50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

As Mr. World in American Gods. Photo: Starz

Crispin Glover

Something we often forget – even sometimes as Doctor Who super fans – is that the Doctor is an alien. He’s supposed to be weird. Like, really weird. Uncomfortably so. And definitely not weird in a cute Hot Topic-esque way. He’s not supposed to be exactly relatable. And If you need a go-to person to play weird? Crispin Glover is kind of your guy. While he may have made his name playing Marty McFly’s dad in Back to the Future, his stock in trade is basically playing strange, complicated (sometimes downright creepy) characters.

He’s been in tons of projects, ranging from Alice in Wonderland to The Doors to Charlie’s Angels to Crime and Punishment to Beowulf. So he can obviously play a wide variety of roles. And his version of the Doctor would probably be an utterly bizarre one – in the best kind of way. (After all, George McFly IS kind of a lovable goof, for all that many of Glover’s other roles are varying degrees of disturbing.)

These days, Glover has a fairly significant role in the new Starz series American Gods. (He’s playing Mr. World, who is, unsurprisingly, kind of bizarre.) Given the nature of Glover’s role there, it’s possible he might not have time to take on a role as time intense as the Doctor. But it also sounds like his American Gods part is a bit flexible, so maybe? (It’s really hard to talk about that without spoiling things, so just trust me.) His Thirteen would certainly be something interesting to watch – and definitely never predictable.