Peter Capaldi has acknowledged that he struggled as the face of Doctor Who.
Between 2013 until 2017, the Scottish actor replaced Matt Smith in the role and played the Time Lord for three seasons and four specials.
However, he has since admitted that fronting the ‘brand’ connected with the popular long-running franchise was challenging at times.
Speaking about being one of 14 actors to play the character, Peter, 65, said he’d had ‘a laugh and gossip’ with Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Jodie Whitaker over the years.
‘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 argued, kept him from becoming the ‘cynical melancholy’ he ‘naturally’ was.
Instead, the actor had to appear to be a ‘much more agreeable’ version of himself while playing 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’s recent return to the character for the show’s 60th anniversary, Peter had previously ruled out doing the same as part of the commemorative festivities.
Back in 2022, he stated that it was’very hard to conceive’ that he would receive ‘a proper crack of the whip’ with so many performers already stepping into the 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.’
Doctor Who is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.