Attention, Whovians! Comedienne and actress, Bethany Black, has been cast in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who, becoming the first transgender actress to appear on the show!
She’s set to appear in an upcoming “scary” episode written by Mark Gatiss. Black won’t be playing a transgender character, but was simply considered the best actress for the role; the details of which are unknown. She’s worked with former Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies before on Channel 4’s Tofu, Cucumber, and Banana, so it’s clear that Black was already in the Doctor Who sphere – it was only a matter of time.
On her Facebook fan page, she talks about having been a huge Doctor Who fan as a kid, and how it’s amazing that she got cast considering that she didn’t always consider herself an actress:
Then last year, I accidentally ended up with an acting career. Honestly, I’d not thought about acting since I quit my performing arts A-level in 1996, I was having a tough time, I was skint, I’d broken my leg and couldn’t work and suddenly someone passed me on an open casting call for Banana; Russell T Davies new series. I honestly never thought I’d get it. And then I did. And then two days later I was walking through the offices of the production company with Andy Pryor, the casting director of Doctor Who, when former show runner Russell T Davies came bounding out of his office and greeted me, my head was spinning, then I got sat in a room waiting to go into the read through with Andrew Hayden Smith, who’d been in David Tennant’s first Cybermen story. I thought how lucky I was to be alive and to get to do this. It was an honour and a privilege.
Anyway cut forward a year. I’m kind of thinking “well acting was fun, maybe I’ll never get cast in anything else though.” When my agent sent me a message that I’d got an audition for Doctor Who.
I got it. I got the job. I had to keep it silent. But I GOT THE JOB!
When I went down for the read through and saw my name on the table next to Jenna Coleman’s it suddenly started to feel real.
It is genuinely the greatest job I could ever have imagined getting. Everything about it is magical. I’m enjoying every day of filming and cherishing it, because you never know if you’ll ever get to do anything like this again. I only hope that I do the role and the show justice, and that you all enjoy it. For me it’s the gig of a lifetime.
Indeed! Congrats, Ms. Black. Can’t wait to see you run with the Doctor!
(via i09; Image via Isabelle on Flickr)
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