Ncuti Gatwa isn’t letting the hatred towards his casting, from racist Doctor Who “fans,” ruin his day. So, their anger over the Doctor being a queer Black man is falling into the void. In fact, he isn’t paying it any mind, which is exactly as it should be.
Gatwa recently did an interview with Attitude magazine where he was asked about whether or not he looked at the response online when it was announced that a Black man was taking on the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who. “No, no, no, no. I got a brief glimpse of it in initial casting, but it’s not something I’ll avidly keep up on,” Gatwa said and GOOD! For all the nonsense that surrounded his announcement was an outpouring of love, at the same time, from excited fans. After seeing him take on the role in the Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road,” we were right to root for him!
Gatwa went on to be iconic. “The hate? It is kind of fascinating to me because there’s so much energy they’re putting into it. You are so angry over something so inconsequential that you can’t be an interesting person,” he said. “You can’t have much in your life. I don’t have the time to do that. And so, I think they need to go find a hobby is one thing. But another thing is that we do see a shift happening in casting, in positions of power and in the status quo. I mean, not a fast shift, things could tip over the other way a little bit quicker, but you see people kind of malfunctioning because things are changing.”
He’s right! Get a hobby.
As with any casting that isn’t a straight white male, we have the run of the mill responses crying about “woke” things. How dare we change what has always been in a character who can literally change into a different person entirely? The minute that Gatwa was announced, I was cheering with excitement knowing that an actor I know and love from Sex Education was taking on the biggest role in the nerd world.
He very clearly just made them all eat their words with his debut because he is absolutely incredible in the role, which makes the upcoming premiere of season 14 so special. Gatwa not letting the angry racists ruin this for him is perfect, and I can’t wait to see them try to complain about this show. If it is anything like the Christmas special, we’re in for a treat!
(featured image: BBC)
