Smith Talks about his Doctor

DOCTOR Who's Matt Smith said he can never shake being the Time Lord from his mind - a year before viewers see him in the role.
In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Smith compared taking on the mantle with becoming the new Sherlock Holmes or James Bond. Last month Smith was named as the 11th Time Lord since the programme first aired in 1963. He replaces David Tennant at the helm of the Tardis and is due to first appear on screens in the role in 2010. Smith told the magazine:

"This show is so alive, it really is. "I can't ever quite forget that I'm the Doctor - which is weird, because it's still so far away. "But it's always there in my subconscious, because it's the Doctor! "It's like, there's Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Doctor Who. It has resonance in our cultural fabric."

At just 26, Smith has become the youngest ever Doctor and, although previously relatively unknown, he has appeared in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys at the National Theatre in London and alongside Christian Slater in Swimming With Sharks in the West End. Smith told how he would need to tone down his dress sense for the part. Asked what he might wear as the Doctor, Smith said: "I'm a big fan of long coats and rather dashing scarves in everyday life, so who knows? "

For the audition, I rocked up in whatever, so I think they're having to tone down what I wear in real life for the Doctor! "I am a rather elaborate dresser. That's what's lovely, there are all these exciting things - what's he going to wear, what's he going to do in his first scene with his companion, which monsters will he meet, will he meet the Daleks?" On playing a 950-year-old Time Lord, Smith said he wanted to make the BBC show "part of my fibre". He said incoming head writer Steven Moffat "has this show ingrained in his soul and searing through his blood". He continued: "It's really borne into his whole fabric - and that's the job for me over the next few months, to make this show part of my fibre.

"I think Steven is going to be the main creative source for me and we're going to discover it together - who the Doctor is in Steven's mind and words, coupled with pockets of my personality, my history, my life, and the man and the human being that I am." He said he planned to sit round a table with executive producer Piers Wenger and Moffat, read the scripts together and talk about the part. Smith said:

"We'll talk about my intentions, their intentions, how we feel it can fly, and sing, and be as brilliant and as Doctor-y and as excellent as it can be." :: The full interview appears in issue 405 of the official Doctor Who Magazine, out today.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/2009/02/04/i-think-about-doctor-who-all-the-time-reveals-new-timelord-matt-smith-86908-21096734/

NEW Doctor Who Matt Smith admits that he is jittery about taking over from hugely popular David Tennant.

The virtual unknown said he even thought about turning telly’s top role DOWN for fear he could not live up to the Scottish actor.
And he revealed that strangers have already approached him to warn he has big shoes to fill in the BBC1 hit.

Posh thesp Matt, 26, said: “You have the debate in your head at some point, whether or not you should say yes.
“It’s a big commitment, and there’s a huge fanbase, and all the responsibility that comes with it.”
In his first interview since he won the job, he told Doctor Who mag: “I was in the pub the other day, having Sunday lunch with my sister, and a lady came up to me. She told me that I have big boots to fill. I thought, ‘Well, it’s lucky I’ve got big feet!’
“But I just so wanted to be the Doctor. I’d have been mental to not do it, I think! I like the idea of a challenge.”

The star — previously best known for stage roles and smaller TV parts — also revealed he is nervous about how his life will change once he is seen on screen.

He takes over from David, 37, to become the 11th Time Lord next year — and says he was stunned when news of his hiring made front pages.

He said: It’s something that I’m having to adapt to. I go largely unnoticed, to be honest, I think, at the moment, which is quite nice. I’m enjoying my anonymity.”
Meanwhile Matt, who has a Brazilian girlfriend, is loving ploughing through scripts with show boss Steven Moffat and working on what his Doc will be like.
He said: “We’ll talk about my intentions, their intentions, how we feel it can fly, and sing, and be as brilliant and as Doctor-y and as excellent as it can be.

“That’s what’s lovely, there are all these exciting things — what’s he going to wear, what’s he going to do in his first scene with his companion, which monsters will he meet, will he meet the Daleks.”

He said he would be in the role for at least two series, and hoped to have “some time to develop it, and see how the Doctor develops on me.”
He added: “I think there’s a real prospect for change over the series, because I’m going to grow as a man, personally.

“I’ll hit 30 in 2012, and that’s an important stage of growing up, and how brilliant to do that as Matt Smith, but also as Matt Smith playing the Doctor.”

Doctor Who magazine is out today.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article2206170.ece