Ncuti Gatwa has had quite the rise to fame these last few years, going from being homeless and couch-surfing before his breakout role on Sex Education, to now playing the Doctor himself on Doctor Who. Gatwa couldn’t announce that he nabbed the coveted gig for ages, even keeping his Barbie co-stars in the dark about the role, but he did almost let it slip to a very surprising source: the Eleventh Doctor himself, Matt Smith.
During a recent sit-down with BBC Radio 1, Gatwa discussed when he met Smith— who played the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series from 2010 to 2013 — for the first time, and it was before it had been officially announced that he would be taking on the role of the Doctor’s fifteenth incarnation:
I bumped into [Matt Smith] on the dance floor of a party. He was really lovely. And I was really excited to talk to him. And he was excited as well, but at a normal level. I was vibrating. He was looking at me, and I was like ‘I’m following in your footsteps!’ And he was like ‘OK [gives a thumbs up] lovely.’
However, Ncuti said that his seemingly random comment to Smith finally made sense when the BBC formally announced his casting:
Then the day of the announcement, [Matt] voice-note-ed me and was like ‘Ahhhh.’
Once the news was officially out in May 2022 that Gatwa would be taking over the role of the Doctor from Jodie Whittaker, who had played the part since 2017, The Crown actor was effusive with praise.
He called Ncuti’s casting “sensational” and said the performer was a “brilliant” choice to portray the beloved character. He told Variety in July 2022:
I think it’s the most sensational bit of casting. What an actor — he’s brilliant in ‘Sex Education.’ I think he’s got something ‘other’ that that part really needs…I’m really, really excited to see where ‘Doctor Who’ is going. I love ‘Doctor Who,’ it’s forever in my heart.
Throughout the BBC Radio 1 interview, Gatwa also revealed that there’s a group chat that David Tennant — from whom our latest Time Lord bi-generated during that Doctor Who 60th-anniversary special episode earlier this month — started with some of the other prior Doctors, including Smith. Even more adorable? It’s called the “Who-niverse.”
Smith isn’t the only big-name celebrity giving Ncuti kudos for his Doctor Who starring role: his Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling sported a bootleg Doctor Who shirt to support his fellow onscreen Ken. Plus, The Toymaker actor Neil Patrick Harris had glowing things to say about Gatwa’s casting and the fact that fans finally have their first gay Doctor in the long-running franchise. The Rwandan-Scottish actor is also, notably, the first Black man to portray the Doctor.
You’ll next be able to see Ncuti as the new Doctor in the 2023 TV schedule’s Doctor Who Christmas special, which premieres on Monday, December 25, and can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. And this time, Matt Smith won’t have to be at all secretive about his praise!