Matt Smith: “I’m Forever Grateful to the World of Doctor Who”

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a new film starring Matt Smith.

I miss Matt. Fortunately, he’s not one of those stars to simply fade away after Doctor Who (sadly, that happens all too often). He’s carving a very successful career out for himself, and his latest work is with his partner, Lily Collins, in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

In the farcical take on Jane Austen’s classic novel, Smith plays Parson Collins, a most unsuitable suitor trying to get the attentions of Lily Collins’ Elizabeth Bennett. Pretty much all the reviews say he steals every scene, so there’s no surprise there. And Smith says he really is a fan of the genre:

“I’ve always kind of been into zombie movies. I think 28 Days Later is the seminal zombie work, as it were. Obviously, this is a slightly different tone to that movie. Yeah. Sadly, I didn’t get to fight many zombies in this one.”

When asked if he joined the move as part of a career-building plan or because it just looked fun to do, he responds:

“I haven’t got any great strategy, really. I just try and base it on what is the interesting part and what I think will be the best challenge. With this, I thought there was a challenge in it and I had an idea about the character that I thought could work. So I sort of ran with it, really.”

This film (and book by Seth Grahame-Smith) is obviously a comedic take on the novel, and Matt’s keen to do similar humourous roles:

“I love comedy. Hopefully it’s funny in this movie. I never sort of set out for it to be a comedic role, as it were. I thought it could always be, I guess I suppose in many ways he’s sort of the fop of the piece, isn’t he somehow? He’s sort of the clown. I guess I’m quite interested in the clowns and the aliens and the outsiders. Parson Collins is very much an outsider in that world. He doesn’t know where he fits in, which made him appealing to play.”

He rightly says he’s proud of his time as the Eleventh Doctor (from 2010 to 2013, including the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor):

“I just think you’ve got to choose things that challenge you in a completely different way, and hopefully the Doctor and Parson feel different. Also, I think going back to theater is quite a good choice to really just get better as an actor.

I mean, I’m playing Prince Philip at the moment, who’s very different to the Doctor as well. So it’s just about choosing work that feels like it’s going to challenge you in a different way. And it has a slightly different form to it, I suppose. But you can’t get too held up in over-considering these things. I think you’ve just got to take what you’re going to want to live in at the end of the day. You know what I mean?”

Finally, he’s asked how it feels to have such an incredibly dedicated fanbase, Whovians who will follow his every move and support his projects, to which he says:

“I mean, the Doctor Who fans, I owe a great debt to. They’re wonderfully loyal, incredibly supportive. I’m just very proud to have been part of that show. It’s a fantastic part. And again, a bit like Parson Collins or even Hamlet or something, it’s a part that has been played before, but allows you to reinvent, if you can be inventive with it. So I’m forever grateful to the world of Doctor Who.”

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is out now at cinemas.

The post Matt Smith: “I’m Forever Grateful to the World of Doctor Who” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.