New Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa Really Knows How To Keep A Secret
Some people are just better at keeping secrets than others. And as we all know, the more exciting the secret, the harder it is to keep it under a tight lid — so you can imagine how difficult it must have been for actor Ncuti Gatwa to keep it under wraps that he had been cast as the Fourteenth Doctor for the upcoming season of the iconic British sci-fi adventure series "Doctor Who."
The secret is out now, of course, and fans are excited to see what Gatwa does with the role. But custom dictates that the announcement of a new Doctor has to be kept a secret in order to make the reveal as exciting as possible, which meant that he had to keep it to himself for a certain interval — a challenge faced by any actor who gets cast in a famous or otherwise anticipated role.
Some actors have become infamous for their penchant for letting spoilers or other secret details slip in interviews, but according to Simu Liu, Gatwa's friend and co-star in the upcoming "Barbie" feature film, Gatwa takes his secret-keeping responsibilities very seriously.
Gatwa didn't tell any of his Barbie castmates the news
Ncuti Gatwa was working on "Barbie" when he learned that he was going to be the new Doctor, and according to Simu Liu, what followed was an extremely impressive feat of secret-keeping.
"[He] didn't tell anyone a thing," Liu explained (via Variety). "And then all of a sudden over the weekend he was announced. We came to work on Monday we were like 'Dude, how long have you been holding this in for?' And he's like, 'Two months,'" Liu revealed.
Anyone who's ever had to keep a secret knows how hard that must have been, and Liu noted he wouldn't have been able to do it. "I would have combusted," he said.
Liu spoke from experience since his casting as Marvel superhero Shang-Chi was similarly cloaked in secret by the Disney powers that be. However, the actor admits he wasn't as fastidious about keeping it a secret as Gatwa was: "[Marvel chief Kevin Feige] was like, 'We're gonna fly you to Comic Con in San Diego in four days, just keep your mouth shut until then. We want to be able to surprise the whole world... don't tell your parents, don't tell your friends. Don't tell anyone,'" Liu recalled. "I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' And then I immediately called my best friend. It's too big of news to keep with you."
Gatwa wasn't there to confirm or deny whether he truly kept the news to himself, but we at least know that he kept all his "Barbie" co-stars out of the loop — which must have been hard enough on its own.