FIVE QUESTIONS WITH
American stage and screen actor Jonathan Groff made his name as the star of Hamilton, Frozen, Mindhunter and Glee — but now he’s about to enter a different universe (or Whoniverse) as a mysterious character called Rogue in Doctor Who. In a break from the Regency dancefloor, RT caught up with Groff to find out why he chose Who as his first foray into British TV.
Jonathan, what made you switch from Broadway to south Wales?
I was familiar with Russell T Davies’s work from Queer as Folk and It’s a Sin. I’m still crying about It’s a Sin years after watching it. Russell has meant a lot to me as a gay actor through the years. So, when he wrote me a letter to invite me on the show, that drew me into it. When I read the script, I hadn’t yet seen an episode of Doctor Who and I had never shot anything in the UK. But the script really grabbed me. I was quite breathless reading it. I’ve been getting an education on Doctor Who ever since.
As part of your homework, you watched six specific episodes from the show’s 60-year history, including the very first one from 1963. Which were the others?
I can’t tell you! But even in that first episode in 1963, there was something that felt alternative or queer about it to me. I was surprised in the other five episodes how much I was crying.
I thought it was a sci-fi show, which of course it is, but I didn’t anticipate how human and moving it also is.
How are you enjoying the Jane Austen trousers?
For this particular episode, we’re in a kind of Regency period, and that’s why I’m dressed thi
