Matt Smith

At 26 years old, Smith was three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time of his casting as the Doctor in 1981, making him the youngest Doctor and the youngest actor to be 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.

Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor.

He initially aspired to be a professional footballer, but spondylolysis forced him out of the sport.

Matthew Robert Smith was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire on 28 October 1982, the son of Lynne and David Smith.

After joining the National Youth Theatre and attending the University of East Anglia, Smith became an actor in 2003, performing in London theatres.

He has an elder sister named Laura Jayne, who was one of the dancers featured in the well-known music video for Eric Prydz's 2004 song "Call on Me".

Smith attended Northampton School for Boys.

His grandfather had played football for Notts County and Smith had also planned to play football, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City, becoming captain of the latter's youth team.

A serious back injury resulted in spondylolysis; he was unable to continue with a footballing career.

Smith's drama teacher introduced him to acting by signing him up for theatrical productions without his consent.

After failing to participate on the first two occasions, his teacher arranged for him to play the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men.

Although he took part, he refused to attend a drama festival for which his teacher had also signed him up, as he saw himself as a football player and believed acting would damage his social life.

His teacher persisted, eventually persuading him to join the National Youth Theatre in London.

After leaving school, Smith studied Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, graduating in 2005.

With the National Youth Theatre, he played Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral and Bassoon 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, which led him to seek an agreement with his university so that he could graduate without attending lectures in his final year.

Smith's 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.

His first major television role came in the television series Party Animals, a BBC drama series about fictional parliamentary advisors and researchers.

Smith portrayed Danny Foster, a parliamentary researcher who was described as an intelligent but timid "politics geek" who should have moved on from researching at his age.

Extending his repertoire into West End theatre, he performed in That Face in 2007 and received critical acclaim.

Smith's first major role in television came in the BBC political drama series Party Animals (2007).

In an interview in 2007, Smith summarised the character as having a romantic outlook of the political world while being cynical elsewhere.

He talked about his character's emotional and intellectual maturity; emotionally, he lacks confidence around women, though Smith portrays him as a caring and sensitive but "wry, sarcastic, [and] witty" romantic.

Intellectually, Danny is portrayed as attentive and possessing a strong work ethic.

Smith auditioned for the role of Will McKenzie in the comedy series The Inbetweeners, with the part eventually being given to actor Simon Bird.

This was revealed in an interview in 2009 by the show's writer Iain Morris, who said, "We auditioned literally 1,000 people... he was brilliant—down to the last two for Will, I think. I think he was a bit too dashing!"

Smith was revealed as the Eleventh Doctor in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who in January 2009 to follow 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 edition of 3 January 2009 of BBC Breakfast, among the names speculated about.

His obscurity prompted the news headline "Doctor Who?", a riff 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 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, a role that had already been given to Benedict Cumberbatch.

He portrayed the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who from 2010 to 2013, becoming the youngest person to portray the role.

Smith made his debut as the Doctor in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" in April 2010.

The BBC were cautious about casting Smith 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.

Smith received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Prince Philip in the Netflix historical series The Crown (2016–2017).

He has starred as Daemon Targaryen in the HBO fantasy drama series House of the Dragon since 2022.