The five movies, and one actor, Matt Smith couldn’t live without
First charming the world as the 11th iteration of The Doctor in Doctor Who, Matt Smith has since gone from obscure thespian to British acting royalty.
Literally, he played Prince Phillip in the first two seasons of The Crown before being cast as the ‘Rogue Prince’ Daemon Targaryen in Game of Thrones‘ spin-off House of the Dragon.
He’s also made plenty of appearances in films over the past few years, from his MCU debut in Morbius to fellow Briton Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho. And, this year alone, he’s set to appear as a mohawk-sporting punk in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing and the TV adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel, The Death of Bunny Monro. He’s also been announced as a cast member in the next Star Wars film instalment, alongside Ryan Gosling and Mia Goth.
Without even mentioning his stage career, it’s safe to say he’s well established on the world stage. While he’s yet to win any big awards, he still manages to act most of his castmates under the table, no matter what he’s starring in. During interviews and press runs, he’s made it clear he’s passionate and educated in his form of art, again, usually much more so than his colleagues. So, his list of five movies and one actor he couldn’t live without will probably surprise you.
When asked by Mr Porter what film he never gets tired of watching, his answer was straight to the point: “Notting Hill”. Yes, you read that right, the 1990s Hugh Grant rom-com. You might have been expecting some critically acclaimed British films, some obscure arthouse film or even some frequently mentioned classics, but no, Smith needs something a little more lighthearted. To be fair, he’s probably just like many of us when it comes to films you can watch again and again.
They don’t need to be masterpieces or even your favourite films; they just need to be solidly good and entertaining. Probably even comforting. And, honestly, who doesn’t think of ’90s Hugh Grant when they think of comfort? When the interviewer double checked if Smith wanted to stick with his unusual choice, he doubled down without shame, “I never get tired of watching Notting Hill, or Four Weddings and a Funeral”.
Film number two also features Mr Grant, only this time he’s starring alongside another American rom-com queen, Andie McDowell, instead of the other ’90s ‘It Girl’, Julia Roberts. The former film has him fall for Roberts as a famous American actor, while the latter has him fall for MacDowell as an unavailable wedding guest. Truly, pure comfort.
And there was no stopping him from revealing all of his not-so-guilty pleasures. “I watched Point Break the other day,” he boasted, making sure to clear up something important, “Not the new one, the old one”. So, another ’90s romance if you consider the chemistry between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, which you definitely should.
In all seriousness, the 1991 Kathryn Bigelow film about surfing criminal masterminds is beloved for its relationship between Swayze and Reeves and is widely considered a cult favourite, constantly referenced in other media, and, of course, inspired the god-awful 2015 remake that seems to have thankfully fallen into obscurity and away from Matt Smith’s eyes as well.
The actor keeps going with a mention of another cult action flick, Tango & Cash. An anti-buddy cop movie, it follows Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as the titular characters and rival detectives who team up to stop a criminal mastermind. The film was and continues to be a critical disaster, but it undoubtedly epitomises the campy police action films of the ’80s and was, of course, a box office hit at the time.
Last but seemingly not least for Smith was Adventures in Babysitting. Can you tell Smith was an ’80s kid? We’ve had ’90s rom-coms and action flicks, now a classic Christopher Columbus teen comedy. Clearly, his comfort movies are those he grew up with, and Adventures in Babysitting follows exactly what you might imagine. A reluctant babysitter who gets into all kinds of mishaps with the children she’s tasked with looking after when her friend gets into some trouble downtown.
It’s definitely an unlikely one from Smith, but his reasoning becomes clear: “Do you remember that? Watch that, Elisabeth Shue. I mean, Elisabeth Shue in everything!” Clearly, we’ve stumbled across a childhood crush. Shue was somewhat of a teen idol, starring in many teen films of the decade, including The Karate Kid and the Back to the Future franchise. Apparently, Smith would watch her in anything, so she must have been a formative experience for him.
Five of Matt Smith’s must-watch films:
- Notting Hill (Roger Michell, 1999)
- Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994)
- Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)
- Tango & Cash (Andrei Konchalovsky, Albert Magnoli, 1989)
- Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columbus, 1987)
