When Doctor Who grew its beard moustache
When Doctor Who grew its beard moustache
The youthful new stars of Doctor Who – Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson – hit it off so well that they even talk in sync – but do they tell each other everything?
In amongst the exciting teasers and promo tidbits ahead of the new season, for some reason I find this deep cut of production lore one of the most entertaining:
Ncuti Gatwa was adamant that he grow his moustache back for the part of the Doctor, having shaved for years to play a teenager in Sex education. But there was a short overlap where he was filming both shows simultaneously — so he would have to be cleanshaven for the first shoots of Doctor Who, too. Barring the weird Henry Cavill CGI upper lip retouch, how would the crew solve this?
"Bella [Arghiros], my make-up artist, would present me with a little bag of pubes every morning," he explains. He doesn’t mean this literally, but he and Gibson are now laughing so much they can barely get the words out. "I went through the process of sticking them on for two months," he says.
"Trimming them," whoops Gibson. "Between every take," adds Gatwa. "As they flap off in the wind. I’m chasing a monster and the director says, 'We’ll have to go again because his moustache is half off.' So when it grew back, I felt very liberated."
The actors' giddiness goes a long way selling this anecdote... If the new season is half as fun as they seem to have had making it, it'll be [Eccleston impersonation] fantastic!
Bella [Arghiros], my make-up artist, would present me with a little bag of pubes every morning
A trick she learned during her time working for Clarence Thomas