'Sex Education': things you didn't know about the actors

Unexpected success
Fourth and last season?
Asa Butterfield (Otis Milburn)
Child star
Emma Mackey (Maeve Wiley)
From Moordale to fame
Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee Gibbs) 
A big debut
Alistair Petrie (Michael Groff)
Important roles in theater, TV and cinema
Connor Swindells (Adam Groff)
From secondary to lead roles
Gillian Anderson (Jean F. Muilburn)
Forever Scully
James Purefoy (Remi Milburn)
A recognizable face
Jim Howick (Colin Hendricks)
A long career
Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson Marchetti)
Stunning filmography
Mikael Persbrandt (Jakob Nyman)
A Scandinavian star
Mimi Keene (Ruby Matthews)
A great discovery
Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong)
From anonymous to famous
Patricia Allison (Ola Nyman)
Her first consistent role
Sami Outalbali (Rahim)
A surprising and effective addition
Tanya Reynolds (Lily Iglehart)
A high school student?
Unexpected success

'Sex Education' arrived at Netflix almost without anyone noticing in 2019. The first season was viewed by millions, but the next two hooked the entire world.

 

Fourth and last season?

With a fourth (and probably last) season already confirmed, let's look back and see what the protagonists were doing before going to Moordale Secondary School.

 

Asa Butterfield (Otis Milburn)

In the beginning, he is a very shy boy and doesn't really know how to socialize, but, in the end, his character becomes an expert in sentimental and physical affairs. He is in love with Maeve from the get-go.

Child star

He began as an actor at just 10 years old and has been part of successful movies such as 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' (2008), 'Hugo' (2011) and 'Ender's game' (2013).

Emma Mackey (Maeve Wiley)

Her character is the classic high school bad girl, but she has the noblest of hearts. Smarter than the average, she teams up with Otis to start the therapy clinic.

From Moordale to fame

The audience didn't know who she was, and as an actress, she had only been part of the cast of 'Badger Lane' (2016) and 'Summit Fever' (2013). The Netflix show that has shot her to fame. She's also starred in 'Death on the Nile' (2022) with Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer.

Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee Gibbs) 

Aimee is one of the school's most popular girls, but everything will change for her after an uncomfortable incident on a bus. From then, she's starts doubting herself and everything that surrounds her.

A big debut

She previously had some theater experience, but 'Sex Education' was her TV debut. She auditioned for the role of Lily but ended up playing the sweet Aimee.

Alistair Petrie (Michael Groff)

The headmaster of Moordale Secondary School is the father of Adam. He is very strict and, like his clothes, he's quite boring.

Important roles in theater, TV and cinema

With almost 30 years of experience in theater, TV, and cinema, he worked in projects like 'Rush' (2013), 'Utopia' (2013-2014), 'Sherlock' (2014) or 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' (2016).

Connor Swindells (Adam Groff)

He is the headmaster's son and the classic school bully. Little by little, he will start to face more internal conflicts than any other character in the show. His character's development is simply wonderful.

From secondary to lead roles

He had previously appeared in one episode of 'Harlots' and another episode of 'Jamestown' (2017). But since the Netflix show, he has moved on to more important projects.
By the way, between January 2019 and early 2020, he had a relationship with his co-star Aimee Lou Wood.

Gillian Anderson (Jean F. Muilburn)

She is a couples therapist and a best-selling writer. Jean is afraid of commitment and losing the only family she has left: her son, Otis. Definitely, a very powerful and confident character.

Forever Scully

We have to bow down before an absolute TV legend. Gillian Anderson has made it to TV history with shows like 'The X Files' (1993-2002) and (2016-2018); 'The Fall' (2013-2016); and 'The Crown' (2020).

James Purefoy (Remi Milburn)

Otis' father is a ladies' man and a selfish person who lives in the United States. He has lost contact with his son, and partially, with reality.

A recognizable face

It's one of those secondary actors that you have seen a million times but never remember his name. He has appeared in shows like 'Revenge' (2011), 'Episodes' (2012), 'Altered Carbon' (2018) and 'Pennyworth' (2020), to name a few.

Jim Howick (Colin Hendricks)

He is Moordale's weird science teacher who conducts the school's music band.

A long career

He is one of the classic actors in English television. It's worth mentioning his appearance in Guillermo del Toro's movie 'Hellboy' (2004).

Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson Marchetti)

He's Moordale role model student: charismatic, natural, funny, swim champion and has excellent grades. Everybody loves him but he struggles to feel completely happy.

Stunning filmography

Since 2007, he has worked in TV as well as cinema. We have been able to see him in projects like 'Shank' (2010), 'Wolfblood' (2012-2014) and'Roots' (2016).

Mikael Persbrandt (Jakob Nyman)

His character starts out as just a random Swedish plumber with extremely enchanting blue eyes. He ends up becoming Otis's stepdad and central to the Milburn family.

A Scandinavian star

Persbrandt developed his entire career in his natal Sweden. There, he was the protagonist of 'Haevnen' (2010), the Susana Bier movie that won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film in 2011.

Mimi Keene (Ruby Matthews)

She is the queen of the school and one of those villains that gracefully transforms into the sweetest and most relatable person. Her character's arch is just amazing.

A great discovery

Mimi Keene is one of the youngest actresses on the show with a lot of experience. Some of her most relevant jobs are 'Sadie J' (2013), 'EastEnders' (2013-2015) or 'Tolkien' (2019).

Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong)

He is Otis' best friend and is openly gay. The latter is a problem for his Nigerian and profoundly religious family. He has a love/hate relationship with Adam.

From anonymous to famous

Before 'Sex Education,' he had only starred in two episodes of the series 'Stonemouth' (2015), but he was clearly one of the best casting choices of the Netflix show. The next big role in his career will be... Doctor Who!

Patricia Allison (Ola Nyman)

In the beginning, Ola is just the daughter of Jakob, but then she becomes Otis' girlfriend and later even his stepsister. In the end, she becomes Lily's girlfriend.

Her first consistent role

Until the Netflix show, she had only appeared in separate TV episodes of series like 'Les Miserables' (2018) and 'Moving On' (2019).

Sami Outalbali (Rahim)

He was a surprise addition to the second season. His character is a French exchange student who is smart, well-educated, and insanely handsome. He quickly has a connection with Eric.

A surprising and effective addition

Before 'Sex Education,' his most relevant role was the one of Illes in the show 'Grown Ups' (2016-2019). He starred in 30 episodes.

Tanya Reynolds (Lily Iglehart)

Her character is obsessed with adult content alien novels. In the beginning, we don't see much character development from her, until we do…

A high school student?

Even if her character is a high school student, the actress was born in 1991. We could see her as Teresa in 'Delicious' (2016) and as Isobel in an episode of 'Outlander.'

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