Matt Smith was born, Matthew Robert Smith on 28th October 1982 in Northampton, England. He attended Northampton School for Boys. He originally wanted to be a footballer and played at under sixteen level but had to give up football after a back injury. After encouragement from his drama teacher he joined the National Youth Theatre.

He studied at University of East Anglia, reading Drama and Creative Writing.

Matt did not go to drama school but was a former member of the National Youth Theatre. His performance in The Master and Margarita secured him an agent leading on to his first professional performance in Fresh Kills opposite Christian Slater. Further roles came as he appeared in On the Shore of the Wide World before then moving on with co-stars Thomas Morrison and Steven Webb to Alan Bennett's History Boys.

After History Boys, Matt moved into television, appearing in the BBC adaptations of The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North alongside Billie Piper, then as Danny Foster in the BBC TV series Party Animals.

In 2008 he appeared as a guest star on the US TV show Boston Legal, playing a talk show executive accused of driving a guest to murder to boost the shows ratings.

On January 3rd, 2009, in a special Doctor Who Confidential, it was announced that he would be the Eleventh Doctor, taking over from David Tennant. Filming will start in summer 2009 for the broadcast of his first series in spring 2010. He will be the youngest actor to date to play the role at the age of 26, three years younger than Peter Davison when he was cast. Steven Moffat will be his head writer for the series.

Career

Awards

2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement or Performance in an Affiliate Theatre Nominee: Cast member of That Face

2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play: Cast member of On the Shore of the Wide World

Credits

Doctor Who

The End of Time: Part Two (1 January 2010) - The Doctor
The Eleventh Hour (3 April 2010) - The Doctor
The Beast Below (10 April 2010) - The Doctor
Victory of the Daleks (17 April 2010) - The Doctor
The Time of Angels (24 April 2010) - The Doctor
Flesh and Stone (1 May 2010) - The Doctor
Vampires of Venice (8 May 2010) - The Doctor
Amy's Choice (15 May 2010) - The Doctor

......

Television

Womb (2010) (post-production) .... Thomas
Together (2009/II) .... Rob
"Moses Jones" .... Dan Twentyman (3 episodes, 2009)
"The Street" .... Ian Hanley (2 episodes, 2007)
"Secret Diary of a Call Girl" .... Tim (1 episode, 2007)
The Shadow in the North (2007) (TV) .... Jim Taylor
"Party Animals" .... Danny Foster (8 episodes, 2007)
The Ruby in the Smoke (2006) (TV) .... Jim Taylor
"Masterpiece Theatre" .... Jim Taylor (1 episode, 2006)
Gotham, IL (2004) .... Curious Onlooker

Film

Gotham, IL - Curious onlooker - 2004
Falling - Roger - 2005
In Bruges - Young Harry - 2008

Theatre

Murder in the Cathedral - Thomas a Becket - 2003
The Master and Margarita - Basoon - Lyric Hammersmith, London - Aug 04 - Sep 04
Fresh Kills - Arnold - Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London - Nov 04
On the Shore of the Wide World - Paul Danzinger - Royal Exchange, Manchester - Apr 05 - May 05 and National Theatre, London May 05 - Aug 05
The History Boys - Lockwood - National Theatre, London - Nov 05 - Jan 06
Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship - Tom/William/Gary - National Theatre, London - Apr 06 - Jun 06
That Face - Henry - Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London - Apr 07 - May 07
Swimming With Sharks - Guy - Vaudeville Theatre, London - Oct 07 - Jan 08
That Face - Henry - Duke of York's Theatre, London - May 08 - Jul 08

See, also, Matt Smith Appreciation, my separate site for everything there is to know about Matt.

http://mattsmith.freewebsites.com/