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Matt Smith
As a teenager Matt Smith was a talented footballer and considered turning professional, but had to give it up, following a back injury, and turned to acting instead.
] I'm very aware of the rich history of Chris [Christopher Eccleston] and David [David Tennant], and I've gone back and watched a lot of those episodes. And the previous history? I have to be honest, I can't claim to have watched the show in its entirety or have been a follower as avidly as some people are - and that's what I'm realising, that people love this show, people are avid, avid fans of it, and know it, and know its history and are part of it. I can't claim to know it as well as that, but I'm going to make it my business to do so, and fall into it in as much depth as I possibly can.
Matt Smith [February 2009]
Matthew Robert Smith
28 October 1982, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
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Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English stage and television actor. An aspiring youth footballer, Smith became an actor in 2003 after a back injury. His first performance was in Murder in the Cathedral as part of the National Youth Theatre. He also starred in Fresh Kills and alongside Christian Slater in the stage adaptation of Swimming with Sharks
Smith's first television role came in 2006, as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of Phillip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. His first major role in television came in 2007, as Danny in the BBC series Party Animals, and his first West End theatre role came in the same year in Swimming with Sharks, followed a year later by a critically acclaimed performance as Henry in That Face.
In January 2009, Smith was cast to play the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the famous British television series Doctor Who, first appearing in part two of The End of Time which aired on 1 January 2010. Smith is now the youngest person to play the Doctor, ahead of Peter Davison, who was 29 when he started playing the role of the fifth Doctor.
mith was educated at Northampton School for Boys, a state comprehensive secondary school in Northampton, followed by the University of East Anglia, where he studied drama with creative writing.
Smith was born and raised in Northampton. He planned to be a professional football player, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town F.C., Nottingham Forest F.C. and Leicester City F.C. After a serious back injury, his drama teacher introduced him to acting by surreptitiously signing him up as the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men. Although he took part in the play, he declined going to a drama festival that his teacher had signed him up for. His drama teacher persisted, and eventually persuaded him to join the National Youth Theatre in London. After leaving school, Smith studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. He has cited his favourite band, Radiohead, as an inspiration: "That’s what I want when I go to the theatre, when I’m in a play, is them, and that experience that I get from them."
Smith's first theatre roles came as part of the National Youth Theatre were Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral and Basoon in The Master and Margarita. His role in the latter earned him an agent and his first professional jobs: Fresh Kills and On the Shore of the Wide World. His new professional roles led to him being required to seek an agreement with his university so that he could graduate without attending lectures in his final two terms.
He is a supporter of Blackburn Rovers F.C.
During his tenure in On the Shore of the Wide World, the play transferred to the Royal National Theatre in London. After finishing the play, he took on the role of Lockwood, a pupil in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys. After The History Boys, he would act in the teen play Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship, and Swimming with Sharks; the latter being his West End début, alongside Christian Slater. His first television role was as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of the Sally Lockhart quartet books The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, opposite Billie Piper in the lead role; he would act alongside Piper a third time in an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
Smith was cast as the Eleventh Doctor in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who in January 2009 to replace David Tennant, who announced his departure in October 2008. Smith was a relatively unknown actor compared to the actors then speculated about possibly taking on the role, who included Paterson Joseph, David Morrissey, Sean Pertwee, James Nesbitt, Russell Tovey, Catherine Zeta Jones, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Robert Carlyle and Billie Piper. Smith was first named as a possible successor less than a day before he was announced as the Eleventh Doctor, on the 3 January 2009 edition of BBC Breakfast among the names speculated about. His obscurity prompted the news headline "Doctor Who?", a pun on the show's title.
Smith was one of the earliest actors to audition for the role, performing on the first day. The production team, consisting of the incoming producer, Steven Moffat, and BBC Wales Head of Drama and executive producer, Piers Wenger, immediately singled him out based on his performance. Smith additionally auditioned for the role of John Watson in the Moffat-created Sherlock, undergoing auditions at the same time; he was unsuccessful, as Moffat believed his eccentric acting style was closer to Holmes, whose role had already been given to Benedict Cumberbatch. At 26 years old, Smith was three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time of his casting as the Doctor in 1981, and younger than any other actor suggested for the role. After three weeks of auditions, Moffat and Wenger agreed that it had "always been Matt" and approached him to accept the role. The BBC were cautious about casting him because they felt that a 26-year-old could not play the Doctor adequately; Wenger shared the same sentiment but thought Smith had proven his acting quality in Party Animals, which Wenger thought highlighted Smith's "mercurial qualities". Some fans of the show believed that Smith was inexperienced and too young for the role, while others supported him by citing his demonstrated acting ability.
In June 2010, he appeared on stage with Orbital, and performed with them a version of the Doctor Who theme, at the Glastonbury Festival. Smith hosted the Doctor Who Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on 24–25 July 2010.
Former member of the National Youth Theatre.
Attended Northampton school for boys.
Studied Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.
At 26 he is the youngest actor to be cast as the Doctor in the British sci-fi series, "Doctor Who" (2005). The youngest had been Peter Davison who was 29 when he was cast in 1981.
He can play the guitar.
Listed as the eleventh person on IMDB.com with the name "Matt Smith" and playing the eleventh incarnation of The Doctor.
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