John Boyega has ventured throughout a galaxy far, far away on board the Millennium Falcon and would now like to travel through time and space in the TARDIS as a version of the titular Time Lord on Doctor Who.
"I would love that!" Boyega told Radio Times when asked about playing the Doctor. "But get me in an episode where I'm one of the many Doctors in many timelines so I can just cameo it. Or I'd be the assistant, whatever. I'd show up -- but just for one episode." The question came about as Boyega praised the casting of Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and the first Black actor to portray the titular Time Lord from Doctor Who.
In May 2022, Gatwa made history by becoming the first Black actor, and the fifteenth performer overall, cast as the Doctor. Gatwa takes over from David Tennant, who previously played the role between 2005 and 2010 as the Tenth Doctor. Tennant, the first actor to play two different incarnations of the Doctor, will serve as the bridge between Gatwa and Jodie Whittaker, who finished her term as the thirteenth iteration of the character in 2022 after 3 Series and 3 Special Episodes in the role. Whittaker also made history when she was cast in July 2017, becoming the first woman to play the part.
John Boyega Addresses James Bond Casting Rumors
Boyega's fans have also submitted his name as a contender for another onscreen British icon: James Bond. The actor has been featured on many online lists and, at 31 years old, he falls on the lower end of the age range set by longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. However, fans shouldn't be sizing up Boyega's tux just yet, as the actor has expressed doubt about being considered for the role of 007, suggesting it is unlikely that the next Bond will be Black.
"You as a white man live in a society where you grew up with Bond as a white man and that's normal," Boyega told the Happy Sad Confused podcast's Josh Horowitz back in September 2022. "That's normal to you. Even the mention of a Black Bond to me is like, 'Oh, OK.' You know, I'm just like here like, okay, I don't necessarily believe that, but if that's what they're doing then, okay, that is very surprising to me."
While the search for the next Bond is still in its early stages, with Broccoli sharing in February that the casting process had not yet begun, the BBC has its next Doctor lined up in Gatwa. The Fifteenth Doctor will debut sometime in late 2023 ahead of 2024's fourteenth series.
Source: Radio Times