‘I knew you’d be more comfortable if I wasn’t overly prepared’: Jodie Whittaker admits she pretended to forget her lines during co-star Mandip Gill’s final Doctor Who audition
Jodie Whittaker has revealed she deliberately forgot her lines when her co-star Mandip Gill auditioned for Doctor Who in order to make her feel more comfortable.
The pair first met at Gill’s final audition for the role of companion Yasmin Khan in the long-running BBC sci-fi show.
Referencing their first meeting in a joint interview with the Radio Times, former Hollyoaks star Gill, 32, told Whittaker: ‘The great thing was, you didn’t know your lines!’
Opening up: Jodie Whittaker has told the Radio Times she deliberately forgot her lines when her co-star Mandip Gill auditioned for Doctor Who in order to make her feel more comfortable
However Whittaker admitted she hadn’t been entirely truthful, adding: ‘I did that on purpose.’
Whittaker, 37, who plays the thirteenth incarnation of the Time Lord, explained: ‘It’s so intimidating when the other actor knows all their lines, but there’s meant to be room for playing and having fun.
‘I knew you’d be more comfortable if I wasn’t overly prepared.’
Admission: Whittaker, 37, who plays the thirteenth incarnation of the Time Lord, explained: ‘It’s so intimidating when the other actor knows all their lines, but there’s meant to be room for playing and having fun’
The pair said that they enjoy each other’s company so much that they message each other and fellow co-stars Bradley Walsh and Tosin Colwe constantly.
Of their close relationship, Jodie said: ‘Sometimes I walk over and know you’re laughing at me. I love it because you’re really constant. I never don’t know where I stand with you.
‘It’s odd that we can spend so much time together. You, me and Tosin all have lunch together – Brad is always doing something more important because he’s got a million other jobs – then we’ll hang out after we get home.
‘We FaceTime in the evening, even though we’ve been together all day.’
Memories: Gill first met Whittaker during her final audition for the role of companion Yasmin Khan in the long-running BBC sci-fi show
Reflecting on her position as the first woman to play the Time Lord – a decision that has divided fans – Whittaker said she never imagined getting the role.
‘I didn’t look like Wonder Woman, chiselled out of rock. Never in my wildest dreams did I think these barrier-breaking roles would be mine,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Sacha Dhawan, 35, the latest actor cast as arch-villain the Master, told the magazine: ‘There was a time when I was constantly going up for the terrorist, or characters that just weren’t as interesting.
‘But I was adamant that I was going to prove the industry wrong.’
The full interviews are in this week’s Radio Times magazine.
Co-stars: Time travellers Bradley Walsh, Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole currently feature in the show’s twelfth series
