Jodie Whittaker is being paid "no less" than any of her 'Doctor Who' predecessors.
Jodie Whittaker
The 'Broadchurch' star will make her debut as the Thirteenth Doctor - the first-ever female Time Lord - in the BBC sci-fi show's new series next month, and the 36-year-old actress has been told she isn't taking home a reduced salary compared to any of the former male Doctors.
She said: "I absolutely know I am not being paid less than any other Doctor.
"It is not the show to set that standard.
"This show is not the show that's going to do that, and then have that [pay] revelation be the sidebar. It isn't. Thank God.
"So that's not going to have to fall on an awkward press conference.
"But am I aware of that [issue]? Yeah."
Show runner Chris Chibnall added: "But also, so is everyone. So that's not just Jodie's responsibility."
Jodie is "incredibly excited" to be a part of a "moment of change" by playing the type of role that hasn't always been widely open to actresses in the past.
She added: "When I was growing up those characters didn't look like us doing those things.
"Those were the white guys running about saving the day, doing really cool stuff, and if you were lucky, when I was a kid, you may be clapped at the side and may be passed something to help the really heroic moment happen.
"So to be in the moment of change for that is incredibly exciting, particularly because it's in a world where it's absolutely true of this character."
But Chris recently revealed the new series will barely address the Time Lord's change of gender.
He said: "The gender issue is pretty by-passed. It's not really a kind of a gender-related story or anything like that.
"The first story is much more a story of survival for the new Doc.
"The last we saw of her she was falling through the air above planet Earth so it's less about gender and more about: 'How am I going to get out of this?' "
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