Jodie Whittaker

October 8, 2018

I am Jodie Whittaker. I play The Doctor on Doctor Who. AMA.

Hi, I’m Jodie Whittaker and I play The Doctor in the new season of Doctor Who. The new season premiered yesterday around the world and now I’m here to answer your questions now, Reddit. Ask me anything about Sheffield, aliens, and fried egg sandwiches!

PROOF: https://twitter.com/DoctorWho_BBCA/status/1049269756996591616

Watch all-new Doctor Who in the US, Sundays at 8pm on BBC America: https://youtu.be/Z0z_1N7zh1c

Watch the first episode now

Follow DoctorWho:

UPDATE: Hope you’re having a lovely day. And bye for now.



Do you think aliens are real?

Yeah. I just think, how can we be the only lifeform - HOW? It’s too - it being it, is too big.


What is your favorite word?

Ace.


If you could travel anywhere in time and space where and when would it be?

P.S. Loved you in the series premiere!!

I’d go to... I’ve said this before, but I want to go to Neptune. I want to know what our solar system looks like. Because now that Pluto’s been kicked out, I’d wanna go to Neptune just to have a sense of perspective.


Hi Jodie! If you could meet any historical figure as The Doctor, who would it be?

I’ve got a bit of a thing about dinosaurs. Even though a dinosaur isn’t a historical figure, just to see creatures of scale that you cannot comprehend now would be extraordinary.


You have 2 hearts now. How are you feeling?

Full of love.


Hey Jodie! I’m a massive fan! My question is: Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?

100% yes as my favourite pizza is rocket (arugula), pineapple, and chili oil.


What's currently the most fun part of working on Doctor Who at the moment for you?

The banter between the cast and the crew. It’s at times hilarious, exhausting and ridiculous, but everyday we’re living our best life.


Hello Jodie! How excited should we be for this whole season?

EXTREMELY! You’ve got an amazing adventure ahead of you.


Where were you when you found out you would be the new Doctor?

In the final meeting with the grown ups when they broke the news to me and I wept.


Were you and Capaldi both on set during the Christmas special or did you do your part later?

You aren’t on set at the same time. Peter had finished filming his season the week before I shot the regeneration. So unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet him straight away, but I’ve been lucky enough to chat to him since.


Great first Episode! Loved it :)

And since you talked about it... how many eggs do you put in your fried egg sandwiches? :D

Two. And loads of butter and loads of ketchup and it has to be on white bread. Because I’m a pillar of health.


What was it like working on Black Mirror?

It was brilliant and intense, if not a terrifying concept and one I hope the future doesn’t aim to create.


Of all the Doctors you would do a multi-Doctor episode with, which Doctor would you most like to work with down the road?

Doc Brown!


What's your favorite tea?

Red bush tea or Rooibos depending on how you say it.


If you had a TARDIS for real, what would you do with it?

Go to all my favourite gigs. My first stop would be Glastonbury 2014 with Arcade Fire headlining.


What was your personal favourite part of the The Woman Who Fell to Earth?

It never fails to make me laugh when Karl announces that he doesn’t like heights. It’s such a brilliant characteristic to have for a crane driver. That’s what I love about this - you can have the beauty in the detail.


At 19, did you know how to ride a bike?

Yes I did, because I’ve never struggled with coordination, but I’m not the most confident on a bike.


Hi Jodie! How are you doing today?

I’m really good, thank you for asking. I feel excited that I don’t have to keep so many secrets because at least now I can talk about episode 1. On the flipside, I still have 9 episodes worth of secrets to keep, which is pretty exhausting.


What's some advice you'd give Jodie of 10 years ago, if you had the chance?

Stop talking.


Hi Jodie,

What’s the best life lesson you learned?

Life is very short. But hopefully, love transcends all time and space.


What did you have for breakfast this morning? What's your worst breakfast memory?

I had a cinnamon roll from Amy’s Bread in Chelsea Market in New York. It was beaut.

I’ve managed to block out any memory of a worse breakfast.


What’s your favourite biscuit?

Custard cream. Or if I’m feeling really posh, a Fox’s Crunch Cream.


Hi Jodie! You made an amazing debut and I can't wait to see more! Here's my question: If you could pick a country to film the next series of Doctor Who in, where would you go?

I’d love to go to Japan. I’ve never been and I think what an extraordinary adventure that would be.


Hey Jodie!

Who is your favourite villain of all time?

Mumm-Ra’s pretty terrifying. And not someone I’d want to meet in a dark alleyway.


Who are your own role models?

I think I’ve always been inspired by ordinary heroes. It doesn’t take fame and a public voice for me to find inspiration from people, but on a public platform, I’m continually in awe and inspired by Michelle Obama.


Hi Jodie, which do you think is scarier, Black Mirror or Doctor Who?

I think they both tick the fear factor box.


How easy/hard was it keeping it a secret when you were offered the role?

It’s easy because I appreciated how ambitious the reveal video was and I didn’t want to be the reason that got leaked. But it’s hard because it’s such a huge part of your future. It’s strange to be with close family and friends and for them to not know anything about it.


Hi Jodie! Growing up as a child, what were your dreams and aspiration? Did you imagine you'd be where you are now?

No, I didn’t imagine I’d be. But I dreamed and hoped that my life would be full of adventure. If I had the ability to go talk to myself, I’d say all that will come true, just be patient and be kind.


Hey Jodie! What is your must-have item in your trailer/on the set? Love from Wales!

My glass Keep Cup. Because you’re not allowed drinks on set unless they’re contained in something safe and I don’t like the idea of chucking away paper and plastic every 10 minutes while I’m filming.


If you had to choose only one meal to eat for every meal for the rest of your life what would it be? And what to you think would be the doctor’s pick?

So I would say the Doctor’s pick is a cuppa and a fried egg sandwich. And mine... If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it’d be steak tartare.


Hello!

Are you excited (or how do you feel) about the reactions you've gotten about your performance so far?

Excited that the fans have responded so passionately to all this hard work. I think there’s a dangerous line for me to start reading what’s been said. Positive or negative, it wouldn’t have the best reaction to my soul.


First of all, you are perfect!

What is the nerdiest thing about you? (Aside from playing The Doctor!)

Even when I’m not working, I very often like to play pretend.


Where's your favourite place to eat in Shat? Mine's Solos

Mine too!


How are you coping with being the new doctor? Has it really hit you yet?

Yeah, I’m coping in the sense I’ve just had the most incredible 9 months and hung out with some of my favourite people in the world, so that wasn’t a lot to have to cope with. What’s wonderful now is getting to share all this hard work with everybody, but I feel like I’m in dire need of a holiday.


What's your favourite place that you visited while on set?

South Africa. It was absolutely extraordinary. It wasn’t because the other locations weren’t as beautiful or as epic. There was just something so special about being in a terrain or an environment that was completely unfamiliar and awe-inspiring.


Probably a stupid question. But how much of the crane sequence in the first episode of the season was real?

The entire thing was real. Was it CGI? No it wasn’t. We were on a crane. Obviously, I did a stunt so there were wires and protection and things like that, because you can’t have someone jump between two cranes. But as far as it being on cranes and running and jumping - that was within the safety of a stunt. And yes. I was scared.


What ingredients do I need to make my very own sonic screwdriver?

A dash of hope, a pinch of creativity, and lot of Sheffield steel.


How do you prepare for a role as strange as the Doctor? Did you have anything in particular you wanted to bring to the part?

I wanted to bring a sense of childlike wonder and I really wanted to tap into that feeling I had as a kid when everything was a revelation and there was such joy in that.

As you can older, you can often as a human get a bit jaded or a bit cynical and I wanted to tap into the youthfulness of myself and my personality and bring that to the preparation of playing the Doctor.


Do you listen to any music to get you into the headspace of playing the doctor?

I just generally listen to music a lot and actually, I don’t find it a distraction, if the music isn’t on a similar theme. But I have to say one of the albums that’s been amazing to listen to is The Race for Space EP by Public Service Broadcasting.


Will you be my bestie?

I thought I already was?


What’s your favorite shoe?

I'm a huge fan of a Converse.


Would you ever go on The Chase?

Absolutely not. I’ve heard the host is really difficult to work with.


Are you excited that you'll end up being an action figure?

Yeah, of course! I’m a grown up child. Who doesn’t want to be an action figure?!


Hi, Jodie! Phenomenal first episode!

Would you ever consider going into directing? Maybe directing an episode of Doctor Who?

I’ve never thought about it. I would never say no to something but it is not where my skillset lies. I’ve worked with some phenomenal directors and I’ve never thought that I could do that, but I very often think 'how did you do that'?


Do you believe in time travel? Do you think it’s possible?

I think I want to live in a world where we can believe anything is possible.


How did you get your start in acting? And what was the journey leading up to this role like?

I always knew from a young age that I wanted to be an actor and I was very lucky that my parents never suggested that that was a silly or ridiculous pipedream. So when I was older, I decided to audition for drama school, so my way into the industry was through studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and then graduating and I was lucky to be given so many amazing opportunities throughout the industry, one of which was meeting Chris Chibnall on Broadchurch, hence now why I’m here.


What is your history with Doctor Who? Were you new to the series when you were cast, like Matt Smith was, or were you already a fan of the show like David Tennant? If it's the latter, then what are some of your favorite episodes?

I’m definitely a new Whovian. Obviously, working in the industry and having some of my close friends being in it - some of which have been Doctors, I’d obviously got the context and seen it, but I wasn’t coming at it from a being a childhood Whovian. What’s so exciting about this new series is we hope for any fans out there, you’ll love it as much as we do. But also for anyone who wants to become a new Whovian, like me, it’s the perfect season to start with.


Could you say hi to my sister(Ella) and mom(Kelly) please? Thank you!

Of course I can. Hi Ella! Hey Kelly! Hope you’re having a lovely day. And bye for now.


This interview was transcribed from an "ask me anything" question and answer session with Jodie Whittaker conducted on Reddit on 2018-10-08. The Reddit AMA can be found here.