EXCLUSIVE: Varada Sethu Talks Joining the Cast of ‘Doctor Who’
Doctor Who, is set to premiere it’s newest season in a few short days. To celebrate the occassion, BeautifulBallad had the opportunity to chat with the Doctor’s newwest companion, Varada Sethu, about the upcoming season.
On the new bond between the Doctor and his companion, Belinda: “They’re very much equals. They’re a team figuring out how to get back home because she’s got her very much her own life, her own plot, her own main character journey. And when she gets plucked out of that by the doctor in some ways, all she wants is to go home. She doesn’t want to be somebody else’s little adventure. She wants to go back to her life. And so she challenges him, she holds him accountable and eventually they become very aligned and they realize that they need to work together to be this team, to get back to earth, to get back to where she wants to be. They have a really, really strong partnership.”
On how it feels to be part of the first TARDIS team that’s solely people of color: “It meant a huge amount. I try not to take on the pressure of that because I think I want to free myself up to being creative, to being playful. And I think if you put on the pressure of being the first of anything, it takes away, in some ways, the joy because you don’t want to feel like you’re being scrutinized. But hopefully the payoff is that what we create is something authentic and that feels genuine. Now that we’re out the other end of that period of filming, it’s like I can now look back and appreciate how special an experience it was. I’m getting messages from people all around the world saying, ‘It means a lot to see a brown person or a team comprised of people of color.’ And yeah, it means a lot to me personally, but also it’s lovely to hear that it’s the same for other people out there.”
On qualities she and Ncuti Gatwa posses as actors that make working together easier: “For me, Ncuti is just such a brilliant, bright energy and his Doctor is so dynamic. There’s just this energy that he bring to the text, to the screen, to set that you can’t help but want to join that and match that energy. There’s this vibrancy. And I keep using that word for how he play the Doctor. It’s just so vibrant and it’s just such a joy to be around. And also just as a person, I think he’s a brilliant listener. He’s such an amazing listener and that’s such a good quality in an actor as well because it’s so easy to work off him. There’s just such a richness in everything he brings to the table. It’s a feast constantly when I’m playing opposite him because there’s so many little tidbits to latch onto. When he are saying something, it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s a moment of comedy I can find there.’ It comes so easily and naturally with him.”
On coming back to the show as the new companion: “As an actor, it was the best. It was unbelievable. I literally could not believe that I was able to come back because I didn’t know there was a history of companions actors who had played another role and then came back as a companion. So I just thought once I got to play a guest lead in Boom, that that was shot. And I was very sad about that because I had such a great time. So when I got the call as an actor that I could come back as a companion, I literally couldn’t have dreamt of it because I just thought, ‘Well, it’s gone now. I’ve ticked that box. I can’t go back.’ It meant a lot. And then I was very, very curious to see how Russell [Davies], how he would make a nod towards that connection. I love that he’s managed to tie it into the story, into how and why their relationship is so special. Because you keep coming across, it’s a genetic link and there’s an importance to why the Doctor keeps coming back to this person.”
On being a part of a story that inspires hope: “What I like the most about Doctor Who as a franchise is the core themes coming from the Doctor’s point of view, which is curiosity, is about learning, understanding each other, communicating with, connecting with other people. I think generally speaking, the belief system comes from a place of love and I’m so grateful to be part of a show that that’s where the angle’s coming from generally. I think the world can be a scary place and so it’s nice to be part of something that feels like it’s coming from the right place.”
On a favorite episide of the series: “For me, I’m going to say an episode from our season. My favorite episode is the second episode that’s set in 1950s Miami, and we become animated very briefly. I loved the process of filming that, but also just I loved that it was a cartoon villain and just so much fun.”
On a favorite look from the new season: “I think my favorite’s still got to be the 1950’s dress. I loved that West Side Story yellow. And I do genuinely love a good spacesuit, so I loved that spacesuit.”
The new season, or series, of Doctor Who will premiere on April 12 on BBC and Disney+.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity