Mandip Gill claims she has faced bias in her career because she if from the North of England.
The ‘Doctor Who’ star, who hails from Leeds, claims that her accent has counted against her at numerous auditions and has been a bigger barrier to success than her Asian ethnicity or gender.
Mandip told the Rule Not The Exception podcast: "I think what I’ve struggled (with) – more than being Asian and being a woman, because they’re difficult in themselves – is being Northern."
The 32-year-old actress, who plays the Doctor’s sidekick Yasmin Khan in the BBC One sci-fi show, revealed that her accent "ruined" many auditions early in her acting career.
Mandip explained: "As soon as I opened my mouth the amount of times people have gone, ‘Oh God, you’re Northern’. That sort of ruined it for them. I can do the accent but because I’m not from (London) you’re seen as a liability."
Mandip also opened up about the ‘Doctor Who’ cast ensures they get the same pay by discussing wages and praised Jodie Whittaker, who plays the Time Lord, for speaking to bosses on behalf of other actors "when things aren’t right".
Meanwhile, Mandip recently revealed that the Dregs have been the "scariest" villains she has faced in the show so far and were made even more terrifying as they were "actually there" on set.
She said: "The scariest monster so far that I’ve had to face, I think, would have to be the Dregs that were in last week’s episode…
"Being up against 7-foot monsters that were actually there. The thing about these monsters is that they were actually there, we didn’t have to use our imagination.
"And Spencer, who plays one of the Dregs, really got into character and used to chase us, so I’d have to say the Dregs."
Mandip Gill has faced bias because she is Northern
