Ncuti Gatwa is the new star of ‘Doctor Who’ as the Fifteenth Doctor. He is also the first Black actor to lead the show, and his first season started on May 10 on Disney+.
Gatwa recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how important it is to address race in the show. He thinks race naturally becomes part of the story as the Doctor spends a lot of time on Earth, so it’s inevitable for him to address his ‘chocolate-ness’:
“I think that there would be no way to not, you have to address race. This is the first time the Doctor has been Black for this long and he tends to spend most of his time on Earth, it’s a favorite of his, so yeah, it would be essential to explore race within his tenure. It’s something that I would want to do and like I don’t think you could ignore it. You can’t ignore my chocolate-ness, so we’re not going to ignore it.”
There was some backlash online after Gatwa’s casting, but he closed his ears to them. He told his haters to ‘go out and touch the grass’ rather than watch TV.
Gatwa Received Advice From The First Female Doctor
Gatwa said that Jodie Whittaker gave him some advice when he first got the role. He said Whittaker shared tips on handling the backlash and pressure that comes with being a trailblazer:
“Jodie Whittaker, who very famously brought down barriers before me, the first female Doctor, just gave me a lot of advice on how to handle all the difference of opinions that might come your way, and just handling the pressure off screen. It’s an institution of a role and when you’re stepping in as someone that’s not been what people are expecting, let’s say, you’re going to get a lot of opinions in your face and she just helped me manage that.”
Gatwa has some company on his adventures. Millie Gibson will co-star as Ruby Sunday, the Doctor’s companion. Despite rumors, Gibson will not be leaving the show. Another companion will join later, and she’s played by Varada Sethu.
