Matt Smith: From Doctor Who to Hollywood?
Update: Does Matt Smith plan to quit Doctor Who after his second season? Not according to co-star Karen Gillan.
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Does Matt Smith plan to quit Doctor Who after his second season?
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Matt plans to quit after the next series. He is eager to try new things and thinks Hollywood beckons.”
But a spokesperson for the BBC insists the star has not made any long-term decisions about his future with the show.
“Matt is filming the Christmas special and then goes on to film the second series,” they said.
“Beyond that, the BBC and Matt won’t speculate on things.”
Christopher Eccleston only lasted as The Doctor for one season, while David Tennant lasted three, along with various specials.
Smith recently finished filming a BBC2 drama about gay writer Christopher Isherwood, due to air in the UK later this year.
Source: Yahoo
Update: He is staying put Karen Gillan tells the more reliable Telegraph: “I think those rumours were made up.”
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27 Responses
@Kate : A female Doctor?! *Bwahahahahahah!!!*
@Kate – The Doctor is male and can’t be made a woman. It would be like making James Bond a female or making Wonder-woman a man. It just doesn’t happen. There have been female time-lords, well time-ladys, but to say the Doctor could be a woman shows a lack of understand of what it is to be time-lord or lady.
Well, the Telegraph is quoting Karen Gillan as saying that Matt Smith has no plans to move on any time soon. I hope she’s right.
You can’t like every doctor Kate – they are all the same man but have their own personalities. To be honest although I was a Tennant fan way before Who, I much prefer the 11th Doctor to the 10th! He is so deliciously alien!
@Kate the thing is with Doctor Who is there is no template for the character of the Doctor, he changes. Matt Smith has taken inspiration from the Second Doctor/Patrick Troughton, who was described as a clown by an earlier incarnation. And Tom Baker was known for being a goofball, both on screen as the Doctor and offscreen. This series has been one of the best according to a lot of fans. In retrospect the 80s era of Doctor wasn’t that bad and neither where the Doctors.
You should leave Matt. I don’t watch Dr Who anymore because you’ve wrecked it.
Unlike David Tennant who has that type of personality to carry it off, an interested, bubbly, curious person, and as a result is the best Doctor ever!
The Doctor isn’t meant to be a goofball, if you’d just go back to the original, he was a little eccentric and absent-minded, that’s not being an idiotic goofball.
The makers of this show have lost their way again, as they did in the 80s with a batch of bad doctors and rotten stories. Get back to what makes it good.
And yeah, how about a female Doctor?
Tennant worked hard during his Who time to keep his profile and diverse, taking, and being offered, a lot of different jobs, during that time. Even now he is still working hard and has already completed a mini-series and is half-way through a movie with two more movies to be finished before the end of November – even without the possible Hulk thing.
Smith himself seems to have taken a leaf from Tennant’s book using the hiatus from Who (filming started again this week) to film the drama Christopher and His Kind in Belfast in May. At this stage he is better off completing the three series of Who and taking his British opportunities. To be honest, with the projects he seems to have chosen so far this idea of heading to Hollywood to chase fame and fortune doesn’t really ring true!
I’m not particularly surprised that this rumor is making the rounds. I certainly wouldn’t put much weight behind it. We know Matt Smith will be playing the Doctor in the next series and I would strongly suspect at the very least the series after that.
I do think though, that if Matt Smith wasn’t playing The Doctor, he’d probably be being talked about for some of the big Hollywood production which seem to be focusing their casting mostly on young British actors. For example X-Men First Class and the Spider-Man reboot.
To be fair David S., from an actor’s point of view, regular work and becoming a household name is enough to define “successful”. After Doctor Who, those five actors have not been out of employment and (with the obvious exceptions of Troughton and Pertwee) continue to work regularly to this day. Heck, even Tom Baker has had something of a career revival with things like Monarch Of The Glen and Little Britain – yes, none of the Doctors were, or became, A-List Hollywood actors, but then, there are very few actors, British or otherwise, that do.
If you’re saying that none of the Doctors got US success after Doctor Who, then, yeah you’re right. But to say that they didn’t have successful careers after Doctor Who is just plain wrong.And frankly speaking (as a would-be actor myself) if I had Peter Davison’s credit list, straight razor would be the last thing in my mind, At Home With The Braithwaites or not.
Honestly, it would be a shame if he did, and an unwise carrer move as I he has not developed his profile nearly siginificantly enough to even make a blip in Hollywood.
Ryan, thanks for demonstrating so convincingly that I should have been more specific in defining “successful” regarding a post-Who career.
The Omen, Worzel Gummidge (!), At Home With The Braithwaites; oh God, that list’s enough to make one leap into the bath, straight razor in hand. Oh, wait, all is not lost, one of them might one day get to reprise the angry green dofus for his umpteenth forgettable outing… Now there’s a career in the midst of a success spiral for you!
@Nudge, The only gay Time Lord in the village?
Matt Smith could be replaced with Matt Lucas,that could develop some Very interesting story lines.
When he signed on the rumour was that he was on a three year contract with an option for two more years! And also he was on a lot less than Tennant – to make any real money from who he has to stay for at least four years!
Two weeks ago the rumour was the BBC were sacking him, now he’s leaving? A month ago the rumour was that Moffatt was leaving at the end of this series!
Just as an aside – I loved that the TV week had a headline ‘Matt quitting for Hollywood” I though “heck the rumour has got everywhere” but it was for Matt Preston.
Three years ago someone I knew rang up the Sun and said that Woody Allen would be starring in Who. She told them she wasn’t connected to the show and it probably wasn’t true! They printed it and paid her.
Regarding the regeneration – well since there is no Gallifrey surely the rules have changed and Moffatt himself hinted at this with River knowing a lot of his regenerations in the future!!
I think the current Matt rumour probably comes from the speculation that River Song is in jail for killing the “best man in the universe”.
The number of regenerations is a moot point – they’ll just do whatever fits the story.
Whilst I’m not prepared to take what the Sun says as gospel truth, to be fair, the Sun’s track record on rumours actually isn’t as bad as people have suggested – they accurately revealed that Eccleston and Piper were leaving, as well as the return of the Master and other such spoilers. So the Sun aren’t quite the blatant liars we’d like to believe they are…
@RoD – I understand Smith is indeed being paid less than Tennant – early rumours suggested Smith was being paid 1 million pounds for a five year contract, while Tennant got his million for only three years (and Tennant was being paid half of what Eccleston was…) However, that’s all rumour so take it with a grain of salt.
And @David S – Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Paul McGann and Christopher Eccleston all continued to work in high profile television and movie projects (Omen, Worzel Gummidge, At Home With The Braithwaites, The Vampire Lestat, Heroes to name just one for each), while Hartnell was too ill to continue acting after Doctor Who. Certainly Tennant’s opportunities seem to be getting better (he’s being tipped by the Los Angeles Times as the next Hulk).
However, all that said, until the BBC announce otherwise, I’m believing that Matt Smith will be staying as the Doctor.
Don’t fret Suzie, Moffat is way too sensible to be bound by some contested notion from last millennium of what’s “canon”. Not that he’ll be around for three incarnations. Too full of other project ideas. (How soon do you think we can hope to see Sherlock, David? It starts 25 July in UK.)
The number of regenerations the Doctor can undergo is, um, complicated:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_%28Doctor_Who%29
Craig’s certainly correct, if it becomes necessary they’ll find a way round any limit.
I think Matt Smith’s a very good Doctor and would be disappointed if he leaves after only two seasons. Really, how many ex-Doctors have made a successful film or TV career after the series? If you get an acting gig in a series like Dr Who you’re better off sticking with it for as long as possible. The odds are that’s the most successful, well paid and famous you’re ever likely to be (unless you die from a drug overdose or auto-erotic asphyxiation of course).
Of course there’s a way around the regeneration limit. The master has already used all of his regenerations once before. Also, the 3rd Doctor once said that his people could live forever, barring accidents.
@Suzie – I knew they had a limit but wasn’t sure of the number, that said I’m sure they would find a way around it, if the time comes.
While I don’t think Matt Smith makes a good Doctor, I do hope he stays around for some years. He is incarnation number 11 and we’ve been lead to believe there are only 13 incarnations. If they could get him to do a Tom Baker and stay for seven years and then get the next two to also stay for seven years then we’ll have Doctor Who around for a decent number of years. Doctor Who will absolutely have to finish at the end of incarnation 13. I’d prefer to be able to watch the good Doctor with my non-existent grandchildren rather than look back on it as a memory.
The BBC is in the middle of budget cuts – and will then have to cut even more expenses under the new government’s austerity programme. In those circumstances, saying you will play The Doctor for 3-4 years is a great way of getting a salary cut. Hinting you are looking elsewhere is a good ploy to get a pay increase – or retain current salary (I suspect Matt’s on a lot less than Tennant was – and he’d be after an increase).
Plus – the story’s from The Sun! I am surprised they didn’t suggest Matt Smith is to play The Rani in the Hollywood Dr Who movie starring Johnny Depp.
1) I have never found a Doctor Who rumour that comes from The Sun or “a source” to ever turn out to be true.
2) I think a key reason they cast a younger Doctor and Companion was because they would have the energy and enthusiasm to do it for the long haul. I’d expect three years minimum for both of them.
Hope he doesn’t leave too soon
It will take more than The Sun to make me believe this rumour.
Well I hope he continues for another season or two and then leave.
I think 3 or 4 complete seasons are about right for a run as The Doctor.
If he does that he’s still young enough to pursue other things – besides the story is in the Sun after all – hardly a paper valued for its truthful virtues!