Neil Patrick Harris Says Ncuti Gatwa Will Be First Gay Doctor in ‘Sexier’ New ‘Doctor Who’ – IndieWire
Ncuti Gatwa continues to make history for the “Doctor Who” franchise.
After being announced as the first Black Time Lord for the beloved BBC sci-fi series, Gatwa’s Doctor is confirmed to be queer according to his co-star Neil Patrick Harris.
Harris revealed on Variety’s Just for Variety podcast that Gatwa will “be the first gay Doctor, which is going to be super cool” and that the “Sex Education” alum’s take makes for a “sexier Doctor” in the series. Gatwa also played a gay role, as teen Eric, on the Netflix coming-of-age series.
“He’s glorious,” Harris teased of Gatwa’s performance, with the new season set for a 2023 release. Gatwa is the 14th actor to play The Doctor, with the role previously occupied by the likes of Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and, recently, Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor Who.
IndieWire has reached out to BBC Studios for comment.
Showrunner Russell T. Davies previously noted that Harris will be starring as “the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced.” Davies offered Harris the role after their work together on the AIDS crisis miniseries “It’s a Sin.”
“Heartstopper” star Yasmin Finney also joined the cast and shared during June’s Trans+ Pride March in London that her character Rose will be trans (via Them).
Before being cast in “Doctor Who,” Gatwa was filming Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” leading to an uptick in security for the British breakout star. “He had to get security in and around not only his place of residence but the places of residence of his entire family,” Gatwa’s “Barbie” co-star Simu Liu shared. “All of a sudden over the weekend he was announced. We came to work on Monday we were like ‘Dude, how long have you been holding this in for?’ And he’s like, ‘Two months.’”
Fellow “Barbie” actor Ryan Gosling called Gatwa “the coolest” before adding, “Him playing Doctor Who is the most exciting thing that’s happening right now. I’m here for it.” Gosling also donned a fan-made t-shirt commemorating Gatwa as the Doctor.
As for representing Black queer characters, Gatwa previously told IndieWire that he hopes “that other little Black boys around the world” can look up to his roles.
“When people talk about diversity and inclusion, sometimes there’s a bit of an eye-rolling mentality or ticking boxes,” Gatwa explained in 2020. “But I feel like that’s kind of necessary at times, because the playing fields are not level in the first place. Not a quota as such, it’s not as if we had one, but that is kinda necessary, because we need to level the playing field. When we do that, we can show other people’s lives and other people’s experiences and show like — ‘see? It’s not that scary!’ It’s important that we show all these things, and sometimes you do need to be like — ‘has this voice been heard? No.’”
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