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Matt Robert Smith
Smith on set filming for Doctor Who
Born
Matthew Robert Smith
OccupationActor
Years active2003–present

Matthew Robert Smith[1] (born 28 October 1982) is an English stage and television actor. An aspiring youth footballer, a back injury ended his time in the sport and he became an actor in 2003. 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.[2]

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.[3]

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 was cast in the role of the fifth Doctor.[4][5]

Education

Smith 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.

Early years

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.[6] After a serious back injury, his drama teacher, Jerry Hardingham[7], introduced him to acting by surreptitiously signing him up as the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men.[8] Although he took part in the play, he declined going to a drama festival that his teacher had signed him up for.[8] 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.[8] 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."[9]

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.[10]

He is a supporter of Blackburn Rovers F.C.[11]

Professional acting career

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.[8][10] 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.[12]

That Face

In 2007, Smith appeared as Henry in the critically acclaimed Polly Stenham play That Face at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in Chelsea alongside Lindsay Duncan as Henry's alcoholic mother, Martha, and Felicity Jones—later Hannah Murray—as Henry's drug-addicted sister, Mia. The play transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2008 and became Smith's second role there. That Face focuses primarily upon alcohol and drug addiction in an upper-middle-class family after the paternal figure in the family leaves. As Henry, Smith portrayed an aspiring artist who left school to take care of his mother. To prepare for the role, the cast interviewed alcoholics and their families. Smith discussed his character's relationship with his mother in an interview with the Evening Standard:[8]

The thing I find tricky to get my head round is why doesn't he just leave? An awful lot of it is codependency. [...] With Henry there's a real belief—or denial maybe—that he can change his mother. When she is finally pulled away from him to go to rehab, his identity collapses. His sacrifice has been for nothing. but im a good person i just want everybody to like me because i just want to get paid or yer im leaving after the second series

— Matt Smith, 6 May 2008, "That face to watch", Evening Standard[8]

The entire cast of the play was nominated for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre,[13] and Smith won the Evening Standard's award for "best newcomer" for his role.[14] Upon its transfer to the West End, the play was critically acclaimed, with Smith's performance as Henry highlighted as one of the positive aspects of the play by critics for The Evening Standard, The Daily Express, The Guardian and The Times.[15]

Party Animals

Smith's first major television role came in the television series Party Animals, a BBC television drama series about fictional parliamentary advisors and researchers in Westminster. In Party Animals, Smith portrays Danny Foster, a parliamentary researcher to Jo Porter (Raquel Cassidy), the Labour Party Home Office junior minister. At 26 years old, Danny is described as an intelligent but timid "politics geek" who should have moved on from researching at his age. Within the series' narrative, he attempts to balance his affections for Kirsty MacKenzie (Andrea Riseborough), his intern, while trying to prevent Porter's imminent decline.[16]

In an interview in 2007, Smith discussed his character's motivations. He summarised Danny as having a romantic outlook of the political world while being cynical elsewhere. The character was drawn into politics by his father and his own political drive. He defended his character's age by characterising him as being loyal to Porter, instead of being incompetent. He talked about his character's emotional and intellectual maturity: emotionally, he lacks confidence around women—most notably seen with his unrequited love towards Kirsty—but Smith portrays Danny as a caring and sensitive but "wry, sarcastic, [and] witty" romantic; and intellectually, Danny is portrayed as attentive and of possessing a strong work ethic.[17]

Doctor Who

Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, with Matt Smith as Eleventh Doctor (2009)

"The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe. As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man."

Executive producer Steven Moffat on Smith's casting.[18]

Wikinews has related news:

Smith was cast as the Eleventh Doctor in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who in January 2009[19] to replace David Tennant, who announced his departure in October 2008.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] His obscurity prompted the news headline "Doctor Who?", a pun on the show's title.[23][24][25]

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.[19] 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.[26] 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.[19] After three weeks of auditions, Moffat and Wenger agreed that it had "always been Matt" and approached him to accept the role.[19] 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".[18][19] 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.[27] For his performance in his first series he was nominated in the Outstanding Drama Performance Category of the National Television Awards.[28]

In June 2010, he appeared on stage with Orbital, and performed with them a version of the Doctor Who theme, at the Glastonbury Festival.[29] Smith hosted the Doctor Who Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on 24–25 July 2010.[30]

Credits

Doctor Who filming, with Matt Smith as Eleventh Doctor, and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond

Film and television

Year Title Format Role Notes
2006 The Ruby in the Smoke Telefilm Jim Taylor
2007 Party Animals Television series Danny Foster
2007 In Bruges Film Young Harry Scenes were deleted, available on DVD out takes
2007 Secret Diary of a Call Girl Television series Tim Episode: Series 1, episode 6
2007 The Street Television series Ian Hanley Episodes: "Demolition"[31] and "Taxi"
2007 The Shadow in the North Telefilm Jim Taylor
2009 Moses Jones TV miniseries DS Dan Twentyman
2009 Together[32][33][34] Short film Rob (lead) Official Selection Cannes 2009 (Critics' Week)
2010 Womb[35] Feature film Thomas Production began March 2009[36]
2010– Doctor Who Television series The Doctor 2010 series & 2011 series
2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures[37][38] Television series The Doctor Series 4, Episodes 5 and 6 Death of the Doctor[39]
2011 Christopher and His Kind Television Single Christopher Isherwood Filmed in Northern Ireland - will air in early 2011

Theatre

Year Title Role Theatre
2003 Murder in the Cathedral Thomas Becket
2004 The Master and Margarita Basoon Lyric Hammersmith, London
2004 Fresh Kills Arnold Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London
2005 On the Shore of the Wide World Paul Danzinger Royal Exchange, Manchester
National Theatre, London
2005–2006 The History Boys Lockwood National Theatre, London
2006 Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship Tom/William/Gary National Theatre, London
2007 That Face Henry Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London
2007–2008 Swimming with Sharks Guy Vaudeville Theatre, London
2008 That Face Henry Duke of York's Theatre, London

Video games

Year Title Format Role
2010 Doctor Who: The Adventure Games Episodic video game The Doctor
2010 Doctor Who: Return to Earth Nintendo Wii video game The Doctor
2010 Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth Nintendo DS Video game The Doctor

References

  1. ^ England & Wales, Birth Index: 1837-1984, as accessed on Ancestry.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Entertainment | Who on earth is Matt Smith?". BBC News. 2009-01-03. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  3. ^ "That face to watch| Theatre". This is London. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  4. ^ "Press Office - Network TV Programme Information BBC Weeks 51/52 BBC ONE". BBC. 2004-02-10. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ "Meet the Eleventh Doctor". Doctor Who microsite. BBC. 5 January 2009.
  7. ^ http://www.nsb.northants.sch.uk/?_id=1631
  8. ^ a b c d e f "That face to watch". This is London. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  9. ^ "Matt Smith: The Official London Theatre Guide". Official London Theatre. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Fresh Face: Matt Smith". London.Broadway.com. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2009. [dead link]
  11. ^ "Doctor Who's Theatre of Dreams". Manchester Evening News. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Matt Smith Is New Doctor Who". Empire Online. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  13. ^ "Olivier awards 2008: nominations in full". The Guardian. London. 7 February 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  14. ^ "Who's that girl? Matt Smith in the cross-dressing role that helped land him role of the new Time Lord". Daily Mail. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  15. ^ Rynn, Melissa (12 May 2008). "Review Round-up: Stenham Saves West End Face". What's On Stage. Retrieved 2009-04-18. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Danny Foster". Party Animals microsite. BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  17. ^ "Matt Smith interview". Party Animals microsite. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  18. ^ a b "Matt Smith is the New Doctor". BBC Press Office. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  19. ^ a b c d e "The Eleventh Doctor". Doctor Who Confidential. Episode 15. 3 January 2009. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "David Tennant quits as Doctor Who". BBC News. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  21. ^ "Doctor Who: The runners and the riders". BBC News. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  22. ^ Hilton, Matt (3 January 2009). "Odds on Who". The Doctor Who News Page. Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  23. ^ Goldsmith, Belinda (4 January 2009). "Dr Who? BBC chooses newcomer". Reuters. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  24. ^ Moreton, Cole (4 January 2009). "Doctor Who? Unknown is latest incarnation of Time Lord". London: The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  25. ^ "The new Doctor is Matt... Who?". The Sun. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  26. ^ French, Dan (4 February 2010). "Matt Smith rejected for BBC's 'Sherlock'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  27. ^ Moss, Lyndsay (5 January 2009). "Doctor who? Newcomer divides programme's fans". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  28. ^ "NTA 2011: National Television Awards results". Beehive City. Honeycomb Publishing & Media. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  29. ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/music/833140-doctor-whos-matt-smith-performs-with-orbital-at-glastonbury
  30. ^ "Doctor Who's day at the Proms". BBC News. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  31. ^ "The Street Season 2 Episode 3 (2009)". Locate TV. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  32. ^ "Together (2009/II)". Movie database. IMDb. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  33. ^ Matt Smith (14 May 2009). 6 o' clock news. BBC, YouTube. Event occurs at 18:00. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  34. ^ Cawley, Christian (2009-05-14). "Matt Smith on BBC 6pm News". Kasterborous. Retrieved 2009-05-27. [dead link] (Archive at WebCite)
  35. ^ Meza, Ed (9 February 2009). "Eva Green to star in "Womb"". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  36. ^ "Eva Green Set to Star in "Womb"". movieweb.com. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  37. ^ "The Doctor and Jo Grant join CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures in special episodes written by Russell T Davies". BBC Press Office. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  38. ^ "Doctor Who star Matt Smith to appear in Sarah Jane Adventures". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 April 2010.
  39. ^ Doctor Who Magazine 421 - 29 April 2010

Further reading

  • Smith, Oli (2010). Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: Matt Smith. London: BBC Children's Books. ISBN 978-1-40590-687-6
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matt Smith (actor).

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