Matt Smith interview: The British actor on going punk and embracing challenges

Matt Smith interview: The British actor on going punk and embracing challenges | The Gentleman's Journal

It’s a Friday afternoon on the first properly sunny day of the year when Matt Smith answers his phone. Like the rest of London, he’s jazzed about the weather. “Isn’t today just gorgeous!” he sings, as he rushes around his Highgate home, getting ready to take his Irish terrier Bobby for a walk.

But it’s not just the weather that has him jazzed. Smith has recently returned from New York (“Man, you have to go!”) where he spent three months filming Darren Aronofsky's upcoming crime thriller Caught Stealing (“I had the most wonderful time making that”) alongside Austin Butler (“just the most lovely, lovely guy and a wonderful actor”). He’s buzzing with excited energy, so much so that our call breaks up a few times as Matt flits from room to room, incapable of sitting still.

Smith’s high spirits are warranted. Caught Stealing, in which he plays Russ Miner, a trigger-happy punk in ‘90s New York, is out at the end of August and he’s impatient to see what audiences think. Photos from the shoot have been doing the rounds on social media, scandalising fans of the Doctor Who and House of the Dragon star, who looks nothing like his usual dashing self as he sports a towering multi-coloured mohawk, piercings, a studded leather jacket and heavy combat boots.

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It was a look that Smith embraced. “There was a cool moment when Darren was like, ‘You have permission to be a punk,’ so I was like, cool, and I just [became] a bit of a punk for a while,” he says, matter-of-factly. “That was part of [Arronofsky’s] process that I really loved, actually. I love the extremity of the look. Credit to the makeup and hair guys on that movie. They did a great job, and they were really creative, and because I was nervous about doing it, they really sort of pushed me forward in the correct ways.”

Becoming Russ wasn’t just a matter of changing his look. He describes an alchemy of sorts in establishing the sweet spot between merely understanding the character and channelling his essentiality. “I suppose you’re trying to dial stuff down after all the research that you do, and that might be listening to punk music, or reading a book on punk, or just creating this world that feels rich and detailed, and then you're trying to dial it down to whatever its essence may be. I suppose that lies between the script, the character and the actor, really. It's your job to sniff that out and make it interesting, or rather, make it truthful.”

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Smith brings this interrogative approach to each of his roles, which vary widely – “I mean, one's an alien, one's a prince, one's a serial killer” – but he doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all technique to inhabiting a character. “I think it's [the actor’s] job to adapt to each individual circumstance and try and fit into the form of the thing as best as possible,” he says. He enjoys being kept on his toes. “You sort of ask yourself, okay, well, what’s required of me in this particular circumstance, and try to articulate yourself creatively as best as possible”. Smith is quick to acknowledge the privilege he feels at getting to do his dream job – “It’s something I feel happy to do every day” – but he admits that it’s still just that – a job. “If it's tough, it's meant to be tough. It's work, isn't it? At the end of the day, it's not always meant to be a jolly. Ultimately, you're there to work, to deliver something.”

There was a cool moment when Darren was like, ‘You have permission to be a punk,' so I just became a bit of a punk for a while

Such discipline may stem from a youth spent playing sport, specifically football, at a high level. “I think with all sport and art, there is a degree of transferable skills, certainly. And [with sport] there are skills that you can really hold on to, the kind of disciplines that you develop – simple things; being a sportsman, being on time, being consistent, being prepared, being well slept, you know, just all those things that you that you learn as a sportsman at a young age. I've certainly been able to transfer those over to the acting realm.”

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There is an alternate reality in which Smith does not become the beloved screen star he is today, but rather a pro footballer. The Northampton-born 42-year old was captain of Leicester City’s youth team, before a serious back injury prematurely ended his football career. “The thing was, football was so intrinsically part of my identity, that when that changed, I was like, God, now what? I was always Matt the footballer, so now what am I?” A drama teacher, recognising his acting potential, signed him up to a few school productions, but Smith initially didn’t show up. “Well, I was a footballer, you know. You worry what your mates are going to say [when they learn] Matt’s going to be in a musical in school. You’re young.”

His teacher’s persistence eventually paid off. “He phoned my mum and was like, ‘you've got to make him be an actor’. My mum had a word with me and said, ‘just do it’, and I did it, and then I realised that I actually really enjoyed it.” I can practically hear him shrugging down the phone at the straightforwardness of it all.

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After studying drama for his A-levels, Smith got accepted into the National Youth Theatre. “That was a real catalyst,” he says. “I really advocate, if you want to be an actor, then go and sign up and try and get into that. It's a really great platform for young actors and just young people, really. It's a great family to be part of. And that's how I got an agent, and, you know, moved into the professional realm.”

Smith has achieved more at this point in his career than the majority of actors will in their lifetimes. But he retains a restless energy and is hungry for more challenges. In March, he’ll start filming the highly anticipated third season of House of the Dragon, which he’ll be busy with until the end of October. “The scale of the show is really big and ambitious. It takes a lot of time to realise all of the elements. So it's not easy,” he says, before a quick addendum: “but it's a good challenge, and it's nice to be working at home, at least I'm not away from everyone for a big chunk of time”.

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This year will also see the release of the TV adaptation of Nick Cave’s psychodrama novel The Death of Bunny Munro, in which Smith plays the titular character, a sex-addicted travelling salesman: “I always try to do things that feel like they’re gonna be a challenge, and it feels as though it's something that is outside the wheelhouse”.

For now though, it’s a Friday afternoon in the capital, the sun is shining and Smith is just happy to be here. “I love London. I think London’s the best city in the world,” he gushes. “I mean, especially coming into the spring and summer, it’s pretty unbeatable to be honest.” And with that he’s off, bouncing into the weekend.

Creative: Freya Anderson

Styling assistant: Lachlan McGregor

Photography assistants: Sam Jupp, Sebastian McCluskey, Ben Cooper

Digital technician: Mark Cant

With special thanks to Audi