Bio: Matt Smith is an English actor who shot to fame in the UK aged 26 when he was cast by producer Steven Moffat as the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC's iconic science-fiction adventure series Doctor Who (2005).Matthew Robert Smith was born and raised in Northampton, the son of Lynne (Fidler) and David Smith. He was educated at Northampton School For Boys. He studied Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He got into acting through the National Youth Theatre and performed with the Royal Court and the National Theatre.Smith made his television debut in The Ruby in the Smoke (2006) and won several further roles on television but was largely unknown when he was announced as the surprise choice for the role of the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who. He was younger than any other actor to have taken the role (Peter Davison was previously the youngest, aged 29 when he was cast in 1981). Smith starred in 49 episodes of Doctor Who (three short of his predecessor, David Tennant). He left in the momentous 50th anniversary year of the Doctor Who legend in 2013, which included starring in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor (2013), which found him acting with Tennant, guest star John Hurt and the oldest living and longest-serving actor to play the Doctor, Tom Baker.Since leaving Doctor Who, Smith has launched himself into a film career.
Tivia: He is well-known to co-stars for being extremely clumsy. Producers have even taken bets on how long it will take him to break props.He was the one who insisted on the Doctor wearing his trademark bow tie.Before being cast as the Doctor, he auditioned for the part of John Watson on Sherlock (2010)' but was rejected for being too eccentric. Steven Moffat claimed that Smith would have been a good Sherlock if Benedict Cumberbatch had not been cast already.At 26, he was the youngest actor to be cast as the Doctor in the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who (2005). The youngest had previously been Peter Davison, who was 29 when he was cast in Doctor Who (1963) in 1981.He owns the tweed jacket that his Eleventh Doctor usually wears.When he found out Jodie Whittaker had been cast as the first female Doctor, he called her up and sang the entire Doctor Who (2005) theme into her voice mail.He was the first lead actor in Doctor Who (2005) to be nominated for a BAFTA Best TV actor.He is very into music. He can play the guitar and enjoys buying and collecting records. His favourite band is Radiohead.As a teenager, he was a talented footballer and considered turning professional, but had to give it up following a back injury and turned to acting instead.Unlike his predecessor, David Tennant, he was not a fan of Doctor Who (1963) growing up. The original series was taken off the air shortly after his seventh birthday due to poor viewing figures.He was considered for Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).He was discovered by agent Wendy Padbury. Prior to becoming an agent, Padbury had been an actress; one of her best-known roles was as the Second Doctor's companion Zoe Heriot on Doctor Who (1963).He is a fan of Futurama (1999).Was in a relationship with actress Lily James from 2014 to late 2019.He is the first actor to play the Doctor to be born after the death of William Hartnell, the first (and earliest born) actor to play the Doctor (who died in 1975). Had Hartnell lived long enough, he would have been nearly 75 when Smith was born.He is the first actor since Sylvester McCoy to have his face in the opening credits of Doctor Who (2005).He has worked with fellow Doctor Who (2005) alumnus Billie Piper on multiple occasions. They co-starred in The Ruby in the Smoke (2006), The Shadow in the North (2007), and Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007) before working together in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who (2005).He is good friends with Doctor Who (2005) alums Billie Piper, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Jenna Coleman.He was voted Best Actor by Readers of Doctor Who Magazine for his work on the 2010 Season.He studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.Nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in The Crown (2016), but lost to Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones (2011).He and Christopher Eccleston are, as of 2015, the only actors to have played The Doctor and not had an episode where they face up against The Doctor's arch-enemy, The Master.He is a former member of the National Youth Theatre.On 7 October 2013, it was announced Smith would portray Patrick Bateman in the musical adaption of American Psycho at London's Almeida Theatre. The show began its run in December 2013. He was cast despite having no prior singing experience.He auditioned for the title role in Merlin (2008).He was considered for Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019).Of the eleven actors to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) and Doctor Who (2005), he and Christopher Eccleston are the only two who never worked with the late Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the former from 1968 to 1989 as well as in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.He was considered for The Joker in Suicide Squad (2016).Like many of his predecessors in the role of the Doctor, as part of his preparation he became a very big fan of Patrick Troughton's portrayal of the Second Doctor. He incorporated a number of aspects of Troughton's portrayal into his own take on it.He attended Northampton School for Boys.He is both the eleventh actor to play the Doctor and the eleventh person named ''Matt Smith'' listed on IMDB.In 2015, Smith was named one of GQ's 50 Best-Dressed British Men.He auditioned for Will Chandler in The Inbetweeners (2008), but was deemed "too dashing" to play a loser.He shaved off his floppy locks for Lost River (2014) and Patient Zero (2018).Both he and former Doctor Who (2005) co-star Jenna Coleman have played Pride and Prejudice characters and royal personages. Matt as Parson Collins in the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in Netflix's series The Crown (2016). Jenna as Lydia Wickham in BBC's Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) and Queen Victoria in ITV's series Victoria (2016).He is a Blackburn Rovers Football Club fan.He was supposed to reprise his role of the Eleventh Doctor in Sky: Part 2 (2011), but his commitment to A Christmas Carol (2010) prevented this.He was approached for the role of Aesyklos in 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), but declined. The role went to Hans Matheson.He was considered for Carlton Drake Venom (2018).He hasn't seen all the Star Wars movies.