'm a different breed.
But those kind of things just shape you.
And I think, a lot of the times,
is the way that we try and negotiate the world.
We build mechanisms within ourselves
to tackle certain situations.
We are the sum of our experiences.
My parents, friends, books, films, traveling.
The Harry Potter books,
-right? -Fair.
Like, really, really formed my identity
-as a little kid. -As a magician.
-As a, as a wizard! -Wizard.
I was just so obsessed with anything fantastical.
Like that was on my mind, was on when I was a kid.
Like, I felt like I could honestly see dragons.
Really? I hear it, I hear it.
So, I just loved Harry Potter,
like anything fantastical.
Yeah. Especially with our characters.
People expect your character to be a dick, right?
But then you're just not.
Like, we're just playing these characters
and playing these people and we're just not them.
There's definitely a conflict in terms of
for a character you'll use
a set of traits that you have yourself
or there just naturally is some overlap,
but takes real courage is to push against that
and just be like, no, no, no, I'm me.
I feel it's hard to be yourself
in this day and age
with, like, Instagram, Twitter,
people dictating what the beauty standards are
and you just really have to home in on yourself
-and be like, who am I? -Yeah.
And that's, I think,
the hardest person to be with is yourself.
Yeah. I think, obviously, with my experience
I've lot of time to think about who I am,
and what it means to be George Robinson,
and not allow
other people's perceptions of me affect how I act.
Think Steven Fry said something
really interesting to me on set.
He was like, "I am not one thing."
"I am not just an actor, I am all things."
I think there's a narrative that's put on to us
as black males and a sort of responsibility
that you don't I don't even think realise
until you're a certain age
and you're aware of more things
that weren't even in your mindset
that you then kind of feel part of in a way
that is actually not anything to do with you...
-Right. Right. -...as a being.
But yet, you're universal.
Your experience in this world
is shaped by this external thing,
which, of course, then is part of you.
Because you are
experiencing this world as a black person.
And then, I guess, also,
nobody ever knows you really fully.
I don't really feel like
you ever fully know yourself.
You're constantly learning
and constantly experiencing things.
Think you co-switch subconsciously.
For example, like Mumsy.
Me and Mum have a great relationship,
but there's a transparency there
that is still different to my bedroom,
-know what I mean? -Right.
It's not even a conscious thing,
it's like a subconscious. Just way of...
don't know if that's a bad thing.
So therefore,
you saying about the middle-aged white guy
who might be going for whatever prejudices
and bestows them on to you and then me coming to you
and chatting to you about something.
You co-switching between the two
is you just kind of navigating
how to just be in that space.
I don't know if that is a bad thing.
'Cause I think, as humans, we do that naturally
'cause that is just what humans are.
We adapt and evolve.
Yeah. Yeah.
Just keep on brewing.
I love you so much. You are so brilliant.
I love you so much.
I would say be strong,
wait for life to happen and the colours will change.
And you'll get stronger as time goes by.
The stronger you are,
the more depth of flavour you'll have.
If you want some acidity,
-go a bit of lemons... -Yeah.
-Or ginger. Do that. -Yeah, exactly.
-Chuck it in. -Exactly.
Try experiment new things.
Life gives you lemonades. No. Is that right?
-Lemons give you lemon-- -Lemons.
What is it?
You're a cup of tea, man.
Just enjoy it, man.