The 'Jessica Jones' alum explains that the disabled character portrayed on his BBC series 'There She Goes' is too demanding for a child actor with similar impairments.
- July 9, 2020
AceShowbiz - David Tennant has defended the casting of a child actor without disabilities as a character with severe learning difficulties in his TV comedy "There She Goes".
The former "Doctor Who" star and "Spaced" actress Jessica Hynes play the parents of the child, Rosie, who has a severe learning disability. The show is based on the real life experience of its writers Shaun Pye and Sarah Crawford with their daughter, who was born with an extremely rare chromosomal disorder.
Although the British star thinks disabled actors should be given their chance, he says they explored casting a child actress with disabilities but the role was too demanding for someone so young with similar impairments to Rosie.
"Of course, that's a live issue and one that has to be rightly unpicked," he tells The Guardian of the casting. "Anyone who appreciates the kind of challenges that a child like Rosie would have doesn't doubt that it would not really have been possible."
Instead, 11-year-old Miley Locke was cast, who Tennant says is "an incredible find" and took to the challenging role she plays with sensitivity.
He says she has "an incredible capacity to find the truth of that character" and that "She's also very game - I'm endlessly having to pick her up and fling her about and yank her around."
The second series of "There She Goes" starts on BBC Two on Thursday (09Jul20).
