‘People really felt empowered by the show, which is amazing’
Sex Education is back for more laughs and thoughtful exploration of teen angst, the cast tell Georgia Humphreys
Plenty of TV series have launched on Netflix and become instant hits.
But few have broken barriers like Sex Education, about high school student Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), who sets up a sex clinic for fellow pupils with his friend Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey).
Inspired by living with his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson), the socially awkward teen realises he has an intuitive talent for giving advice – and it seemed to strike a chord with viewers.
While the streaming service doesn’t release specific viewing figures, the comingof-age comedy drama was certainly the programme everyone seemed to be talking about last winter, following its January release.
Butterfield, 22, witnessed its impact first-hand, with fans approaching him on the street.
“People really, really connected with it,” recalls the Londoner who, as a child, starred in tragic historical drama, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.
“People were telling us how much it helped them. I don’t think we expected it to have such a profound effect on people, and people really felt empowered by the show, which is amazing.”
In series one, plenty of questions most teenagers have – but are probably too embarrassed to ask – were explored, covering everything from sexual identity to societal pressures to sexual health.
Series two, once again written by its British creator, Laurie Nunn, promises to be just as forward-thinking, and wonderfully witty.
Late bloomer Otis tries to master his newly discovered sexual urges in order to progress with his girlfriend Ola Nyman (Patricia Allison).
Meanwhile, a standout part of the first series was the really touching portrayal of male friendship – and there’s lots more scenes between Otis and best friend Eric (played by Ncuti Gatwa) to come.
“When I was reading the scenes with Ncuti, I was like, ‘This friendship feels so real’,” notes Butterfield.
“And it being between a straight guy and a gay guy – but that never being the point of it, and it never being thrown in your face... It’s just what it is and they’re best friends, regardless. I think that’s nice.”
Other upcoming storylines include a chlamydia outbreak hitting Otis’ school, Moordale, highlighting the need for better sex education, plus there are new kids in town, challenging the status quo.
Arguably the funniest character in the show has been Aimee Lou Wood, who plays “everywoman” Aimee Gibbs.
We don’t know the exact details, but this series, we will see her have “such a huge shift, and she kinda really crashes down to earth.”
Wood was involved in one of the most memorable sequences from the first series, when we saw Aimee in a really honest portrayal of female masturbation.
It’s something the bubbly Stockport-born star, 24, wishes she had seen on TV when she was younger: “We were taught that sex was for making babies and that was basically it, so our pleasure was this enigmatic thing that didn’t really exist, and it was always portrayed like in American Pie; anyone who enjoyed sex was kinda ‘the crazy nympho’ who’s a bit unhinged,” she suggests.
“I remember having really frank conversations about a lot of stuff with my friends and that was the one thing that was a complete taboo.”
Being part of Sex Education has taught her to be a lot braver, she muses.
“As an actor, it’s quite easy to focus on ‘What’s my next job?’ and ‘Am I going to look great in it?’ and ‘Am I going to come across well?’
“But when you’ve been a part of something that means so much to so many people, you’re free from a lot of vanity that I think actors struggle with, because it’s like, ‘Oh, actually, if I can be as honest as possible, and as non-vain as possible, it’s going to actually have an effect on people’, which is so amazing.”
Other cast members were able to relate to the problems their characters face as they enter adulthood.
For Connor Swindells, who plays Adam (and who last year confirmed he is in a relationship with Wood in real life), there were the “issues of masculinity”.
“Growing up, like most boys, I have definitely wrestled with that, and still do sometimes, as well,” confides the 23-yearold.
Did Swindells feel pressure returning to the role, knowing the huge success of the first season?
“It definitely was weird because when we were filming last time – no one knew what we were doing, and a lot of the locations that we’ve gone back to in the second season, people were showing up at,” he says (most of the show was reportedly shot in Wales, by the way).
“You have to keep a grasp on all that stuff, because that’s not what the show was built on, and it can’t become that now. So, in order for it to work, we have to humble ourselves, just do the work and that’s it.”
“Ificanbeashonest as possible, it’s going to actually have an effect on people”
● Series two of Sex Education launches on Netflix on Friday