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Jodie Whittaker on being first female Doctor Who: 'People in the role don't always have to tick the same box'
The first female Doctor, actress Jodie Whittaker, has spoken about the role for the very first time, revealing her excitement at being told of her casting, what fans can expect from her upcoming tenure in the part, and the advice she's received from past stars of Doctor Who.
Speaking to BBC Radio 6 Music's Shaun Keaveny, Whittaker joked that absolutely nothing exciting had happened to her lately. "It's been quite quiet, I've only lied to every single person in my life for quite a while, and it hasn't been stressful at all. It's quite nice for the first public time to say, I've got a new job."
Whittaker revealed that she was on the set of her new BBC1 drama Trust Me when she heard the news that she'd be taking over from Peter Capaldi in the long-running series.
"I didn't faint, I just played it really cool and cried," she recalled. "It was incredibly emotional, because as a child, all I wanted to do was be an actor, and I wanted to do it because I wanted to play pretend, and that's the ultimate, and I'm about to play an alien, a timelord, and as a girl. Who knew?
"That's incredible, and it's really emotional. I feel like I'm immersing myself into a world that is just – I haven't even done it yet, but the fans are the most kind and creative and enthusiastic people and it's so exciting to be a part of that. There's only a few people who know what it's like, there's only 13 of us that know.
"I already know [new showrunner] Chris Chibnall, so I know how amazing he is. The direction he's gonna take is gonna be amazing."
Whittaker also spoke of her own reaction to the infamous Doctor Who reveal trailer, remembering her own reaction to the clip as it premiered on television.
"I knew it were me under the hood," she recalled. "I knew, I was one of the four people who knew, and even I was like 'Oh god! I'm walking towards the Tardis! I'm walking towards the Tardis!'"
She also hinted at her own feelings about the controversial decision to cast a woman in the role of the Doctor, telling Keaveny that it's okay for Doctor Who to do something different.
"The people that are in this role, that we're excited by and we're passionate about, that we look up to, don't always have to tick the same box, and that's what's really incredible about it," she said. "I don't even know what the journey is, but that's the best thing about this part. Every script I read will be brand new and something that I can genuinely say I've never done before."
Asked whether she has seen any of the reaction to her casting on social media, either positive or negative, Whittaker confessed that she has kept herself blissfully unaware for the most part.
"This will be a blessing and a curse, because at the moment I've missed a lot of the fun stuff, and probably the bad stuff, because I'm not on any type of social media and never have been," she said. "So if I get sent something, it's a mate screengrabbing something. And they obviously edit. But there's an amazing video of a young girl watching it and finding out, [seeing] that it's being played by a girl. Seeing things like that are really amazing."
She also revealed that she has been in touch with "a few" of the actors who have themselves played the Doctor, and that much of them gave the exact same advice.
"I think the overwhelming sense is that this is such an exciting journey [I'm] about to go on, and it's to be enjoyed," she said. "I think that's it. They know I don't know yet. But there's not much advice you can give, because no one person plays this part the same."
Whittaker's appearance on Keaveny's show has been met with a positive response on social media, with fans writing that they already adore her... and her thick Yorkshire accent.
Whittaker will make her first brief appearance as the Doctor in this year's Christmas special, with her proper first series believed to be debuting in late 2018.