Alan Cumming was offered the titular role in ‘Doctor Who’ twice – but turned it down because he didn’t want to spend eight months in Cardiff.
The 52-year-old actor has revealed he was lucky enough to be offered the coveted role of the time-travelling Doctor on two occasions – once when Russell T. Davies was running the show between 2005 and 2010, and once in recent years under the management of Steven Moffat – but says he "blew" his chances because he refused to spend time in the Welsh city.
Speaking about the first time he was approached about the role, he said: "[They said] ‘You’ll have to come back to Britain.’ I said, ‘Sure, I still have a flat in London, it’d be perfect.’ Then he said, ‘It’s eight months of the year in Cardiff’, and I said, ‘What?’ And I think that might have been what blew it. Nothing against Cardiff, but …"
And ‘The Good Wife’ star admits writer Mark Gatiss had the same problem in trying to get Alan on board when he approached the actor more recently.
Speaking at Listowel Writer’s Week in Ireland, Alan said: "He had heard of this [previous discussion], and he said, ‘Would you like to be Doctor Who now?’ I said, ‘Fine, I’d love to, but they [previously] told me I’d have to go to Cardiff for eight months of the year’, and he said, ‘Oh no, you’d still have to do that.’
"I’d do anything for Doctor Who, but I won’t do that."
The news comes as the popular BBC sci-fi show is currently on the hunt for a new face of the famous Time Lord, as current actor Peter Capaldi will be making his final appearance on the show with this year’s Christmas special.
This year also sees the last episodes with Steven Moffat as the showrunner, as ‘Broadchurch’ creator and former ‘Doctor Who’ writer Chris Chibnall will be taking the reins after the current series has aired.
Alan Cumming shunned Doctor Who role twice
