This is the age of Brexit and MAGA. Was there a racist, homophobic backlash?
I wouldn’t be the only Black lead that’s taken over a sci-fi franchise that would have received that sort of treatment. Unfortunately, those are voices that exist in sci-fi fandoms—but they’re not the only voices. I just remember feeling a lot of warmth and love, being embraced into a big nerd family. When we’re shooting Doctor Who, there are fans outside the studio or on location every single time, be it at 4 a.m., be it minus-12 degrees. I think that’s beautiful, what the show means to them, so I concentrate on that more than anything. I don’t want to invalidate the very real thing that is racism, homophobia. I don’t act as if they don’t exist or they don’t affect me. They do. But I try to pay it no mind and look at the many, many positives that came from joining the Whoniverse.
