Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa opened up his audition for his popular character Eric Effiong in a brand new interview. 

Sitting down with The Guardian, Gatwa revealed that he “bombed” his first audition after reading that his character “must be hysterical.” 

His nerves persisted into the next round when he read lines with Connor Swindells, who plays his on-screen love interest, Adam Groff.

“At that point, I looked bigger than Connor, so for the bullying scenes, I remember them stopping the audition and being like, we need something about the fact that you look like you could take him,” he explained. 

“I thought the role was gone. And then I got another audition and that was the one I started twerking in.” 

Gatwa’s rollercoaster audition ended up with him securing the role and starring in two seasons of the series. 

Later in the interview, the 28-year-old actor opened up about the forthcoming third season and Eric’s visit to Nigeria. 

“Eric going back to Nigeria was a really important step for him. That storyline is really special,” he explained. 

 

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Returning alongside Gatwa in the upcoming season is Swindells, Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Patricia Allison, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Mimi Keene, Aimee Lou Wood, Chaneil Kular, Simone Ashley and Tanya Reynolds.

Deep breath for even more star power: Mikael Persbrandt, Sami Outalbali, Chinenye Ezeudu, Anne-Marie Duff, Jim Howick, Rakhee Thakrar, James Purefoy, Samantha Spiro, Hannah Waddingham and Sharon Duncan-Brewster.

Season three will also welcome three new cast members.

Jemima Kirke has been cast as a character called Hope, who will replace Michael Groff (Alistair Petrie) as Moordale’s new headmistress. The actress received praise for her performance as Jessa Johansson in HBO’s comedy-drama Girls.

Minnesota-based singer and actor Dua Saleh plays Cal, a non-binary student who clashes with Hope, while Harry Potter’s Jason Isaacs joins the Groff family as Peter Groff, the former headmaster’s “more successful/less modest” older brother.

The synopsis for the season is as follows: “It’s a new year, Otis is having casual sex, Eric and Adam are official, and Jean has a baby on the way. Meanwhile, new headteacher Hope tries to return Moordale to a pillar of excellence, Aimee discovers feminism, Jackson gets a crush and a lost voicemail still looms.

“Prepare for commitment animals, alien phenomena, vulva cupcakes and much more of Madam Groff.”

Check out the new teaser trailer below and here.