Jodie Whittaker Worried She’d "F***ed It For Other Actors" When She Played 'Doctor Who'

You can’t please everyone, that’s simply just the facts of life. Sometimes though, there are situations where things seem unfair from the get, and those situations should be called out. WhenJodie Whittakerwas cast as The Thirteenth Doctor inDoctor Who, it broke a mould. She was the first woman to play The Doctor in the 60-year-long canon. The casting was almost immediately seen as controversial with a mixed-bag reaction from the fanbase. When speaking withThe Timesfor her upcoming Netflix dramaToxic Town, Whittaker explains, “everyone’s Doctor until then was a white man. They are very different actors, butthey all fit a specific mould — and I didn’t.” She recalls being concerned about the implications of her casting, saying, “I felt that if I wasn’t very good at this,I’ve f***ed it for other actors.” Whittaker quantifies the statement saying, “I think it’s completely unacceptable if that was the case, but that’s how I felt.”

Whittake looks in comparison of those who came before her, when new past Doctors were cast, there are natural reservations from fans who already have a favorite. But Whittaker felt like because she was breaking the mould, she was under a more high-powered microscope.“IfPeter [Capaldi]hadn’t been good as the Doctor, it would only have reflected on him.” During Capaldi’s time as The Twelfth Doctor, his character notes that his species, Time Lords, are beyond Earthly conventions, but because it’s a show that’s made on planet Earth, those conventions still bleed through a lot of the criticism. “It’s never been questioned that I had to look up to men,” Whittaker explains. “So it was fascinating that for some,we [women] could not be role models.The Doctor is still the Doctor. But also, I was playing an alien! My gender was not the issue.”

“It Goes So Quick” Jodie Whittaker Gave Advice to Ncuti Gatwa for ‘Doctor Who’

Whittaker reveals she sent “shit tonnes” of messages afterNcuti Gatwawas cast as the Fifteenth Doctor. She passed along advice saying, “The main thing is that it goes so quick. I still can’t believe my time is over.” Whittaker says, “I was absolutely grief-stricken when it ended, even though it was my choice.I felt like I’d given myself 20 paper cuts. I loved it so much.” In addition to telling Gatwa to soak up his time as the Doctor, Whittaker adds, “But oh my God, the lines are so hard to learn! So the other thing was: I hope you are better at learning lines than I was.”

Though Whittaker is aware that her Doctor drew both warranted and unwarranted criticism, she doesn’t physically see it because of her lack of social media use. “No one can hide behind a nasty tweet because I’ll never read it.” Whittaker says. “I’m sure people wrote, ‘I hated your Doctor’ but because I go ‘la la la.’ I’ve got such a false sense of who I am." She says she does have a one-up over all the Doctors, “In the very last scene, during the regen episode, I was pregnant. So I’m the first ever Doctor that was Method and had two hearts.”