2006–2009: Rise to prominence 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. 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. During Smith's 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 acted in the teen play
Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship and with
Christian Slater in
Swimming with Sharks, the latter being his West End début. and Smith garnered an
Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination for Best Newcomer for his role. Upon its transfer to the West End, Smith's performance as Henry was highlighted as one of the positive aspects of the play by critics for the
Evening Standard,
Daily Express,
The Guardian and
The Times. Smith auditioned for the role of
Will McKenzie in the comedy series
The Inbetweeners, with the part eventually being given to comedian and actor
Simon Bird. The show's writer
Iain Morris said, "We auditioned literally 1000 people [...] He was brilliant - down to the last two for Will, I think. I think he was a bit too dashing!" Smith was cast in
Martin McDonagh's black comedy crime
In Bruges (2008), as the younger version of
Ralph Fiennes' character, but his scenes did not appear in the final cut of the film. He starred in the 2009 short film
Together and the film
Womb (2010).
2010–2013: Doctor Who and wider recognition 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. 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. 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". For his performance in his first series, he was nominated in the Outstanding Drama Performance Category of the
National Television Awards. Smith is the first actor in the role to garner a nomination for a
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. Smith said of his character: "The Doctor is excited and fascinated by the tiniest of things. By everything. By every single thing. That's what's wonderful about him as a character. It's why children like him, I think. Because he doesn't dismiss anything. He's not cynical. He's open to every single facet of the universe." In June 2010, Smith appeared on stage with
Orbital, and performed with them a version of the
Doctor Who theme, at the
Glastonbury Festival. Smith hosted the
Doctor Who Prom at the
Royal Albert Hall on 24–25 July 2010. On the morning of 26 May 2012, Smith carried the
Olympic torch in
Cardiff, an activity which was noted by
Doctor Who fans for its resemblance to a
2006 episode of the show in which the Doctor carried the torch. On 1 June 2013, the BBC announced that Smith would be leaving
Doctor Who at the end of the
2013 Christmas special. He was succeeded by
Peter Capaldi. Reflecting upon his decision to leave in a 2016 interview, he expressed regret for not staying longer, stating that he wanted to work longer with co-star
Jenna Coleman. In 2018, while appearing on
Desert Island Discs, he revealed that he nearly turned down the role of the Doctor. Smith's directorial debut, the short film
Cargese, was aired on
Sky Arts in May 2013.
2014–present Smith portrayed
Patrick Bateman in the
musical adaptation of American Psycho at London's
Almeida Theatre from 2013 to 2014. Smith was cast in
Ryan Gosling's directorial debut
Lost River, which was released in 2014. Smith had a supporting role as the embodiment of Skynet in
Terminator Genisys (2015). He was set to have more screen time in the sixth and seventh films in the
series, but these proposed films were cancelled in the wake of
Terminator Genisys' commercial and critical failure. On 20 November 2014, it was announced that Smith would star in the action-thriller film
Patient Zero. It was released in 2018, and received negative reviews. Speaking about the film, Smith said: "I call (it) 'Patient Career Low'. I've never seen it... You know at the time when you're making something you're like 'this is gonna be rubbish'? ... Yeah, that." In June 2015, Smith was cast as
Prince Philip in the
Netflix royal drama
The Crown. He played the role for the series' first two seasons, garnering a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018. Smith reunited with his
The Crown co-star
Claire Foy in a production of the
Duncan Macmillan play
Lungs at
The Old Vic beginning in October 2019. In 2020, Smith was cast as
Daemon Targaryen in the
HBO fantasy series
House of the Dragon, a prequel to the fantasy drama series
Game of Thrones. The series premiered on 21 August 2022. For his performance he received a nomination for the
Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2023. Smith joined the cast of
Edgar Wright's psychological horror-mystery
Last Night in Soho starring opposite
Thomasin McKenzie and
Anya Taylor-Joy. The film was released in 2021. In 2021, Smith appeared in the music videos for the songs "We're On Our Way Now" and "Flying on the Ground" by
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Smith joined the
Sony's Spider-Man Universe spin-off film
Morbius (2022) as
Lucien / Milo Morbius, a living vampire, although he was initially announced to be portraying the
supervillain Loxias Crown / Hunger. It received negative reviews, although Smith's performance garnered some praise from critics. In 2024 Smith returned to the West End to star in a modern retelling of the
Henrik Ibsen play
An Enemy of the People. He portrayed Dr. Thomas Stockmann acting opposite
Jessica Brown Findlay portraying his daughter, Petra Stockmann.
Time Out wrote, "In a fine cast, it often feels like Smith is happy to keep it low-key, a largely charming stage presence who doesn't attempt to upstage [the cast]". Nick Curtis of
The Evening Standard gave the mixed review writing, "The casually charismatic Smith and a fine supporting cast can't stop it falling apart in the second half." ==Personal life==