‘Doctor Who’ actor had big Netflix cameo axed from final cut
David Benioff, D. B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, the creators behind the Netflix show 3 Body Problem, have discussed their success in a new interview and revealed that a star famed for their past role as the British sci-fi hero Doctor Who was cut from the show.
Although 3 Body Problem is an American sci-fi show, it has plenty of connections to the UK, including several British cast members. The star-studded cast includes Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, Jonathan Pryce and Game of Thrones star John Bradley. British television actors Mark Gatiss and Phil Wang also appeared in the series, among others.
According to the creators, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, a famous actor famed for their past role as Doctor Who was also invited to take on a cameo role in 3 Body Problem. Although the shoot went ahead, the actor’s scene failed to make the final cut.
Woo revealed that there were several scenes that had to be “set aside” from the final cut due to superfluity and tight runtime restrictions. “There was another sequence that was really fun and played really well and would have been a fantastic cameo appearance for an actor that I don’t want to name —because I don’t want to make someone feel bad for being cut out of the show,” he said.
Though he could not reveal the actor’s identity, he suggested it was someone along the lines of David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Christopher Eccleston. “However, it is a former Doctor Who, I’ll say that much,” Woo added. “Fans of that would probably would have found it delightful. But for the sake of the rest of the episode, we had to set it aside.”
Weiss joked, “Jon Pertwee – 124 years old and still showed up.” Pertwee, born in 1919, was the third actor to portray Doctor Who, appearing in episodes between 1970 and ’74. He passed away in 1996 aged 1996.
Despite being highly experienced showrunners and directors with several high-profile titles under their belts, Benioff, Weiss and Woo revealed they were “terrified” when approaching an adaptation of Cixin Liu’s beloved sci-fi novel. “The feeling that it may be too much was familiar for us,” Weiss said. “It was what we felt with [Game of] Thrones, in conjunction with a tremendous amount of excitement over the possibilities of where it could go if we could get it off the ground.”
In a separate conversation with Empire, Weiss elaborated on the nervy project. “It was the terror of the magnitude of what was in front of us. If you’re not afraid, you’re doing something wrong,” he noted.
The creators revealed that the show would likely run for another two series, wrapping up on the third in a few years’ time. “Honestly, the ending of the third book is one of my favourite endings of any giant saga of all time, so we want to get there,” Benioff beamed. “The hardest thing is always the first season. Can we justify the big investment from Netflix? I feel like this will grow as it grows. I’m hopeful.”