50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

“Doctor Strange”‘s Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton (Photo: Marvel/Marvel Studios)

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton is pretty much already a perfect, otherworldly alien in real life, so why not let her play one on TV? She’s well known for her androgynous look and her chameleon-like ability to morph into almost any sort of role. A tremendous actress, Swinton would be an amazing choice to play the Doctor. Her performance would certainly never be boring, and would likely further highlight the strange, alien nature of the Time Lord.

Swinton is an Oscar-winner (for Michael Clayton) and has played everything from a goth vampire to a glam rock star to an evil sorceress controlling all of Narnia. Most recently, she played the Ancient One, a sort of mystical Yoda to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange in the Marvel film of the same name. And since she shaved her head to play the Ancient One, basically her Doctor could be or look like anything. SO many possibilities.

Former Eighth Doctor Paul McGann is apparently a fan of her taking over as Thirteen. And Swinton is also a current favorite of the London bookies taking odds on the Who casting announcement. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything – bookies will take bets on everything, after all. But it’s still kind of nice to see public sentiment so strongly favor a woman getting the part. And Swinton, to be clear, would be an incredible choice for the Doctor. If the woman can hold her own starring in the most David Bowie-ish music video of all time with David Bowie himself, she can do anything.