You may be thinking, "Who?"
Exactly.
Smith is the 11th man to take on the mantle of Doctor Who, the galactic white knight who has been a staple of British pop culture since the 1960s. The eccentric savior of civilizations from the machinations of evil-doers has fostered a cult following in America since the rebooted BBC series launched in 2005.
New on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series features Smith, 28, in his first season as The Doctor, traveling through time and the cosmos in the iconic police box/space vessel, The TARDIS, with his redheaded companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan).
Smith and the whole Doctor Who crew arrives in Utah in a few weeks to shoot the first two episodes of the next season, which premieres on the BBC and BBC America in the spring. Before then, Who-philes all around the world will want to tune in for Smith's first Doctor Who Christmas special, a loose take on The Christmas Carol featuring Michael Gambon, which airs during the holiday season.
"There's lots of snow, crackers and turkey, and that goes hand in hand with the spirit of The Doctor and Doctor Who, really. He loves Christmas. It's showcasing humans at their most open and giving and kind. It's everything The Doctor's about," Smith says.
Plus, "I had great fun making it because obviously it was the middle of July and there's loads of fake snow."
Tall and as lively on screen as The Doctor, Smith proves just as quirky, mercurial and excitable in conversation, running down what he adores about the eons-old Time Lord. "I love his madness. I love his brain. I love that he's completely silly. I love how lonely he is. I love his bravery. I love the fact that he's clumsy," he says.
"What's so wonderful about playing The Doctor is it's all based on invention. It's the greatest part I've ever played, I have to say, because you're given this white canvas to invent and paint on, and he can be any color."
Smith was introduced as the new Doctor with much ballyhoo on a major program in January 2009, as 6.9 million viewers watched on the BBC. But his casting was met with a good amount of skepticism, since Smith would be taking over the role from David Tennant, beloved on both sides of the pond, and would be the youngest Doctor ever.
"It's strange, right? There's only this show in England that would get an unveiling like that. They went, 'And it's gonna be ... Matt Smith.' 'Who the hell's that dude?!' " Smith remembers, laughing. "No one had any idea who I was.
"I didn't go on the Internet, I didn't read any of the press, because you can't. I knew people were saying I was too young and stuff, but I just had faith in my own instinct and my own ability and kept pushing forward with that. It was a risk, of course, but thankfully people have been very positive. I really want to push the boundaries of this part into next year now and keep raising the bar."
A native of Northampton, which is an hour north of London, Smith now has a passion for sci-fi, but didn't grow up on Doctor Who or even American TV exports such as Star Trek. "I used to love ninja movies. That was my thing," he says. Smith also was a star youth soccer player, until a back injury ended his playing days and he switched to acting.
Being The Doctor also comes with much celebrity in Great Britain, "so I have to wear a lot more hoods in my life," Smith says. But he really likes visiting the USA for the show.
His friend and fellow Brit Andrew Garfield is starting to make his name in Hollywood, as part of The Social Network and the man donning Spider-Man's tights in a new movie, and Smith hasn't ruled out a more permanent move.
"It's cool. I like it out there," Smith says of the USA. "You know what, man, I wouldn't say no to living in New York because I love that city, and I wouldn't say no to living in L.A. because I want to have my breakfast by a pool."
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