Pearl Mackie, who plays Bill Potts in the upcoming series of Doctor Who, says the fact that her character is openly gay “shouldn’t be a big deal in the 21st century. It’s about time, isn’t it?”
The 29-year-old actress from London will be seen as the Doctor’s new companion in the new series of the sci-fi classic when it returns on April 15 and she told the BBC that Potts’ sexuality was important to represent onscreen, but was not her defining characteristic.
“That representation is important, especially on a mainstream show,” she said. “It’s important to say people are gay, people are black - there are also aliens in the world, so watch out for them.”
There have been gay characters in Doctor Who over the years but none of them has played the coveted role of the Doctor's full-time companion.
“I remember watching TV as a young, mixed-race girl, not seeing many people who looked like me, so I think being able to visually recognise yourself on screen is important,” Mackie said.
“[Being gay] is not the main thing that defines her character - it’s something that’s part of her and something that she’s very happy and very comfortable with.”
Mackie said that since she was revealed as the Doctor’s new companion last year, her life has been “kind of insane”.
AAARGHGH JUST SAW THE DOCTOR WHO TRAILER ON TV FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! 💥🔥💥🔥💥🔥👩🏾🚀👩🏾🚀👩🏾🚀👩🏾🚀SO GASSED!
— Pearl Mackie (@Pearlie_mack) March 30, 2017
“My Twitter follower count went from 400-and-something to 16,500 in about two hours, so that was pretty mental. But it’s been really nice, everyone seems to be really excited. It’s sort of like being welcomed into a family and all the fans have been really welcoming,” she said.
“It’s an amazing platform for me and it opens a lot of doors that wouldn’t necessarily have been open before, it’s very exciting.”
