Peter Capaldi has revealed he struggled being the face of Doctor Who.
After replacing Matt Smith in the role, the Scottish actor played the Time Lord for three seasons and four specials between 2013 and 2017.
However, he’s now said that fronting the ‘brand’ associated with the beloved long-running franchise was difficult at times.
Speaking about being one of the 14 actors to have stepped into the role, Peter, 65, said that over the years he’d shared ‘a laugh and gossip’ with those including Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Jodie Whitaker.
‘You do run into each other,’ he said.
‘You have a laugh, a gossip, you share.
‘There aren’t a lot of people who have been in that role in the centre of that storm. Most people think the job is being on the Tardis and running around with Daleks. Which it is. That’s the fun part.’
But, he added, there was ‘a lot of other stuff you have to do, too’.
When speaking to The Guardian he said: ‘You’re kind of the face of the brand and the brand is very big.’
That, he explained, prevented him from being the ‘cynical melancholic’ he ‘naturally’ was.
Instead, the actor had to pretend to be a version of himself that was ‘far more amenable’ while embodying the ‘icon and folk hero’.
‘I was able to comfort people in a way that would be beyond the powers of Peter. You could walk into a room and people gasped with delight. It doesn’t happen anymore,’ he added.
Despite David Tennant recently returning to the role for the show’s 60th anniversary, Peter had previously ruled out doing the same as part of the milestone celebrations.
Back in 2022 he said it was ‘very hard to imagine’ he would get ‘a decent crack of the whip’ with so many actors having already stepped into he shoes of the Doctor.
‘So I think I’d rather leave it as is, because I loved my time on Doctor Who and loved doing it.’
He added to SFX: ‘I don’t want to be Doctor Who’s assistant. It used to drive me insane on Doctor Who, not being able to talk about anything. It’s like, “Who cares?!” But then I get into trouble.’
