Doctor Who’s Varada Sethu: ‘I knew I got the role in 5 minutes’
Doctor Who returns tonight.
When it comes to sci-fi 32-year-old Varada Sethu has great credentials.
She made an impact in the Star Wars franchise as freedom fighter Cinta Kaz in the critically acclaimed Disney+ spin-off Andor.
In the movie blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion she played a scene opposite her childhood Jurassic Park idols Laura Dern and Sam Neill with a Nasutoceratops thrown in for good measure.
And in season one of the latest Doctor Who reboot the Kerala-born British-Indian actress held her own as an ordained Anglican marine confronting Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor while he balanced precariously on a landmine on an alien planet.
Yet when it came to stepping on set as new Doctor Who companion Belinda Chandra, following in the footsteps of the likes of Billie Piper, Bonnie Langford, Catherine Tate, Elizabeth Sladen, Jenna Coleman, Karen Gillan and most recently Millie Gibson, she admits there were a few anxious moments.
‘I had the weight of 60 years on my shoulders,’ says Varada, ‘so when I was filming the first episode it felt quite overwhelming. I got such an imposter syndrome. But Russell (T Davies, showrunner) was great at texting me almost every other day just to say, “You’re doing great. I saw the rushes. They’re beautiful. I love the scenes.” And he continued to do that till the end of the season, which I thought was so caring.’
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Previous Page Next PagePre-Who, the pair had worked together in 2016 on a BBC adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Sethu played Peaseblossom, one of Titania’s fairies, a role with only a few lines which gave her time to chat with Davies.
Still, she was shocked when seven years later she was offered the role of Flynn and then nine months after that the role of Belinda without even having to audition.
‘For everything else in my whole working life I’ve had to audition except for these two things that just happen to be in one of the biggest franchises in the world,” marvels Sethu.
‘When I got the call from my agent about meeting up with Russell and Jane [Tranter, Executive Producer and co-founder and CEO of Bad Wolf] I was fully prepared to pitch and hype myself up as the new companion. But within five minutes, Russell was so excited he started telling me the story arc of the whole season. Then all I had to do in the meeting was say, ‘Yes.’ Which I did, in the meeting, in the room.’
Did she play it cool and then jump up and down with delight as soon as she was out of sight?
‘I think I might have thrown myself at Russell and Jane giving them a hug,’ she laughs. ‘Then as soon as I rounded the corner, I just did a little silent scream and immediately called my sister and everyone I could.’
Varada is the new companion to Ncuti’s Doctor in Doctor Who (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Lara Cornell)So, who is Belinda Chandra? In the season two trailer she matches The Doctor by enigmatically calling herself The Nurse.
‘Belinda is a nurse on modern-day Earth,’ says Sethu. ‘She is very independent. All she wants is to go back home and back to her life. She is not interested in being swept up in The Doctor’s adventures because it’s mad and it’s not for her. Or she thinks it’s not for her.
‘Obviously, everyone changes their minds about that at some point. One of the things about Belinda that I love is the relationship she has with The Doctor. They are very much equals in the way that healthy, loving relationships are. She is not afraid to hold him accountable.
‘Russell was saying that this might be one of the first companions that The Doctor comes looking for. He has heard her name somewhere, which will also be revealed.’
‘Ncuti’s Dotor has this huge, warm vibrant energy that he brings to set’ (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf) Varada follows Millie Gibson as the Doctor’s new companion (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)As a viewer, growing up in the North East of England in the noughties, it was David Tennant who was the young Varada’s entry point into the whole Whoniverse.
‘David Tennant is the person who is most fixed in my brain about Doctor Who,’ she says. ‘There is just such a manic energy that I loved that you are so drawn to.
‘What I love about Doctor Who generally is that they are this ever shape-shifting character, but I feel like the connecting thread is that they are all a little bit mad.
‘If David Tennant’s Doctor is dark and chaotic, Ncuti’s has this huge, warm vibrant energy that he brings to set. It’s just who he is. He’s got such a presence. When you are working opposite somebody with that kind of an aura you want to match it. It brought out the best in me as an actor.’
Talking on the What Is This Behaviour podcast Sethu, who has ADHD, said that she didn’t think she would have been able to cope emotionally with the pressure if she had been cast in a huge show like Andor or Doctor Who when she was 10 years younger. How has she learned to look after her mental health?
‘When you’re younger, you so want to prove yourself that you don’t want to ask for help or push back against something that you are not comfortable with,’ says Varada. ‘You kind of go along with everything and all this pressure builds up internally.
Doctor Who season 2 episode titles1. The Robot Revolution
2. Lux
3. The Well
4. Lucky Day
5. The Story & The Engine
6. The Interstellar Song Contest
7. Wish World
8. The Reality War
‘The best thing I’ve learned from Doctor Who so far which has bled into my life as well is that the production was always asking me, “How can we make this easier for you?” It trained my brain to ask myself that and to feel more comfortable with giving an answer instead of just saying, “It’s fine. It’s fine. I’ve got a migraine, but I’ll power through this.”‘
Onscreen though as Belinda Chandra it’s all about powering through as she hurtles through space and time, ‘taking the long way home’ as The Doctor describes it.
‘There are new monsters including a creepy cartoon figure Mr Ring-a-Ding voiced by Alan Cumming, a guest appearance by Rylan Clark playing himself and hosting the Interstellar Song Contest (what else?), an episode with deaf actress and Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis which Russell T describes as ‘an astonishing performance of terror, anger and bravery in one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made’, and the return of the mysterious Mrs Flood aka EastEnders legend Anita Dobson.
‘One of my favourite episodes is Lux where we get thrown into 1950s Miami with the cartoon bad guy,’ says Varada. ‘And the Interstellar Song Contest was so much fun. It’s visually stunning and spectacular but there is also a lot of trauma that happens. It’s one of the darker episodes.
‘It was amazing working with Rylan. I had never met him before and the first thing I said to him when he walked into the makeup truck was, “My God, you’re tall!” And he just took it in his stride. We hit it off immediately.’
As Whovians wait with bated breath for the first episode where will Varada be watching it? In a galaxy far, far away?
‘No, I am going to be at my mum’s,’ she says. ‘She is having a couple of friends round, which is very sweet.’
It looks like The Doctor is as good as his word. She has made it home after all.
Credit: Doctor Who returns on 12th April on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and Disney Plus internationally.
