Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith , ( born 28 October 1982 ) more commonly known as simply Matt Smith , is an English actor . He portrayed the Eleventh Doctor on " Doctor Who " and in the 2010 two - part storyline " Death of the Doctor " for the " Doctor Who " spin - off series " The Sarah Jane Adventures " . Biography . Early life . Smith grew up in Northampton ( located in the East Midlands of England ) and attended Northampton School for Boys , mocked for having a face " with elbows " . . He originally wanted to be a football er but had to give up this ambition after a back injury . He excelled at sports in school . Matt supports Blackburn Rovers . After encouragement from his drama teacher , he joined the National Youth Theatre . He studied at University of East Anglia , reading Drama and Creative Writing . He did not attend a Drama school . Career . Matt Smith appeared opposite Billie Piper ( who played former companion Rose Tyler ) in " The Ruby In The Smoke " , " The Shadow In The North " , and " Secret Diary Of A Call Girl " . On stage , he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for That Face in 2008 . At twenty - seven years of age , Smith became the youngest actor ever to have played the Doctor on television ( a record held for more than a quarter - century by Peter Davison ) and the first and so far only to be born after the death of the First Doctor , William Hartnell . Following the conclusion of contract negotiations around Christmas 2008 , Smith ' s casting was formally announced during a special broadcast of " Doctor Who Confidential " on BBC Three on 3 January 2009 . Smith began filming his first full episodes as the Doctor in late July 2009 . The exact date of when Matt was cast is uncertain . It is known that Russell T Davies was informed on or just before 10 December 2008 , but during interviews conducted in March and April 2010 to promote Series 5 , Smith repeatedly stated that he had to keep quiet about being cast for three months before the announcement , suggesting he may have been cast as early as October 2008 . Smith announced his departure from Doctor Who on June 1st , 2013 , being replaced with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor in " The Time of the Doctor " . However , a scene was filmed during his final episode which shows the Doctor phoning Clara in the near future concerning his next incarnation ; through this scene Matt returned as the Doctor one last time in a brief cameo appearance at the end of " Deep Breath " . Since being cast as the Doctor , Smith has also starred opposite in the science fiction drama ( released on DVD as " Clone " ) , and has starred as the writer Christopher Isherwood in the BBC television film . Beginning in 2016 , Smith plays Prince Philip in the Netflix original series . He also appeared as himself in " The Five ( ish ) Doctors Reboot " , and " An Adventure in Space and Time " . In fiction . In the 2013 comic story " The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who " , Matt Smith encounters the Eleventh Doctor twice during an incident in which the Doctor finds himself in a parallel universe in which his adventures are chronicled in a TV series titled " Doctor Who " starring Smith . Smith meets the Doctor first at a Doctor Who convention where he initially thinks the Doctor is an expert cosplayer , and later during filming of an episode at which time he realises the Doctor is real . Before departing for his own universe , the Doctor recommends Peter Capaldi to Smith as a potential future Doctor . Although the story was promoted as taking place in the " Real World " , this is not the case as Smith describes plotlines for episodes that were never made .