‘Doctor Who’s Varada Sethu Discusses Her “Compassionate” Companion and Teases ‘Andor’ Season 2

Doctor Who is officially back for a new season, and with it comes a brand new companion. In Season 2’s first episode, we meet Varada Sethu‘s Belinda Chandra, a nurse who’s suddenly kidnapped and taken on a journey across the stars. After her first adventure with the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), unlike past companions, Belinda is ready to go back home rather than setting out on a new life in the TARDIS. However, a mysterious force is stopping she and the Doctor from returning to the day she left Earth, causing them to have to take “the long way round” to get back home.

I recently sat down with Sethu to discuss her first episode of Doctor Who and what we can expect from Belinda this season. During our conversation, she spoke about what she’s most proud of from her time on the show, how she put a lot of herself into the character, and what surprised her most about this companion. She also teased the season’s big mystery and next week’s episode, which sees Belinda and the Doctor getting animated. We also discussed what to expect from Andor Season 2 and which established universe she wants to join next.

Family Is a “Driving Factor” For ‘Doctor Who’s Newest Companion

“I think she’s a very family-oriented person, and she wants to go back to that life.”

COLLIDER: Pretty early on in this episode, when the robots show up to first take Belinda, a picture falls off her nightstand that’s possibly a mother or another relative, and then later, we learn that Mundy is her descendant. With the Doctor and Belinda unable to get back to Earth, what kind of role does her family play in this season?

VARADA SETHU: Oh, that’s a very good question. Family is very, very important to her, and it’s the driving factor for wanting to go back. Something that’s in the trailer is that she says, “My mom and dad are down there. I want to go back.” So, I think she’s a very family-oriented person, and she wants to go back to that life. They’re a huge part of her world, and she wants to go back to her world.

I love that. Playing a one-episode character and then becoming a companion is kind of a time-honored tradition in Doctor Who, but it’s rarely been acknowledged within the series as well. You do such a good job of differentiating the character you first played, and now Belinda is so very separate from her. How did you go about defining her as a character while also keeping that tether of them being related?

SETHU: I think the writing lends itself to their similarities. So, the fact that they’re both very independent women who’ve got their own value system and they’re not afraid to stand up to the Doctor and they’re not afraid of confronting him. I think those things are inherently in the script, but I feel like what I did differently, the biggest difference, is that I had a lot more time to prepare for Mundy than I did for Belinda, so I had a bit more of a sense of separateness, even just how I how I brought Mundy to life. She’s this person in the army, they’ve had a very, you can assume, strict upbringing that’s different to Belinda. Belinda’s family upbringing is warm; there’s a lot of love. That’s what draws her back to wanting to go back to Earth. She comes from a very caring place. I think they are both very caring. Mundy’s got Splice that she’s attached to. But the way I prepped for them felt very different. There’s a huge part of me in Belinda, so I think that in itself just made her a lot more different from Mundy.

One of my favorite moments in this first episode is when she’s like, “Why is everything on this planet so stupid?” While you were filming, was there a particular moment where you felt like you really had the character, and you were like, “Okay, I’ve got it. I know who she is?”

SETHU: I won’t lie, for that episode, the whole thing for me was, “I am just winging it. I’m just winging it. I’m taking it day by day.” So, for that episode, I didn’t have it so much. I feel like it came to me more in the second episode. I feel like I had actually more days on set with Ncuti [Gatwa], as well, so I had not only a grip on the character, and she felt a little bit more settled in my skin, it was also that I had somebody else’s hand to hold, so that kind of stabilized me in terms of finding the narrative, the plot, and the strength that comes from Belinda. But, yeah, in the first episode, there wasn’t a lot of, “I found her.” “Why is everything on this planet so stupid?” could be translated in my head to, “Why is everything so scary?” [Laughs]

That works really well for the episode, too, because she’s sort of into the deep end, as well.

SETHU: Exactly, exactly.

‘Doctor Who’ Is About To Get Animated

“We spent the morning in the green room or on the makeup truck watching Scooby-Doo cartoons.”

We see that Mrs. Flood is also her neighbor, as well as Ruby’s, in this one. I know you can’t talk much, but can you tease anything about what to expect from that little throughline?

SETHU: Well, she’s just an interesting recurring person. It’s all breadcrumbs. She’s one of the many breadcrumbs that leads to the big… I don’t want to say anything else! [Laughs]

That’s great. I love the layers of Belinda. She’s very beautifully confrontational, but she’s also very self-sacrificing, as well. I feel like we have a pretty good idea of who she is from this episode. Is there a moment this season that surprised you in terms of how she reacts?

SETHU: That’s a very good question. There were moments that surprised me because I just thought, “Wow, this is a very, very compassionate woman, and a lot more forgiving than maybe I would be or that the average person would be.” She’s confronted with danger and people who want to kill her frequently, but she just goes about, tackling the situation with such bravery and also just so much compassion. If there’s a moment that she can find the person that she’s up against has any kind of vulnerability, and that mask slips a little bit, she takes that moment to connect with them. That could be the Doctor, or that could be someone that she’s talking to. I think that’s just such an amazing skill to have, and I think that probably comes from her work, from her job, because she’s always having to deal with people who are hurt. Whether it’s emotionally or physically, people react in very strange ways, and she’s probably seen it all. So, her job is to care for people, and I think that comes from a very innate place in her. So, it surprises me because I think my natural reaction might have been to pull away or to run away, but she leans in, and she extends a hand. So, what always surprises me about Belinda is the strength, but the warmth that comes with that.

I love that. I’m really excited to see more of her. Speaking of things I’m excited for, I’m very excited for the next episode where you guys end up animated. Can you tease anything about that episode and how it felt different doing voice work for your character rather than live-action?

SETHU: Well, it actually did involve some live-action. We shot that scene in costume. We were fully dressed, and I remember looking at it on the call sheet, as well, on the day, and I was like, “But I thought that was animated.” And then we recorded the whole thing in front of, like, I can’t remember if it was a green screen or what, but we filmed the whole sequence of us. When we were told that they were going to film us and then they were going to animate it based on what we did on the day, like our gestures, we spent the morning in the green room or on the makeup truck watching Scooby-Doo cartoons because it’s such a specific era of cartoons that they were referencing and we wanted to get that quality. We wanted that to come across in our gestures. That meant when we did the voiceover stuff again afterwards, it came very naturally, and it’s a slightly heightened, fun way of acting. We had we had such a great time.

That’s wonderful. I’m really excited about that. The layers of filmmaking for that episode sound really fun.

SETHU: Oh, it was so much fun!

‘Doctor Who’s Varada Sethu Reveals What’s On Her TARDIS Jukebox

“I’d have to have a Beyoncé album.”

This show lets you really play with so many genres and challenges you to have such a range of emotions. Is there a particular scene or episode where you accomplished something that you had never done before as an actor this season?

SETHU: Oh, that’s a very good question. When you said the word “challenge,” to me, Episode 1 felt like the biggest challenge because what I learned as an actor from doing that episode was just so invaluable. It was this sense of, “I’m undertaking this massive show with such a long legacy. How do I step into this role and this world without letting that weight crush me? And for it to be something that I can hold and it’s precious to me, but not affect my performance?” So I think in a way, the whole season was something that I’m so proud of that I achieved as an actor, because I can’t believe I carried the show as a lead. It’s such a massive show that’s got such a massive following, and you want to do people proud. So, I think it might just be the whole season, but that first episode. Particularly, really, once I broke the back of that, everything became easier. Also, just being around Ncuti, he’s just got such a gorgeous energy and warm energy that you kind of melt into it and it’s fine.

One of my favorite details about his TARDIS is that there’s a jukebox. Which albums would you want to have on that jukebox?

SETHU: Oh, how many am I allowed?

Let’s say three.

SETHU: Oh my god, this is a tough one. I’d have to have a Beyoncé album. Beyoncé’s B’Day. Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction. That’s my favorite.

I love it. Excellent choice.

SETHU: And then the third one has to be something a bit more relaxing. Maybe Enya.

I love it. You’ve got a nice range. You’ve covered the range.This show has one of the best wardrobe departments on television right now. What’s your favorite costume that you got to wear this season?

SETHU: I loved my yellow dress, the 1950s one. I loved it, but in some ways, it was also kind of the bane of my life because of the way it was structured. It was a halter neck, and it pulled down on my neck, so between the takes, I would have to undo it. It’s actually a heavy dress, so between takes I’d have to undo it and then do it up, but, oh, I loved it. I couldn’t stop spinning in it. It was that skirt. I felt fabulous. And having the hair and the makeup, especially because of the episode just before that, I spent the entirety of it in Belinda’s pajamas. It was such a transformation to come out and to have a red lip and 1950s hair and a dress that you can spin around in.

Varada Sethu Says ‘Andor’ Season 2 Makes the Rest of the Star Wars Universe Even Better

“We know what happens in the end in Rogue One to all of them, and you’re still so on board.”

That’s so fun. While I have you here, Belinda may be new to the TARDIS, but you’re no stranger to sci-fi. You’re also in the Star Wars universe with Andor. Can you tease anything about Cinta and Vel in Season 2? Are they going to break our hearts?

SETHU: [Laughs] I don’t want to say anything! I can’t say anything.

In a broad sense, what are you excited about for Season 2?

SETHU: In a broad sense, I am just so excited to see the show and how it plays out, because the writing is so good. It’s so, so good. It’s so clever, so layered, it’s so complex. I love the tone. I love all of the Easter eggs. I love that it’s this show that’s been created retrospectively. How often does that happen when something that’s set chronologically in a different time make the rest of it even better? We know what happens in the end in Rogue One to all of them, and you’re still so on board. Oh, it’s such a beautiful show. I love it so much. I’ve also get a very, very cool stunt in it, and I can’t wait for people to see that.

Exciting! And lastly, you’ve done so many cool things now with Doctor Who and Star Wars. You’ve even been in Jurassic World. If you could jump into any established universe, which one would you choose?

SETHU: X-Men!

New episodes of Doctor Who will arrive on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer every Saturday.

Doctor Who

Release Date

December 25, 2023

Network

BBC

Directors

Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie

Franchise(s)

Doctor Who