In conversation with Sex Education's Asa Butterfield
Asa Butterfield talks to Caroline Frost about starting his career as a young actor, the making of Sex Education and what to expect in series three of the hit Netflix series.
Asa Butterfield talks to Caroline Frost about starting his career as a young actor, the making of Sex Education and what to expect in series three of the hit Netflix series.
“I don’t think any of us realised the scope that Netflix brings - being on the platform and being available around the world immediately for anyone to watch on their phone or their TV,” he told the RTS.
“It’s insane. I’d worked in film where there’s a build up to the release date, but to have it all there at the touch of your fingers was quite surreal.
The seventies-set international crime thriller The Serpent follows the true story of global efforts to capture Interpol’s most wanted man, the murderer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet).
“I saw Netflix, I saw Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield and I just thought, there’s no way I’m going to get it,” laughed Gatwa.
He was used to going for auditions that wanted big names, so joining Sex Education - where for most of the cast it was their big break - he thought it was great how new talent was being championed.
“It’s Emma Mackie’s first job,” said Gatwa, “one of the big plus sides of [streamers] like Netflix is there’s so much work being created now, there’s a whole bunch of actors who now have opportunities that weren’t around before.”
The comedy series follows the sex-obsessed teens of Moordale High School, who seek advice from the unofficial lunchtime sex therapy clinic run by students Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) and Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey).
The second series saw Otis’ best friend Eric get caught in a love triangle between the new French student Rahim (Sami Outalbali) and the headmaster’s bully son Adam Groff (Connor Swindells).
Co-created by debut screenwriter Siân Robins-Grace (Sex Education) and Lucy Gaymer (Production Manager for Gangs of London), The Baby is a darkly funny delve into the depths of motherhood.
When a baby is thrust upon unsuspecting 38-year-old Natasha, she is forced to give up her comfortable life of freedom and indulgence to be at their beck and call.
Far from your average case of parental compromise, the baby possesses such manipulative and violent powers that Natasha’s life spirals out of control.
Lily Newmark is increasingly hard to miss on screen, dividing her time between TV – Sex Education, Temple and Les Misérables – and UK film – Nick Hornby adaptation Juliet, Naked, the critically acclaimed Pin Cushion and Misbehaviour, set during the 1970 Miss World competition. She even had a blink-and-you-miss-it role in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Known for their quick-witted back and forth filled with pop culture references, Lorelai and Rory are the ultimate mother and daughter duo. More like sisters, Lorelai is a single parent to Rory and they live in the tight-knit community of Stars Hollow filled with plenty of quirky characters.
An accidental pregnancy after a one night stand with a stranger who lives on the other side of the world might not seem like the ideal start to a romantic relationship, yet over the course of four series, Sharon (Sharon Horgan) and Rob (Rob Delaney) flourish into a couple who are made for each other.
Few series by the streamers have made as much noise as Netflix’s Sex Education, which brings the genre of the US high-school teen drama to the UK – and adds plenty of gauche sex.
The global giant released the second season of the comedy-drama in January. A few days earlier, the first episode was premiered at a joint RTS Cymru Wales/Bafta Cymru event in Cardiff.