Jodie Whittaker

Jodie Whittaker (born 17 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 (2011), the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You" (2011), and as grieving mother Beth Latimer in Broadchurch.

Jodie Whittaker
Whittaker at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1982-06-17) 17 June 1982 Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present
Spouse(s)	Christian Contreras ( m. 2008)
Children	1

On 16 July 2017, the BBC announced that Whittaker would become the thirteenth and first female incarnation of The Doctor[1] in the British TV series Doctor Who. She formally assumed the role from Peter Capaldi in the 2017 Christmas special episode "Twice Upon a Time" when Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor regenerated into Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. Whittaker appeared in her first full series as The Doctor in the eleventh series, which premiered in October 2018. She continued in the role in the twelfth series in 2020. Whittaker later announced that she would reprise her role as The Doctor into its thirteenth series.[2]

Early life

Jodie Whittaker[3] was born on 17 June 1982[3] in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire. She attended Scissett Middle School and Shelley High School before training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2005 with an acting Gold Medal.[4]

Career

Early career

Whittaker made her professional debut in The Storm at Shakespeare's Globe in 2005.[4] 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[5] 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,[6] and the short film Wish 143,[7] which was nominated for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.[8]

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.

Whittaker appeared in the drama Broadchurch, the reality-based spy drama miniseries The Assets, and the four-part BBC One medical drama Trust Me.[9]

Doctor Who

On 16 July 2017, Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who; she is the first woman to play the title role.[10][11][12] She had previously worked with incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall on Broadchurch.[13] 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.[13] Whittaker kept her mother in "the inner circle" regarding knowledge of the role, as her father, Adrian, "would have the ability to tell the world".[14]

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."[13] Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice.[15]

Reaction to Whittaker's casting was mostly positive, although a "sizeable minority" was unhappy.[16] Some said that a female Doctor would be a good role model for young girls, while others felt the Doctor was only ever meant to be male, or criticised the casting as an exercise in political correctness.[17][18] Whittaker debuted in the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time".[19][20]

In November 2018, BBC confirmed that the twelfth series, Whittaker's second series, began production in November 2018,[21][22] debuting in January 2020.[23]

Personal life

Whittaker met American actor and writer Christian Contreras in drama school, and had a "big wedding" in Arizona in 2008.[24] Whittaker gave birth to their daughter in April 2015.[25]

Whittaker is a feminist[26] and lives in London.[1] She is a fan of British rock band Coldplay,[27] and listened to their song "Yellow" as she backpacked around the world when she was 18.[28]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Venus	Jessie[29]	Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated—London Critics Circle Film Award for British Newcomer of the Year Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
2007	St Trinian's	Beverly[29][30]
2008	Good	Anne Hartman[29]
2009	White Wedding	Rose[31]
	Swansong: Story of Occi Byrne	Bridget Byrne[29]
	Roar	Eva[31]	Short film
	Perrier's Bounty	Brenda[29]
	Wish 143	Maggie[7]	Short film
	St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold	Beverly[29][30]
2010	The Kid	Jackie[29]
	Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World	Noreen Stokes[29]
2011	Attack the Block	Samantha Adams[30]	Nominated—Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble (shared with the cast)
	One Day	Tilly[29]
	A Thousand Kisses Deep	Mia Selva[29]	Also video operator
2012	Good Vibrations	Ruth[29]
	Ashes	Ruth[32][33]
	Dust	Jessica's Mum[34]	Short film
	Smoke	[35]	Short film
2013	Hello Carter	Jenny[29]
	Spike Island	Suzanne[29]
2014	Get Santa	Alison[29]
	Emotional Fusebox	Anna[29]	Short film
	Black Sea	Chrissy[29]
2016	Adult Life Skills	Anna[29]	Also executive producer Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Actress Nominated—National Film Award (UK) for Best Actress[36] Nominated—National Film Award (UK) for Best Breakthrough Performance in a Film
2017	Journeyman	Emma[31]	Nominated—Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Actress[37]
2019	Rachel	Rachel	Short film[38]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Afternoon Play	Sam[39]	Episode: "The Last Will and Testament of Billy Two-Sheds" Won—RTS Television Award for Best Actress
	Doctors	Louise Clancy[31]	Episode: "Ignorance Is Bliss"
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Kirsty Richards[31]	2 episodes
2007	This Life + 10	Clare[31]	Television film
2008	Tess of the D'Urbervilles	Izzy Huett[29]	Miniseries
	Wired	Louise Evans[29]	Miniseries
	The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall	Sophie[29]	Television film
	Consuming Passion	Mary Boon[29]	Television film
2009	Return to Cranford	Peggy Bell	Miniseries
2010	Accused	Emma Croft[31]	Episode: "Liam's Story"
	Royal Wedding	Linda Caddock[29]	Television film
2011	Marchlands	Ruth Bowen[31]	5 episodes
	Black Mirror	Ffion[30]	Episode: "The Entire History of You"
	The Night Watch	Vivian Pearce[29]	Television film
2013–2017	Broadchurch	Beth Latimer[29][30]	24 episodes Nominated—Crime Thriller Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—RTS Television Award for Best Actress
2014	The Assets	Sandra Grimes[31]	8 episodes
	The Smoke	Trish Tooley[31]	8 episodes
2017	Trust Me	Cath Hardacre/Dr Ally Sutton[31]	4 episodes
2017–present	Doctor Who	Thirteenth Doctor[30]	Debut in "Twice Upon a Time", Series 11, Series 12 Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Series, Drama/Genre Nominated—National Television Award for Drama Performance Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television Nominated—BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress Nominated—TV Quick Award for Best Actress
2019	Got it Covered	Herself	BBC Children in Need special
2019	A Question of Sport at 50	Narrator	Documentary

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The Storm	Ampelisca[40]	Shakespeare's Globe
2006	Enemies	Nadya[31]	Almeida Theatre Nominated—Ian Charleson Award[41]
2007	A Gaggle of Saints	Sue[42]	Trafalgar Studios
	Awake and Sing![31]	Hennie Berger	Almeida Theatre
2012	Antigone	Antigone[31]	National Theatre[43]

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Blinded by the Sun	[44]	BBC Radio 4
	Unseen Austen	Lydia Bennett[45]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Doctor Who: The Runaway	The Doctor (voice)	Virtual Reality game by BBC[46]
2019	Doctor Who: The Edge of Time	The Doctor (voice)	Virtual Reality game by Maze Theory[47]

Music

Year	Title	Album/Project	Notes
2019	Yellow	Children in Need: Got It Covered	Single (#5 on the Official Big Top 40)

References

1. Iley, Chrissy (18 March 2018). "Exclusive interview: Jodie Whittaker on being the first woman to play Doctor Who". The Times. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
2. Collis, Clark (22 January 2020). "Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker will play time traveler for at least one more season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
3. "Today in Entertainment History". Associated Press. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
4. "Jodie Whittaker: Rise of a venus with her feet on the ground". The Yorkshire Post. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
5. "Radio 4 – The Saturday Play". BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
6. Leigh Holmwood (11 September 2009). "New BBC drama set to recall 1981 royal wedding | Media". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
7. ""Wish 143" Review". The Independent Critic. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
8. "Leyland's Tom Bidwell up for an Oscar for Wish 143". BBC. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
9. "Dan Sefton's new psychological thriller starring Jodie Whittaker". BBC Media Centre. 26 July 2017.
10. "Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker is to replace Peter Capaldi in the Time Lord regeneration game". The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
11. "The next Doctor Who has been announced". The Independent. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
12. "Doctor Who's 13th Time Lord to be a woman". BBC. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
13. "Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker becomes 13th Time Lord, urging fans 'not to be scared by my gender'". The Telegraph. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
14. "More heroic?!": Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker on her not-so-epic poster poses & becoming The Doctor, retrieved 2 January 2020
15. Tartaglione, Nancy (16 July 2017). "'Doctor Who': Jodie Whittaker Revealed As 13th Time Lord, First Female In Role". Deadline Hollywood.
16. "How Jodie Whittaker 'missed' fan reactions to Doctor Who role". BBC News. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
17. "Doctor Who: Fans react to Jodie Whittaker casting". BBC News. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
18. Sturgis, India (17 July 2017). "The good, bad and ugly responses to Jodie Whittaker as the new Dr Who". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
19. "Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker is to replace Peter Capaldi in the Time Lord regeneration game". The Telegraph. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
20. "BBC - The Doctors will return at Christmas - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
21. Royce, Jordan. "DOCTOR WHO: BBC Confirm Series 12 to Broadcast in 2019". Starburst Magazine. Starburst Publishing Limited. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
22. Jeffrey, Morgan (7 December 2018). "Jodie Whittaker confirms she'll be back for Doctor Who series 12". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
23. https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-01-01/doctor-who-season-12/
24. "Jodie Whittaker: 'I work a lot and no one knows who I am'". The Independent. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
25. Smith, Riess (27 February 2017). "Broadchurch cast: Who is Jodie Whittaker? Life, career, husband and more". Daily Express. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
26. McEwan, Cameron (16 July 2017). "The Thirteenth Doctor interview". doctorwho.tv.
27. "BBC One - The Graham Norton Show, Series 26, Episode 10, Jodie Whittaker surprised with Silver Disc for Coldplay's Yellow cover". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
28. BBC Children in Need - 2019: Got it Covered, retrieved 7 January 2020
29. "Jodie Whittaker". British Film Institute. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
30. Burt, Kayti. "Doctor Who: 5 Jodie Whittaker Roles to Check Out". Den of Geek. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
31. "Jodie Whittaker". Independent Talent. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
32. "Ashes". 19 May 2014.
33. Pike, Rebecca. "Ashes - Review". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
34. Jake Russell (16 July 2014). "DUST - Short film starring Alan Rickman & Jodie Whittaker" – via YouTube.
35. A Tentative LGBT Love Story Starring Jodie Whittaker (Queer Short Film) [2012]. YouTube. Tall Tales. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
36. "National Film Awards UK announce 2017 nominations - Camdenmonthly".
37. "Evening Standard Nomination". Standard.co.uk. 15 December 2017 – via standard.co.uk.
38. "shorts". Fiona Brands. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
39. "The Last Will and Testament of Billy Two-sheds (2006)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
40. Oswald, Peter (2005). The Storm Or, the Howler (after Plautus). Oberon Books. p. 6. ISBN 9781849438506.
41. WestEndTheatre. "Ian Charleson Awards 2006". London theatre tickets. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
42. Spencer, Charles (12 January 2007). "Chilling glimpses of nastiness". Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
43. "Antigone: Family versus State". National Theatre. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
44. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Characters and Cast". BBC. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
45. "Unseen Austen". BBC. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
46. "BBC launches Doctor Who VR experience". digitaltveurope.com. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
47. "Maze Theory Developing DW: The Edge of Time". Retrieved 22 August 2019.

External links

• Jodie Whittaker on IMDb 
• Jodie Whittaker at the British Film Institute