Doctor Who may be in turmoil, but for 11th Time Lord Matt Smith there's a more pressing worry: the World Cup. Blackburn Rovers fan Matt, 43, says: "Football, I guess, was my first love and probably is in many ways." A former Leicester City youth captain, in his teens, Matt was a promising footballer, also playing for Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest, before a back injury forced him to stop and take up acting.
Speaking before the England vs Croatia match, he says: "Would I rather win an Oscar over England winning the World Cup? Oh, England winning the World Cup, man. The England team is of great importance in my life. I am a huge, huge football fan."
Matt Smith's Football Passion
Matt had to forgo his ticket for England's opening game, as he had to work the following day, but adds: "If England don't win I want Brazil to win as they are my favourite people. I may go and see some games." But he recalls seeing the semi-finals in Russia in 2018, saying: "We lost. I am bad luck at England games!"
Doctor Who's Future
Turning his attention to Doctor Who, Matt feels the furore over the recent departure of writer Russell T Davies will not end the show. A Christmas special has been scrapped, but while the BBC has confirmed the show is being rested while it changes to a new production model, no plans have been announced to axe it.
Matt reflects: "I was 26 and was the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor. It was very hard. I remember I would walk down the street and people would shout 'don't break Doctor Who!'" He had a wobble when a comedian criticised his performance on TV, but his mum and dad were huge supports and helped him to get through it.
Matt, who regenerated into Peter Capaldi in the 2013 Christmas special, also reveals that running away from monsters, as the Doctor, literally made him go weak at the knees. He says: "When I left Doctor Who, I did the play American Psycho and I had just had an operation on my knee. Lots of Doctors have had it, actually. What happens is, when you are facing the alien on set, you run down the corridor and see the Dalek and turn. Peter Capaldi had the same thing. You can actually see in one of the Christmas specials, I have a walking cane and I am limping around, hence the operation on my knee."
Referring to the Doctor actors as a "weird club," he continues: "I used to have a flat in the same block as ex-Doctor Christopher Eccleston. We would pass each other in the mornings and go 'morning Doctor', 'morning Doctor'."
Speaking to US podcaster Josh Horowitz in New York, Matt is confident that Doctor Who will not be killed off. He says: "The Doctor never dies. He never goes away. I am sure he, she or they will be back in force and it will continue to sort of evolve and change and grow, because it is the most brilliant concept for a show."
House of the Dragon and Beyond
Matt became a household name after taking over the role from David Tennant in 2011. And he has loved playing Prince Daemon Targaryen, a ruthless and formidable fighter, in House of the Dragon, which drew 25 million global viewers per episode for series two.
He says: "I like being in the blood and the mud. I am always like 'more blood, more blood'. I like to be covered in blood and the audience go 'yes, we are back'. It is a great part. My character is the coolest guy on the planet. He does not give a f*ck man." Often seen riding a horse, as the prince, he adds: "I loved my horse. I used to give it mints."
While House of the Dragon has exposed Matt to a new level of fandom, he says he knew little about Game of Thrones when he landed the role. Matt, who had famously never watched Doctor Who when he became the Doctor, says: "I've watched Game of Thrones, but I have not consumed all the literature."
He attributes his success to a willingness to diversify: acting alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in his 2015 movie Terminator Genisys one year and then playing Prince Phillip in The Crown straight after. He says: "When I was offered House of the Dragon it came at quite a difficult stage in my life. My father was ill. If I am honest, I did hum and haw for a number of reasons. How can you follow in the footsteps of a cultural phenomenon like Game of Thrones?"
Joining The Crown also presented Matt with challenges. He says: "It was complicated playing Prince Phillip, as I was still doing the Terminator movie. So it was not plain sailing. My agent told me they were doing a TV show about the royal family and I was like 'right. Does anyone care?' And then I read all 10 scripts and I was like 'whoah! Oh my God, this is brilliant'. I have to say Prince Phillip is a brilliant character. In England he was viewed as this bumbling idiot, but I saw him as this hugely complex, progressive, intelligent, difficult man whose wife was The Queen and he did not care about that. He was totally head over heels in love with her."
Future Ambitions
Looking ahead, Matt hopes the best is yet to come and would love to work with his idol, Tom Cruise, or have a stab at playing James Bond. He laughs: "Why have I not been in James Bond or a Harry Potter movie? The b**tards have not asked me have they? No, but I would love to meet Tom Cruise. I have so many questions to ask him about being an actor. I would get bang into the craft and talk deep to Tom about it. I would get intense with him I think. I loved Risky Business. There is low level teenage eroticism about that film that was not lost on me. I like the level of craft about Tom and I like the craft of acting."
For now, Matt, who lives in London and isn't known to be dating, feels content about his career. But he doesn't think he is Oscar material. He laughs: "Just kill Benedict [Cumberbatch] and Eddie [Redmayne] and anyone else. I am never going to win an Oscar."
And he looks back fondly at his acting debut, aged 22, at London's Royal Court Theatre in the domestic tragedy, Fresh Kills. He says: "I guess we all imagine coming to Hollywood, darling, as a youngster. But I remember doing Fresh Kills. This sounds really corny, but I could not believe I would go to the cash point and there would be money in it. I was like 'whoah! You are paying me?'"
The third season of House of the Dragon premieres in the UK on Monday (June 22) on Sky Atlantic, HBO Max and NOW TV.
