Occupation Actress Years active 2005–present | Name Jodie Whittaker Role Actress | |
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Born 3 January 1982 (age 42) ( 1982-01-03 ) Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, England Spouse Christian Contreras (m. 2008) Education Guildhall School of Music and Drama Nominations British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Movies and TV shows Broadchurch, Attack the Block, St Trinian's, Venus, Black Sea Similar People Andrew Buchan, Olivia Colman, Christian Contreras, Joe Cornish, Chris Chibnall | ||
Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker's NSFW Hometown Name | The Graham Norton Show | BBC America
Jodie Auckland Whittaker (born 3 June 1982) is an English actress. She came to prominence in her 2006 feature film debut Venus, for which she received British Independent Film Award and Satellite Award nominations. She was later praised for her roles in the cult science fiction film Attack the Block, the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You", and as grieving mother Beth Latimer in Broadchurch.
Contents
- Doctor Whos Jodie Whittakers NSFW Hometown Name The Graham Norton Show BBC America
- Early life
- Career
- Doctor Who
- Personal life
- References
On 16 July 2017, BBC announced that Whittaker would become the thirteenth and first female incarnation of The Doctor in the British TV series Doctor Who, taking over the role from Peter Capaldi in the 2017 Christmas special episode "Twice Upon a Time". Her arrival in the series will coincide with that of new executive producer and head writer, Chris Chibnall.
Early life
Whittaker was born in Skelmanthorpe. She attended Scissett Middle School and Shelley High School (now known as Shelley College), West Yorkshire, before training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2005 with the gold medal for acting.
Career
Whittaker made her professional debut in The Storm at Shakespeare's Globe in 2005. She has since worked in film, television, radio and theatre. In 2007, she stood in at short notice for an unwell Carey Mulligan in the Royal Court's production of The Seagull, and appeared in a fundraising play at the Almeida Theatre.
In Whittaker's first major role, she co-starred as Jessie / Venus in the film Venus. Her radio credits include a 2008 adaptation of Blinded by the Sun by Stephen Poliakoff and Lydia Bennett in Unseen Austen, an original drama by Judith French. In 2009, she worked on the film Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World, the BBC2 drama Royal Wedding, and the short film Wish 143, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.
In 2010, Whittaker appeared in the film The Kid and co-starred in BBC's Accused. She appeared in the 2009 Irish comedy crime film Perrier's Bounty. In 2011, she appeared as Viv in the BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters's novel The Night Watch and the cult film Attack the Block. In 2012, she starred in the musical comedy-drama Good Vibrations.
From March to April 2013, Whittaker starred in the ITV detective drama Broadchurch; she subsequently reprised the role for two additional series, until the show's conclusion in 2017. In January 2014, she starred in the reality-based spy drama miniseries The Assets on ABC.
In 2017, Whittaker starred in four-part British medical drama Trust Me.
Doctor Who
On 16 July 2017, Whittaker was announced as the thirteenth incarnation of The Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who; she will be the first woman in the history of the franchise to play the title role. She had previously worked with incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall on Broadchurch. She admitted that she had to "tell a lot of lies" after being cast to keep the information secret and used the codeword "Clooney" when talking about the role. She urged fans not to be afraid of her gender, saying "Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one." Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice.
Reactions to Whittaker's casting varied among Doctor Who fans. Most fans, along with the majority of critics reacted positively to Whittaker's casting, stating that the Thirteenth Doctor will be a good role model for young girls, while some criticised the casting as an exercise in political correctness.
Personal life
Whittaker has been married to American actor Christian Contreras since 2008. Their first child was born in April 2015.
Her nephew Harry Whittaker had Down syndrome and played Leo Goskirk, a character with the same condition, in Emmerdale before his death at the age of three in 2014.