British actor Matt Smith gained notoriety thanks to his role as Targaryen demon in “House of the Dragon”, the prequel to “Game of Thrones”.
The 39-year-old actor has a long acting career. He was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II a ‘The crown’ and was featured in other series such as Doctor Who. However, his dream was not to be an actor.
Matt Smith wanted to become a footballer
Before you think about acting, Matt Smith He dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. He started playing for his school team and later wore Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest colors. Thanks to his great skills, at the age of 16 he was hired to play in the quarry of Leicester City.
Similarly, the English national team he had an eye on him and could have been chosen to defend the England shirt for the under 16 team. However, some back pain put an end to his plans.
The disease that kept Matt Smith from dreaming
The moment that happened was very difficult, because Smith felt very disappointed and could not see himself doing anything other than playing football professionally.
“It was a difficult time because I felt dissatisfied. To be honest, I was so sure playing football was what I was going to do that it was very difficult for me to tell people that I was diagnosed with this disease. My ego said: ‘I am that, I am a footballer’. And you know how it is: at school I was everybody’s football player and suddenly nothing, “he said for the radio show ‘Desert Island Discs’.
Doctors told him he had cervical espondylosisa disease that causes “natural age-related wear and tear affecting the intervertebral discs in the neck,” this degeneration prevents good performance in sports such as football.
After giving up on his dream, his acting teacher signed him to take part in a show. Although at first he did not want to participate in the theater festival, after much insistence he joined the National Youth Theater From London. Eventually, Matt decided to study drama and creative writing in college.
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