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Spoilers ahead forSex Education,season one.
Watching the pilot, I feared that Eric might end up as a caricature black-best-friend character to Otiss lead.
But as the season develops, Eric rarely plays second-string to Otis.
Hes also gay and Otis is his best friend.
Those are two avenues whereby you could just make him comic relief.
But hes so much more than that.
Were able to push the characters a bit further than what weve traditionally seen.
Do you know if any of those writers are also African?Im not sure about this season.
Shes actually a really wicked actress in the U.K. who was onChewing Gum.
But for this season, either way, they definitely captured the essence of Erics family.
The script supervisor felt very comfortable coming up to me and asking,Is this accurate?
Do I need to change anything?and I was comfortable recommending things to them.
They were very focused on getting that part of Erics heritage right.
Style is essential to Erics identity and his statement piece is that prom look.
Its also so symbolic.
Well, I had two suits made for me in Ghana from kente cloth.
I got to choose which one I wanted and they were bothstunning.
They fit so perfectly.
Honestly, the blisters that I got from that werea lot.
Id never worn heels before, but I used to dance a little.
Im used to being on my toes, so the heels werent actually that much of a challenge.
I wanted to go with higher ones, but they said those ones went with the outfit.
It was also my first time wearing agelesince Im Rwandan and thats a Nigerian headdress.
I never really felt like Eric until I put on the clothes.
Costume really helps you feel in character.
What I love is Erics attention to detail in extending his style beyond fashion.
Because I live in London, everythings just black, black, black, black.
And I had never worn makeup beforeSex Education, apart from stage shows.
Im not gonna lie to you, it was shocking.
I looked like a kid who was just given his first crayon set.
Who knows, maybe Ill incorporate it in my life one day.
But Im in no rush because Im really into my skin-care regimen.
What was more fun: the prom look or theHedwig and the Angry Inchcosplay?Ooooh, gosh.
Probably Hedwig, because Asa was dressed up as well and I just love laughing at him.
He was just so cute and awkward in that.
Us running around Wales in our denim two-pieces was a lot of fun.
And the fact that I had the better wig.
Going into the season, how much did you know about how Adams storyline would intersect with Erics?
I dont know why, but I just had an inkling that these two were gonna get together.
A lot of people are saying they never saw it coming, others did from the first episode.
People are making really cool conspiracy theories about, like, five signs that Adam has always loved Eric.
And itll be shots of the way Adam is looking at Eric in episode two.
Its so cute to see the shipping.
Their dads just dont understand them at all.
Who knows what the future holds, but they might really be good for each other.
They could teach each other a thing or two.
Theres so much repressed aggression released in their hookup scene that it begins as a literal, physical fight.
How did you and Connor Swindells approach filming that?
Also, I have to ask, did you actually spit in each others faces?No.
Before we started filming, we had an intimacy workshop.
The whole cast and crew was there.
We had conversations about consent and feeling comfortable with your sex scenes.
It was very physical work!
Ita was also on set for it and every sex scene.
Before the scene, we choreographed it.
Its literally like a dance.
We felt very taken-care-of, so shooting that scene became like another day at the office.
Everybody had a scene like that.
I hope they do come across as normal and average because we didnt want to glamorize sex.
Thats just not realistic at all.
We wanted to show the awkward, messy, uncomfortable moments sex for what it really is.
If the show didnt reference Pornhub, I wouldve thought it was set in the 80s.
How does it compare to your own high school experience?
That experience is a bit universal.
There were a couple of Erics at my high school, but not me.
Im not as vulnerable as him.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
