Matt Smith: Man of many talents
When it comes to the world of acting, Northampton-born actor Matt Smith has made a bit of a splash.
In 2007 he starred alongside Hollywood A-lister Christian Slater in a stage version of the film Swimming With Sharks.
The 26-year-old was also shortlisted as an "outstanding newcomer"
in the Evening Standard Awards after he shot to prominence on television screens as Danny Foster in BBC Two's political drama,
Party Animals.
In Swimming With Sharks, Matt took the role of Guy, a personal assistant to monstrous movie producer Buddy Ackerman.
Matt again hit TV screens when BBC One broadcast an adaptation of The Shadow in The North, the second book in a quartet by novelist Philip Pullman.
The literary series charted the adventures of Sally Lockhart, a feisty young Victorian heroine.
Matt appeared alongside Billie Piper, with whom he also worked on the first in Pullman's series, The Ruby in the Smoke, which was screened last Christmas.
That makes three times working with the Doctor Who actress; having
also appeared in an episode of her risque ITV series, Secret Diary of a
Call Girl.
The pair enjoy working together and have become great friends.
Raised in Northampton, Matt's dream was not always to be an
actor.
He demonstrated an early talent for football, playing for both Leicester
City's and Nottingham Forest's youth academies, but had to stop when he suffered a back injury.
It was a former school teacher, Mr Hardingham, who encouraged the
youngster to take drama as an A-level subject.
This led him to a drama and creative writing course at the University of East Anglia after he left Northampton School for Boys.
Matt said: "I had a drama teacher at school who encouraged me and I
found it was something I enjoyed. I did an A-level in drama, without any particular aspirations at the time of becoming an actor."
Then the teenage Matt set his sights on acting and has never
looked back.
Despite not attending drama school, Matt has managed to land strong roles both on stage and television. This has been down to securing a
place at the National Youth Theatre.
One of his performances saw him playing Thomas Becket in Murder
In The Cathedral, acted out atWestminster Cathedral before a Royal
and celebrity-studded audience including Prince Edward and actors Sir Ian McKellan and Simon Callow.
Matt said: "The great thing about the National Youth Theatre is the
great support it has from actors.
"It is a marvellous platform for young actors and I would encourage
any young people to apply. I've met hordes of people through it."
Following on from his success at the youth theatre, Matt, who is from
Great Billing, managed to make a full-time career out of acting once
he finished his degree.
He beat off competition from thousands of other hopefuls to win a
coveted role as one of the schoolboys in Alan Bennett's multi-award winning The History Boys, which ran at the National Theatre in London
before touring the country.
Other theatre roles have included Henry in That Face at the Royal
Court in London, Paul in On The Shore Of The Wide World at the Royal Exchange in London and Arnold in Fresh Kills, a production by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder at the Royal Court.
Matt's mother, Lynne, a sales executive for the Chronicle & Echo's sister magazine, Image, said she was very proud of her son's success.
He now has fans queueing for his autograph at the stage door and
they also left him Christmas presents.
Lynne said: "It is unbelievable really, but when you are so close to
someone and it is your son everyone's talking about, you have to stand back a bit from it. Every mum would think their child is good."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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