12 Best Matt Smith Movies And TV Shows, Ranked

Matt Smith feels like a mess of contradictions. He often comes across as charming and even a little bit goofy, but can also imbue his work with a surprising amount of menace. He’s excellent at picking television series to work on, but has appeared in bomb after bomb on the big screen. So what can we make of this actor who seems to be made up of so many different parts?

An aspiring football player (soccer football, not American football), Smith made the switch the acting after an injury sidelined his athletic career. After a string of small roles on television, he landed what would become his big break playing the Doctor on “Doctor Who.” Since then, he’s taken on a variety of different roles, sometimes the hero and sometimes the villain (and often somewhere in between), appearing in both film and television. And although we’re all painfully aware of some of his worst films (sorry, “Morbius,” but even Smith doing a vampire shimmy dance couldn’t save you), what are the best projects he’s worked on? Look no further — here are the greatest hits of Matt Smith’s career.

Buckle up, folks, this is a weird one. “Womb” is an indie drama that stars Eva Green and Matt Smith as a couple who have been deeply in love since childhood. But just when it seems like they’re going to get their happily ever after, Tommy (Smith) is unceremoniously killed in a traffic accident. Stricken by grief, Rebecca (Green) makes the controversial decision to have Tommy cloned, carry him to term, and raise him as her son.

We wish we could tell you that was the bizarre part of “Womb.” It would make us so unbelievably happy to be able to report that “Womb” doesn’t get even a tiny bit stranger. But unfortunately, all of us are doomed to disappointment. Because once Tommy 2.0 reaches adulthood … well, Oedipal instincts are strong between the two of them, let’s leave it at that. “Womb” is not the best-reviewed film of Matt Smith’s career, but its an undeniably interesting one, even if it ends up going a little far off the deep end, perhaps further than most mainstream audiences are willing to follow. Released during Smith’s run on “Doctor Who,” it showcased a very different side of the actor — and that’s putting it mildly.

In his first foray in to the world of edgy biopics, “Mapplethorpe” tells the story of Robert Mapplethorpe, a photographer who took the New York City art scene by storm with his vivid and often controversial work. Although Mapplethorpe’s art is now iconic, the film about his life is a bit more of a mixed bag, more focused on getting from point A of his career to point B — with as many celebrity artists namedropped along the way as possible — than weaving a compelling tale for audiences. 

But despite this, there are two saving graces of “Mapplethorpe.” The first is Matt Smith’s performance in the lead role, which delves deep into the temperamental photographer as much as the script allows him to. And while the theatrical release isn’t much to write home about, creating a disappointingly conventional film out of the life of a noted iconoclast, there’s a director’s cut of “Mapplethorpe” that’s much more engaging, coming closer to the type of biopic that Mapplethorpe himself deserves. 

Another day, another eerily menacing performance from Matt Smith. In “Charlie Says,” he plays the beguiling Charles Manson, who amassed a cult full of followers whose crimes culminated in the murder of — amongst others — actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child. Although his name is in the title and Charles Manson is the film’s most famous figure, “Charlie Says” actually revolves around the women who made up the Manson Family, and willingly followed him into some very dark places. 

Central to the story are Lulu (Hannah Murray), Katie (Sosie Bacon), and Sadie (Marianne Rendón), three of the girls who adored Manson and went on to take part in some of his most brutal crimes. “Charlie Says” splits its time between their early days with the Manson family and their time in prison, where they meet with a graduate student (Merrit Weaver) who attempts to deprogram them. It may have been overshadowed by Netflix’s showier “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” but “Charlie Says” benefits from a focused, deeply disturbing performance from Smith that’s always framed within the context of his manipulative relationships with the women in his life. He’s not charming in a way that’s supposed to make the audience like him against their better judgment, but rather to give us insight into what drew them to him in the first place.

There are some who would say that it’s nigh-on impossible to find a new way to film the story of “Pride and Prejudice,” one of Jane Austen’s most celebrated novels. But then there stands “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” in bloody defiance to prove them wrong. The premise is simple: It follows the same basic narrative as “Pride and Prejudice,” only all of the characters live in a version of Georgian England plagued by a zombie outbreak, and they act accordingly. Mrs. Bennet may be consumed by finding her girls respectable matches, but they’re all just as concerned with fighting off the next onslaught of zombie marauders. 

Matt Smith plays Mr. Collins, a pompous, insufferable cousin who stands to inherit the Bennet estate, since they did not have the foresight to produce any sons of their own. And when he sets his cap at Elizabeth as a potential bride, he makes no secret of his expectation that she’ll give up zombie hunting to be a proper parson’s wife — a future she’s spectacularly uninterested in. Is “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” the most accurate of all the Austen adaptations? Well, no, obviously not. As far as we can remember, there aren’t any soul-sucking monsters in Austen’s original text (unless you count Lady Catherine de Bourgh). But despite its flaws, it’s certainly one of the most fun adaptations of a Jane Austen novel.

Although it only came out four years ago and features a star-studded cast that includes Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, “The Forgiven” has been largely forgotten by mainstream audiences, perhaps due to its small-scale storytelling and lack of a major theatrical presence. Set in Morocco, “The Forgiven” follows a couple (Fiennes and Chastain) after they accidentally strike and kill a local teenager with their car. Matt Smith plays Richard Galloway, a close friend of the two who they entrust with the information about their accident — even bringing the body of the teen to his house. 

As unlikable as all three characters tend to be, you can’t help but feel something — even if its just a form of pity — over their weak grappling with issues of guilt, morality, and justice. Bolstered by strong performances from Smith, Chastain, and especially Fiennes in the meatiest role, “The Forgiven” is a nasty little crime thriller that deserves to be seen by a far wider audience than it has received thus far.

A moody folk horror film, “Starve Acre” is as strange as it is unsettling. A seemingly happy family settle on a old farm deep within the moors, where their normally sweet young son Owen begins to act out of character, having conversations with a mysterious figure he refers to as Jack Grey. (This, historically, is never a good sign, especially in a folk horror movie.) And when a tragedy turns their lives on their heads, things rapidly begin to unravel, with Richard (Matt Smith) becoming convinced that he has found a door on his property, a gap in the wall where the spirit of nature has the power to enter the real world. 

There, a rabbit recomposes itself from mere bone to a living, breathing animal once more, an animal that Richard and his wife Jules (Morfydd Clark) feel compelled to nurture. Eerie and otherworldly, “Starve Acre” is never quite scary. However, it possesses a slow and foreboding sense of atmosphere that creeps into the film like the ominous mist that accompanies the spirit of nature, making for a worthwhile watch, especially for fans of Smith who want see him in a role that is so completely different from the rest of his filmography.

In many refugee stories, there’s a sense that once the perilous journey to a new land is over, the relieved migrants can start the process of building up their lives again in peace. But, as “His House” reminds us, we can never fully escape the past, or the things we’ve done in the name of survival. When Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) arrive in the United Kingdom from war-torn South Sudan, they face all the usual challenges of asylum-seekers, including prejudice and a system designed to provide only the bare minimum of support. 

And when they’re assigned a house to live in by their apathetic case worker Mark (Matt Smith), it isn’t long before they begin to sense a dark presence haunting them there. It’s what they believe to be a night witch, forcing them to confront their past and make peace with their own acts of desperation. A bold and moving horror film, “His House” uses the terrors of the refugee experience — few of which completely go away just because migrants have reached solid ground — to craft a new take on the haunted house subgenre.

Everyone likes a good whistleblower story. In “Official Secrets,” Kiera Knightley plays Katharine Gun, a government analyst who happens upon a document that suggests certain countries (say, the United States and the United Kingdom) working together to run a spy operation targeting diplomats from UN Security Council nations. If things go according to plan, they’ll be able to blackmail them into supporting an invasion of Iraq. This kind of thing is understandably frowned upon in the international intelligence community. 

Shocked by what she’s seen, Gun makes the life-changing decision to pass this memo to friends who have anti-war sympathies, after which it ends up in the hands of Martin Bright (Matt Smith), a journalist for The Observer. When the document is made public and Gun is eventually revealed as the one who leaked it, her life is suddenly in danger, as she is put on trial for violating the Official Secrets Act. “Official Secrets” is a heart-pounding legal thriller that follows in the footsteps of films like “All the President’s Men,” with both Knightley and Smith putting in some of the best work of their careers.

“House of the Dragon,” the inevitable but not quite hotly anticipated prequel series to HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” may have a made a few missteps along the way, but casting Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen was definitely not one of them. Daemon is the mercurial younger brother of the ailing King Viserys (Paddy Considine), torn between his affection and respect for Viserys and his naked desire for the Iron Throne. Does he go about seeking a path to the throne in an unusual way, by marrying his own niece and becoming her consort? Well, sure. But hey, by Targaryen standards, that kind of arrangement is perfectly normal. 

Smith offers up a nuanced take on Daemon, blending his ambitions with genuine love for his wife and family. He may be arrogant and chaotic, but his heart is more often than not in the right place. True blue heroes without any moral ambiguity are rare in the world of “House of the Dragon,” and Daemon certainly isn’t one of those, but Smith’s performance makes him one of the most unexpectedly likable characters on the show, dragging audiences to his side through sheer force of will. Whatever may come for Daemon in the future seasons of “House of the Dragon” — and knowing George R.R. Martin’s brutal fantasy world, it will likely be spectacularly gruesome — but it’s hard not to root for the unhinged little scamp.

“Last Night in Soho” may fall apart a bit during its third act, but up until that point, its a stylish, devilishly fun period thriller from Edgar Wright. It stars Thomasin McKenzie as a young fashion design student who has recently moved to London, hoping that her gift (curse?) for seeing spirits won’t follow her there. But before long, she starts having incredibly immersive dreams where she’s back in the Swinging ’60s, inhabiting the body of an aspiring singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor Joy). 

The more time Ellie (McKenzie) spends in the dream world, the less time she wants to spend awake, and the thinner the line between Ellie and Sandie becomes. But despite the glitz and glamour of this past life, it has its share of darkness, largely represented by Sandie’s manager and pimp, Jack, who is played by Matt Smith. Slick and charismatic, Smith uses his charm for evil in creating a cinematic villain who is all the more threatening for how realistic his exploitation of Sandie is.

When Matt Smith was cast as the Eleventh Doctor on “Doctor Who,” he was suddenly thrust onto a global stage. The show had never been more popular, with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor ushering the quirky science-fiction gem to new heights, and when the actor made the decision to move on from “Doctor Who,” he left massive shoes to fill. Smith was not an obvious choice: He had only a few small credits to his name, and at just 26 he was far younger than any of the other actors who had played the Doctor. But as soon as he made his first appearance, it was clear that he was the perfect actor for the job. 

Despite his youth, he was able to imbue his iteration of the Doctor with a surprising amount of maturity and darkness. Smith stuck with the role for three years, playing the Doctor through the Steven Moffat era of the show before passing the reins on to Peter Capaldi. The iconic sci-fi series has had plenty of high points over the decades, but the version of the TARDIS with Eleven and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) help make some of the very best “Doctor Who” episodes.

Matt Smith’s performance as Prince Philip in “The Crown” represents the union of all the qualities that make him so compelling as an actor. Prince Philip has spent his entire life being molded into a man’s man, the sort of Navy lad who takes action and leads with the full force of his personality. So it’s an odd quirk of fate that he falls in love with Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy), heir to the English throne, and enters into a marriage where he will always have to walk one step behind his wife — an insult to his very specific brand of early 20th century masculinity. 

Yet even while he strains against the limitations of his position as consort (much as we see from him later in “House of the Dragon”), he proves himself to be one of Queen Elizabeth’s most loyal allies and confidants. Their relationship is certainly not a conventional one, and his role is a clear subversion of the handsome prince archetype, but somehow, it all works. Smith played just the first iteration of the character, replaced first by Tobias Menzies and then by Jonathan Pryce to show the passing years, but his performance is the one that best captures the spirit and magnetism of young Prince Philip struggling to carve out a place for himself in a modern monarchy.