Doctor Who fans love the Doctor with a unique intensity -- just ask David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor over the course of three seasons and various specials. In an interview on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Tennant was asked about his "craziest fan encounter," and the actor was quick to compliment fans' enthusiasm for the show before sharing the super awkward place he had been asked for an autograph.
Yeah, people do get a bit overexcited, of course. Because, you know, people asking for an autograph in the shower at the gym...that's quite weird.
James Corden then jestingly claimed to be the shower fan in the Late Late Show interview, and we didn't get to hear any other potentially lurid details. It's probably for the better, though we would accept knowing if either Tennant or said fan was using a TARDIS towel in the shower.
To be fair, pop culture fans of any sort can get "overexcited" when they encounter the star at the center of their excitement. Weirdness itself knows no particular fandom, so it embraces all of them. Nevertheless, as David Tennant pointed out, sci-fi diehards do tend to get the worst of it when it comes to fan-directed criticisms. As he put it to James Corden:
I think sci-fi fans get a bad rap. Of all the things that can be your hobby and your passion, what a lovely thing to have.
David Tennant is not alone in having experienced his share of awkward fan encounters. Game of Thrones star Lena Headey discussed a particularly harrowing fan moment last year that tied back to her shame walk. Then there are the violent fan encounters, as it went when Arrow's Stephen Amell was at the receiving end of one fan's headbutt. You see, being an actor is not always filled with the glitz and glamour people imagine it to be. Though fans' interactions with their favorite stars can lead to awkward moments, there can also be beautiful ones.
After the death of another British actor famous for an oft-recast franchise role, James Bond's Roger Moore, a fan shared their amazing experience in meeting and getting an autograph from the screen legend. Speaking of Moore, let's not forget that actors never really know who the fans asking for autographs may turn out to be someday. Future James Bond Pierce Brosnan was just 12 years old when he stood in an autograph line to meet Moore many years ago. Plus, David Tennant has shared stories about on one fateful day in the 1970s, former Doctor Who star Tom Baker was signing books in London, and Tennant was waiting in the same line fellow future Who icon Steven Moffat, while Peter Capaldi arrived too late to get his book signed.
As witnessed there and in other stories, Doctor Who's stars have a reputation for embracing the fans that keep the show going. When Peter Capaldi signed off as the Twelfth Doctor, he sent a note to a 9-year-old fan of the show to help them cope with the Doctor's then-impending transformation. Because when actors go out of their way for fans, it just makes them even more beloved, which sometimes leads to bigger and weirder fan encounters. It is as give and take as trying to save the universe.
For more of James Corden's hilarious interviews, check out The Late Late Show when it airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. ET on CBS. If you want to check out David Tennant's run on Doctor Who, we have good news for you. Amazon Prime is currently streaming many of the fan favorite's specials, as well as several seasons of the series. For more on what's coming up on the streamer, peruse our Amazon Prime premiere guide. For what else is coming up on television in general, check out our guides to TV's midseason and summer premieres.
