Ncuti Gatwa, the Fifthteenth Doctor in Doctor Who, is gracing the cover of the August/September issue of Rolling Stone UK, and the magazine has shared an interview with the actor revealing some new details about his portrayal of the character.
What’s Happening:
- Gatwa revealed that his Doctor is emotionally vulnerable, and hides that vulnerability with humor and energy.
- In the article, Gatwa recalled his casting in the role and preparation that went into it. A casual fan of the show prior to his audition, the actor spent a week watching every Doctor Who episode since its 2005 revival. He emerged from that binge-watching week a die-hard Whovian.
- “I fell in love with it,” he enthuses, and he means it. “When you watch it, you forget all your troubles,” says Gatwa. “You go to space, or to another time. You have adventures.”
- Gatwa and his family fled Rwanda as a child, escaping the genocide against the Tutsi minority. He likened that to the Doctor’s survival of the devastating Time War that wiped out the rest of his people, a major plot point when the show returned in 2005.
- “This person survived a genocide. This person fits in everywhere and nowhere. I am the Doctor. The Doctor is me. I decided that I had to get this role,” says Gatwa.
- The pressure that comes with playing the Doctor is understandably very strong, but even more so for Gatwa as the first Black man to play the role.
- “I’m the first Black man to play this character. The British press can be very mean,” he says of the reaction to his casting. But Gatwa is determined to remain steadfast in the face of criticism. “I just have to focus on the job and stay true to what the Doctor is: a mad scientist alien who has adventures and cares about everyone,” he says.
- A big change for this new era of the show is giving the Doctor a new costume for almost every story. Some of Gatwa’s inspiration came from a Ralph Lauren collection in partnership with Historically Black Colleges in America.
- “I love those pieces, they’re so preppy and so Black. But then they asked what else, because they’d been thinking about lots of outfits, almost a different one each week. Which is new! I love it. The Doctor has traveled all of time and space; they’re going to have a sick wardrobe.”
- He compared his Doctor’s style to that of Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, who was known for wearing velvet jackets and frilly shirts.
- Head over to Rolling Stone UK to read the full interview with Ncuti Gatwa, where he also talks about his roles in Sex Education and Barbie.
- Gatwa will take over the TARDIS next year, following three specials starring David Tennant, set to debut on Disney+ outside the UK in November 2023 for the show’s 60th anniversary.
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