David Tennant has candidly expressed his worries about ageing and mortality in light of a significant health revelation.
The Doctor Who legend, who hosted the BAFTAs on Sunday evening, has opened up about his internal struggles with confidence, a battle he has faced even with decades of acting experience under his belt.
Despite an illustrious career beginning at just 16, Tennant admitted to grappling with self-doubt during his recent stint in the West End production of Good, starring alongside acting talents Elliot Levey and Sharon Small.
On Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, Tennant disclosed that there was a time when the enjoyment of acting evaporated, saying that the “demons got so loud” he contemplated leaving theatre behind, Surrey Live reports.
Confronting such challenges, however, he acknowledged can be “exhilarating”.
In response to Fearne querying whether managing insecurities gets “harder as one gets older”, David conceded: “This is what I was beginning to worry about.”
Moreover, Tennant added a thought shared by his fellow actors, revealing: “The three of us, I think, were all pretty much of a mind, myself and Sharon, Elliot, that were in this play with us, we were all of an age, where we were all going ‘have we just gone over the top, have we peaked, does it now just get worse and more difficult.”
Fearne opened up about the confidence and naivety of youth, saying: “You’re not worrying about the pitfalls, you’re just going, the sky is the limit, let’s see where this will take me.”
She reflected on her early career, admitting: “I don’t think I had any anxiety or panic or concern about my ability on camera for a good 15 years.”
Fearne mused that inexperience can be an asset: “It didn’t cross my mind and I could have been absolutely awful but I didn’t care, I think that naivety serves us so well when we’re younger and we get older and start to get the knocks from life, and at work, that dilutes slightly and it’s harder to grab hold of, that solid self-belief seems more brittle.”
Echoing her thoughts, Tennant added: “Yeah, and you’ve got more to lose personally, you’ve got more to lose professionally. And as you do sniff mortality, you don’t want to let it end I suppose, whereas when you’re 20, you’re just going to live forever.”
In other news, Tennant has spoken about his rare physical condition. The Broadchurch actor revealed he was born with an extra sixth toe, a case of polydactyly, telling Metro: “Well, they do now. It’s sort of like a nubbin.”
Such conditions usually involve an extra finger, which makes Tennant’s situation particularly unusual.
Typically, the extra digit is rudimentary, consisting of an end phalanx with a nail, attached to the body by a small piece of skin, and often served by a single neurovascular bundle, without tendon structures.
The Scottish celeb hosted the BAFTA Awards on Sunday evening for the second year running, which aired on the BBC.
Expressing his feelings on the role, he said: “It’s a lovely thing to be asked to do and it’s a huge privilege, and it’s very giddy-making. But I’ve sort of got a bit of a free pass, because nobody expects me to be any good at it.”