Christopher Eccleston Rejected A Billy Elliot Role For Being 'Offensive'
Former "Doctor Who" star Christopher Eccleston has revealed that he turned down a chance to star in the 2000 arts-themed drama "Billy Elliot" because the story surrounding his character rubbed him the wrong way.
Eccleston, who played the Ninth Doctor in the "Doctor Who" series in 2005, told The Independent that the "Billy Elliot" role he was considered for — the hard-nosed, working-class father of young Billy (Jamie Bell), an aspiring ballet dancer — was wrought with stereotypes. After all, Eccleston told the publication, he was raised by a forklift truck driver and a cleaner, and his dad and mom — unlike Billy's father in the film — were supportive of his love for the arts. "[I'm] tired of seeing working-class parents portrayed as being vehemently against their kids going into the arts," Eccleston told The Independent. "What was that f****** ballet film everyone went mad for? 'Billy Elliot'? Yeah! I was offered a meeting to play the father. But I said, 'I'm not going to do that, it's offensive.' It was a middle-class view of the working-class experience, made for the American market. F*** it!"
Veteran actor Gary Lewis was eventually cast in the role of Billy's father — simply referred to in the credits as "Dad" — in "Billy Elliot," while the movie served as a springboard for Bell's burgeoning film career. The film landed three Oscar nominations, including best director for Stephen Daldry and best supporting actress for Julie Walters. Ironically, Lee Hall also landed a best original screenplay nomination for the story that Eccleston felt was patronizing of the working class.
Billy Elliot isn't the only project Eccleston has been critical of
Fans who follow Christopher Eccleston's work know that the venerable actor has never been afraid to speak his mind. Regarding one of his most high-profile roles, the actor said in December 2023 that he'd only return to "Doctor Who" if its producers got fired. "The series was a mess, and it wasn't to do with me or [co-star] Billie [Piper]. It was to do with the people who were supposed to make it," Eccleston said in a "Doctor Who" event panel in the UK.
Eccleston is also among the distinct few actors who were absolutely miserable filming the "Thor" movies. The actor — who played Malekith the Accursed in "Thor: The Dark World" — slammed the Marvel Cinematic Universe production for allegedly misleading him about the amount of time he would spend in the makeup chair to become the menacing leader of Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. "What they didn't say was that it'd be seven hours of it, which was very dishonest of them," Eccleston told Metro in 2018. "That was a miserable experience and a dreadful performance."
Luckily, Eccleston said, he enjoyed his time working on the new season of the HBO crime drama "True Detective: Night Country," opposite Jodie Foster. "I'd never have taken such a small part if it wasn't for Jodie," Eccleston told The Independent. "But all my scenes are with her, and she's been a heroine of mine for many years."