HBO’s House of the Dragon has been both a critical and commercial success thus far, thanks largely in part to the stellar performance of Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen.
For being as prolific an actor as Matt is, there’s quite a lot that remains unknown about him . So in order to shed a little spotlight on the series’ breakout character, here are 21 facts about House of the Dragon star, Matt Smith .
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Matt’s first non-acting job was working at The Rat & Parrot in Northampton.
In case you were curious, The Rat & Parrot is a popular pub chain. On Matt’s first day, a patron was sick to their stomach all over the carpet and Matt was tasked to clean it up.
He’s a closeted and humble musician when he’s not in front of the camera.
During an interview for HBO Max, Matt was asked by his co-star, Milly Alcock, “What’s one thing you wished you’d started earlier?” To which Matt replied, ” Playing the piano .”
Matt has never sat through a single ‘Star Wars’ film, nor does he have plans to.
Matt admitted that he’s seen bits and pieces of the new trilogy, but as far as the original Skywalker Saga is concerned, he remains uninitiated.
He has a deep love and appreciation for Keanu Reeves.
When Matt learned that Keanu had seen Morbius , he was over the moon with excitement. Among Keanu’s top films, Matt includes My Own Private Idaho , Constantine , and The Devil’s Advocate .
Matt has played a number of incredibly high-profile characters.
If you think that Matt looks familiar, it’s for good reason. He famously played the Eleventh Doctor in the time-honored BBC series, Doctor Who , and a young Duke of Edinburgh in The Crown.
He has a friendly rivalry with a couple of very well-known Hollywood A-listers.
While making an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, Matt revealed that in his younger years he was always getting beat to the punch by Andrew Garfield and Eddie Redmayne .
Matt hated filming the council scenes in ‘House Of The Dragon’.
Matt said that his favorite scenes to film were the combat scenes because the days tend to go more quickly. On the other hand, the scenes with the small council were allegedly an absolute bore .
Matt has an idea of what he would’ve been had acting not panned out.
At first, Matt wistfully answered that he would’ve liked to have been a football player (European football). But upon further reflection, he said that in more realistic terms, he’d have been a fashion designer .
He’s a huge fan of erotic thrillers.
Matt is quick to point out that erotic thrillers from the ’90s are his personal favorite. Among the cream of the crop, Matt is quick to hail Sliver starring Tom Berenger and Sharon Stone as being the cream of the crop.
There’s a short list of actors that Matt aspires to work with one day.
The first name that comes to mind for Matt is Will Ferrell, although he’s unsure of whether he’d be able to get through a single scene without breaking character . Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis are also among the select few.
Matt is technically a part of the MCU.
In the past few years, Matt’s career prospects have literally exploded. Most recently, he portrayed the vampiric antagonist Loxias Crown (aka Hunger) in Morbius , opposite Jared Leto. The film may have been a critical disappointment, but Matt’s performance is top-notch.
He has one major pet peeve while on set.
Whenever Matt is in the middle of a scene, he becomes incredibly disgruntled whenever he hears someone in the background fidgeting or talking when they shouldn’t be . In fairness, who wouldn’t be ticked off by such a flagrant show of disrespect?
Matt was a fan of the original ‘Game Of Thrones’ series.
That should go without saying. When Matt was asked by his co-star, Milly Alcock, to name his favorite Game of Thrones moment, he quickly replied ” The Battle of the Bastards .” Gee, I wonder why?
He isn’t one for gratuitous sex scenes.
This might come as a bit of a shock, especially considering Matt’s aforementioned love for erotic thrillers. He often found himself asking ” Do we need another sex scene? ” While filming House of the Dragon.
Matt is a devoted dog-lover.
Matt is the proud owner of a handsome young Irish Terrier named Bobby. He was even spotted back in August wearing an oversized tan dress shirt that perfectly matched Bobby’s sleek and fuzzy caramel coat.
He’s utterly repulsed by US snacks.
While participating in a UK vs. USA Snack Wars for LADBible with his House of the Dragon co-star, Paddy Considine, it was all Matt could do to keep from vomiting up each US snack offering.
The ‘House Of The Dragon’ star is a certified film buff.
While conducting an interview with Josh Horowitz, Matt revealed that he’s currently making his way through filmmaker Edgar Wright’s list of 1000 favorite films . Matt is particularly drawn to films from the ’80s.
Matt has met several members of the Royal Family.
Ironically enough, Matt’s introduction didn’t come on the set of The Crown . Instead, he met Princes William and Harry, as well as their father, King Charles , while he was working on the set of Doctor Who.
He was a huge fan of the British rock band Oasis.
Being that Matt’s love for the ’90s has been well-documented, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Matt also made a cameo appearance in founding member Noel Gallagher’s music video for the song “We’re On Our Way Now.”
Matt thoroughly enjoyed learning High Valyrian, much to his own surprise.
“I found it really informative, actually, because it allowed me to understand a different sort of authenticity to Daemon that isn’t in the Common Language that I speak,” Matt said in an interview with SlashFilm.
He has a celebrity crush that ’80s/’90s kids can easily relate to.
When Matt was asked by Larry King to name his celebrity crush, he quickly responded with Cameron Diaz — specifically Cameron’s scintillating performance as Tina Carlyle in The Mask.
