8 Famous Actors Who Were Almost In Doctor Who

2. Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet once released a song (no, seriously!) called 'What If' in which she basically sings about how different her life would've been if she hadn't let her soulmate go. If you haven't heard it, stop what you're doing right now and give your ears a treat. While it's just yet another generic love song (because apparently the world doesn't have more than enough of those already!), it's slightly more interesting when it's interpreted to mean that she's actually singing about... yep, you guessed it. The Doctor! The Oscar winning star name was one of the first actresses to be offered the role of River Song ahead of the character's initial debut in the Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead two-parter. She ultimately turned it down, of course, for reasons that have remained unknown, but since her agent seems to have a problem with her committing to big franchises (she later rejected the part of Helena Ravenclaw in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2), it probably had something to do with that. Maybe it's a good thing she turned it down, since she definitely wouldn't have had the time to commit to River's subsequent returns, thhough that would've saved the rest of us some timey-wimey headaches for sure!
Doctor Who Editor
Doctor Who Editor

Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.