Matt Smith

Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who (2010–2013), Prince Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series House of the Dragon (2022–present) and Prince Philip in the Netflix series The Crown (2016–2017), the latter most of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Smith initially aspired to be a professional footballer, but spondylolysis forced him out of the sport. After joining the National Youth Theatre and studying drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, he became an actor in 2003, performing in plays including Murder in the Cathedral, Fresh Kills, The History Boys and On the Shore of the Wide World in London theatres. Extending his repertoire into West End theatre, he has since performed in the stage adaptation of Swimming with Sharks with Christian Slater, followed a year later by a critically acclaimed performance as Henry in That Face. Smith's first television role came in 2006 as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, while his first major role in television came as Danny in the 2007 BBC series Party Animals. Smith portrayed the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who from 2010 to 2013, becoming the youngest person to portray the character. In film, he portrayed a dual role in Womb (2010), the physical forms of Skynet in Terminator Genisys (2015), 1960s pimp Jack in Last Night in Soho (2021), and living vampire Lucien / Milo Morbius in Morbius (2022). Early life Matthew Robert Smith was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire on 28 October 1982, the son of Lynne and David Smith. 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, and he was unable to continue with a footballing career.