Jodie Whittaker calls her Doctor Who casting the “defining moment of my life”
The Thirteenth Doctor says it’s “amazing to be a milestone”
Following her explosive first appearance in 2017’s Doctor Who Christmas special, Whovians around the world are pretty excited to see more of Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker, who took over from Peter Capaldi last month.
And happily, it turns out the viewers aren’t the only ones thrilled by the new appointment – because Whittaker herself has been talking about her new role, and it’s fair to say she’s felling pretty enthusiastic about the whole time-travelling adventure lark.
"This is the defining moment of my life," Whittaker told Total Film.
"I feel old enough for it. And I feel like I understand how important it is, and I'm so excited that the role models for young children, boys or girls... or teenagers, or adults, come in different forms.
"There's nothing unattainable about me. I don't look like I've been carved out of rock. I don't sound like I've had the extraordinary glamour."
"For me, knowing what I thought were my limitations as a person and an actor, because this industry is about, 'You sound like this, you look like this'... but I'm normal.
And apparently Whittaker has been discussing the possibilities of playing a “normal” hero with former Doctor David Tennant, who co-starred with her in three series of Broadchurch.
"That was exciting to David,” she explained. “It was a superhero he could play. And now it opens it a little wider, to women as well.”
In fact, Whittaker was left with only one slight negative about the whole experience – the fact that her appointment as the first female Doctor was such a big deal, with the actor hoping that in future it could just be seen as normal.
"It's amazing to be a milestone, but how wonderful if it wasn't, if it was just accepted, embraced,” she said.
“I'm not dissing the moment – it's f**king brilliant – but hopefully when other people grow up, it's not so much of a surprise."
Well, if anyone has a window into the future it’s our brand-new Doctor…
- Doctor Who: Everything we know about Jodie Whittaker’s new Doctor - UPDATED!
- Everything we know about the next series of Doctor Who
- Peter Capaldi's Tardis is dismantled proving it really is the end of a Doctor Who era
Doctor Who will return to BBC1 this autumn
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
