Olly Alexander to take over Ncuti Gatwa role after parting ways with record label
Olly Alexander is set to take over from Ncuti Gatwa in The Importance of Being Ernest. (Getty)
Pop star Olly Alexander is set to step into Ncuti Gatwa’s shoes as he takes over one of the former Doctor Who star’s biggest roles to date.
Olly Alexander is set to play the coveted role of Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest, one of Oscar Wilde’s most revered plays.
Ncuti Gatwa took on the role in the “hilariously subversive” play at the National Theatre between November 2024 and this January, alongside Mr Loverman star Sharon D. Clarke as Lady Bracknell. Clarke was nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance.
The National Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Max Webster, will transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End in September.
Speaking to the BBC, Alexander said that he wanted to take on the role of Algernon as he had “been thinking that [he’d] love to act again”.
The Importance of Being Earnest marks Alexander’s first acting role since Russell T Davies’ critically acclaimed AIDS drama It’s A Sin, which landed on Channel 4 back in 2021. The show was nominated for 10 BAFTAs, including a Best Actor nod for Alexander. It won one: Best Director for Peter Hoar.
The “King” singer said that he came to the end of his record contract earlier this year, following the release of Polari, his fourth studio album and first as a solo artist. He parted with band Years & Years in 2023.
“I’d come to the end of my record contract, and I have a bit more breathing space to try a few different things and not feel, oh, well I have to deliver an album to my record label,” Alexander explained.
“It’s such a brilliant play, Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy. I saw the National production and thought it was fantastic, and this opportunity came along and I jumped at the chance,” he added.
In March, the six-time BRIT Award nominee clarified that he wasn’t being dropped by his record label, explaining that “they just aren’t renewing my contract”.
“It’s okay and honestly for the best. I’ve been on a pretty terrible deal for ten years – it’s time I do something new,” he told Scene Mag, before pledging that he would still make music in the future.
Alexander told the BBC that he wanted to “take his foot off the gas” in terms of the schedule he’s been on since Years & Years exploded onto the music scene back in 2015.
He suggested that the model of music creation and promotion he became used to after becoming big a decade ago – “three singles into an album, then you tour the album, then move onto the next one” – isn’t working for many artists anymore.
“If I go back into it, it’ll be because I think it’s fun and something I want to do, and not think too much about how it’s going to perform.”
Polari was released in February this year, but failed to reach the chart-topping heights of Years & Years’ previous records, peaking at number 17 on the UK album chart.
Alexander and the album’s first single “Dizzy” became the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2024, a year which was marred by controversy due to the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to compete in the contest.
“Dizzy” ultimately received Nil points from the public vote.
Olly Alexander will star in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Noël Coward Theatre from 18 September. Tickets are on general sale from midday BST on 16 June.
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