The idea that he was concerned about typecasting comes from the BBC statement announcing his departure, which falsely attributed that sentiment to him. They eventually issued an apology: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4410943.stm. But as the persistence of the claim shows, the damage had already been done.
How could he win? If he answered "fuck Doctor Who and the Horse he rode on in" - he'd be attacked. If he answered "I might return one day", he'd hounded by weirdos to return. There is no answer that would get him off the hook with the "we own you" crowd.
Seems perfectly understandable to me. He's likely sick of every third interview in the past year asking him about Doctor Who, the 50th, and his involvement, specifically lack of. He's answered all these questions and discussed his feelings on this matter at great length and doesn't want it brought up while promoting another movie. How would you feel if everyone in the entire world kept nagging you about a job you didn't like 8 years after you walked away?
I'd feel that I made an impact in a job that's all based on make-believe in an industry that is the same.
You all forget my immediate post afterwards, but that said, I agree with the overall sentiment that its in his right to do what he wants and that he has stated perfectly understandable reasons for his non-return. But sometimes, curiosity kicks in - its only natural to wonder, after all.
1. That analogy would be applicable if he was asked to come back and play the same character while he was no longer contractually obligated to do so. 2. You make it sound like he HATES Doctor Who. That he is doing it on purpose. That he is being malicious. Which is a position that has no basis in fact. You are just upset that he's not interested in putting on a leather jacket, saying "FANTASTIC" for your amusement.
Christopher Eccleston is like that girl who dumped you years ago without ever telling you what precisely went wrong between her and you, and which you keep bumping into ever now and then. So yeah, it may not be fair, it may even be a bit creepy, but sometimes you feel like asking her about the end of your relationship.
The thing I find weird is he left that and goes on to do Heroes, The Seeker, GI Joe, Thor 2... very commercial choices...
Eccleston is an actor who mixes his commercial projects with his passion projects. He'll take a role, like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, because it gives him a payday and a cushion so he can do other work that's more meaningful.
What was wrong with the Heroes Role or "selling out" about it? It was unique at the time, a Superhero Show doing well (He was only in S1, the Heyday of heroes) in the ratings, as well as critically acclaimed and Fan adored? His role advanced the Arc in many directions (HRG's lack of limits, Added invisibility to Peter and helped Peter Learn, show us how deep and aggressive The Company was and showed us their was indeed a Conspiracy amongst the older heroes) and left show fans wanting him to return and advance things further or answer more "history questions" with his flashbacks Hell, his Heroes role may have been a metaphor his Doctor Who role
This. The budget for Thor 2, for example, looks to be about $200,000,000, about 100 times that of "The Day of the Doctor," and while only a small part of that difference is going to be in salaries, it's still a much heftier payday.
You ignored all the other non-commercial / theater work he's done in the past eight years. Any reason for that?
Also I never quite understood what happened with Heroes, because he wasn't around for long, and did we ever find out what happened to Claude? I could never figure out if CE was only contracted to do a handful of episodes and then wouldn't sign up for more, or if the producers/writers decided they didn't want him anymore?
I think a lot of the guest performers on that show were only signed up for a run of a few episodes. Eccleston had a 5-episode run ending in episode 17 of a 23-episode season, and the story was intended to definitively conclude in the finale. (The original plan was to start over with a new cast and story in season 2, but the popularity of the first-season actors led to the disastrous decision to bring back the same characters after their stories had already ended.) So I suppose the character had served his purpose.
Yeah. It's just the way he vanished. Given what we knew of the character I guess that made some sense.