About Matt Smith
Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known as the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who (2010–2013), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in The Crown (2016–2017), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon (2022–present). 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 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 TV role came as Danny in the 2007 BBC series Party Animals. In film, he has played the physical forms of Skynet in the sci-fi action film Terminator Genisys (2015), a 1960s pimp in the psychological horror film Last Night in Soho (2021), Milo Morbius in the superhero film Morbius (2022), and a 1990s punk in the Darren Aronofsky crime thriller Caught Stealing (2025). After Smith failed to participate on the first two occasions, his teacher arranged for him to play the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men. 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.
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