A major figure in House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen is a fan-favorite character from Game of Thrones. But do you know his interpreter Matt Smith well? Discover 5 things to know about the actor.
He is already one of the fan favorite characters of Game Of Thrones : Daemon Targaryen, nicknamed the Rascal Prince, is one of the major figures of the spin-off House of the Dragon. Brother of King Viserys I, he is considered the most dangerous man in Westeros at the time of the “Dance of the Dragons”, one of the key events that will take place in the series, broadcast on OCS.
Rider who rides the dragon Caraxes, Daemon is a fierce fighter. This character is played by Matt Smith, whose performance in the series is praised by fans. If some already know this actor and his talents well, many discover him through House of the Dragon. Here are 5 things to know about Matt Smith.
He is the youngest Doctor!
Matt Smith played the famous Doctor in the British series Doctor Who in the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons. He is the Eleventh Doctor and had Amélia Pond, Clara Oswald, Rory Williams, Strax and Madame Vastra as companions. The version played by Matt Smith met the Daleks, the Cybermen or even the Sontarians.
BBC Adrian Rogers
You should know that he is the first Doctor whose season was directed by the showrunner Steven Moffat but above all Matt Smith is still today the youngest actor to have interpreted the Doctor because he was 26 years old when he was chosen. This role also allowed him to cross Cardiff (the city where Doctor Who and its spin-offs are filmed) with the Olympic flame in 2012.
He wanted to become a professional footballer!
Born October 28, 1982 in Northampton, Matt Smith always dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. He notably played in the youth teams of Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and that of Leicester City. But a serious back injury shatters his dreams of a professional football career.
His drama teacher then encouraged him to become an actor by registering him without his knowing it in the adaptation of Twelve Angry Men (Twelve Angry Men) and also persuaded him to join the National Youth Theater in London. Finally, Matt Smith does not join a dramatic school but studies creative and dramatic writing at the University of East Anglia.
He almost died on the set of The Crown
Besides the Doctor, Matt Smith also played an important role in the series The Crown, specifically in the first two seasons. The actor slipped into the skin of Prince Philipp and husband of Elizabeth II. Even if this prestigious role seems calmer compared to other characters that he has been able to embody, it is on this series that the actor almost passed out.
Alex Bailey/Netflix
On “The Graham Norton Show” relayed by The Guardian, Matt Smith explained that he almost died on the set of a scene from season 1 – which was not saved in the edit – while riding a horse in South Africa. His mount fled on the set and the panicked actor held on to the horse which was heading towards a herd of zebras: “I was so scared. As the horse galloped towards the herd, a man grabbed him by the reins and saved my life.”
He could have joined the MCU
Matt Smith participated in a Marvel feature film by slipping into the skin of Milo in the film Morbius alongside Jared Leto. He plays a man with a serious blood disease that makes him very weak. When he realizes that his childhood friend Michael Morbius has found a cure for this disease, he does not hesitate to obtain the serum despite the side effects turning him into a vampire.
If Matt Smith did join the Marvel Universe, it’s only Sony’s, not the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet he could have! Since for a time, the actor was considered to play Mysterio, the villain in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Fans would have liked to see this actor play Mysterio and he made the short list, but it ended up being Jake Gyllenhaal.
He didn’t tell anyone he was playing in House of the Dragon
Keeping a secret role is not uncommon for an actor or actress especially when it comes to a blockbuster or a movie that is part of a big franchise. That means they can’t talk about plot details and sometimes they can’t reveal what project they’re into. This is the case of Matt Smith, who could not tell his relatives that he was playing in Doctor Who, nor in House of the Dragon!
HBO
In an interview for Esquire, Matt Smith explained that his friends and family found out he played the Doctor when the official announcement was made by the BBC. The same was true for House of the Dragon. His relatives discovered that he played Daemon Targaryen when the cable channel HBO announced to the press the project and the cast of House of the Dragon.
PODCAST – House of the Dragon, failure or success? We debrief the first episodes of the Game of Thrones spin-off:
House of the Dragon is broadcast on OCS in France.