50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

David Oyelowo arrives to the Pioneer of the Year Dinner red carpet during CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev., on March 29, 2017. (Photo by Jason Ogulnik) *** Please Use Credit from Credit Field ***

David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo is a bit of an “It Actor” at the moment, but he totally deserves all the interest and acclaim. He’s super talented, a thoughtful performer and seems like a rather amazing person on top of all that. Oyelowo might be best known for his breakthrough role as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, in the Academy Award-nominated film Selma. But he’s had many great roles over the years in both television and film, including A United Kingdom, Nightingale, Queen of Katwe, MI-5/Spooks, Star Wars Rebels and more. He’s also done a ton of theater work, and even voiced James Bond in audiobooks.

Interestingly, Oyelowo also has absolutely no qualms weighing in on the many representation issues within the entertainment industry. In the past, he commented on everything from Game of Thrones’ lack of diversity to the film industry’s reluctance to hire female directors. (And he puts his money where his mouth is on that latter issue, actively seeking out female directors to work with himself.) He’s the sort of crusader that the Doctor would definitely approve of, so obviously he’d be a perfect choice to play the character.

Oh, and Oyelowo has even previously advocated for casting a woman and/or a person of color as Thirteen. After several years of Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who – which was often brilliant, but plagued by concerns about the way the series’ depicted women – it might not be the worst idea in the world to cast a leading man willing to speak openly about these issues and how the industry could improve.