When David Tennant was three, he told his parents he wanted to grow up to play Doctor Who on TV. As a teen, he held onto that dream: "I was quite weedy and I wore glasses and I had a terrible haircut, so all those things still felt possible in the world of the Doctor. There was something about that character I could be," Tennant tells Sam Briger. He was Doctor Who for five years and, it turns out, he was suited for lots of other characters–including villains and detectives, and the lead in many Shakespeare plays.Later, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new series Dying for Sex, starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. Today's guest, David Tennant, is best known as an actor, but he also has an interview podcast, which is now in its third season. Some of this year's guests include Stanley Tucci, Ben Schwartz, and Rosamund Pike. Tennant spoke with Fresh Air's Sam Brigger. Here's Sam.
Scottish actor David Tennant's list of accomplishments is as long as it has varied. Perhaps best known for playing Doctor Who, he is also considered one of the finest Shakespearean actors of his generation, as you can see now in the film of his Macbeth, which was staged in 2023, with Tennant playing the lead and Cush Jumbo as Lady Macbeth. It's now streaming on Marquee TV.
He is also memorably played Hamlet and Richard II. You probably watched him as the haunted and brooding detective in the British crime drama Broadchurch, and maybe even in the American adaptation called Grace Point, where he plays more or less the same role but with an American accent.
David Tennant has also been his share of screen villains, including real-life serial killer Dennis Nilsen in the miniseries Dez, Kilgrave in the Marvel TV show Jessica Jones, one of the most repugnant characters I have ever seen, as well as the smaller but memorable, lip-licking Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
He also hosted the BAFTA Awards for the past two years, Great Britain's version of the Oscars, this year opening the ceremony singing the song 500 Miles in a bespoke black jacket and kilt suit. And he was hilarious to watch playing a version of himself in the streaming comedy staged with Michael Sheehan, one of the few good things to come out of the COVID pandemic.
David Tennant also has a podcast called David Tennant Does a Podcast With, where you fill in the name of the guest from that episode, often an actor he has worked with. A third season of the podcast released this year, and while we might have said, hey, David Tennant, stay in your lane. There's enough long-format interview shows out there.
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