Doctor Who star Matt Smith’s big-screen career got an almighty boost when he was cast in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, How To Catch A Monster .
Smith joins Christina Hendricks in the fantasy noir, with the Mad Men actress starring as a single mum drawn to an underwater town in search of her missing child.
Speaking to Total Film magazine for our Future 100 mega-issue (which covers the most exciting happenings in movies and is out on 10 May 2013), Smith explained how he came to be cast by Gosling:
“I was in New York and I was about to fly back, and then I got a phone call saying Ryan wanted to meet me and come over. So I read his film and I thought it was brilliant.
“And then I auditioned and we spent about four hours together doing some stuff, and he filmed it on his iPhone. And that was it. And now I’m going off to shoot it in a couple of weeks.
“I’m really excited. I think he’s really clever, and I think it’s going to be an exciting project.”
When we asked if Gosling had asked him to do any specific preparation for the role, Smith responded, “Yeah. I’m doing lots of research around different people and stuff. But, again, I won’t go into too much. I’m sure this is all fine to talk about. When I know I can, I will.
“But I’m reading a couple of books. I’m watching a couple of documentaries by a particularly famous documentary-maker everyone knows and has seen one of his documentaries. And obviously just trying to get the acting right. But at the moment, I’m shooting Who . Sort of juggling both balls, as it were.”
Smith went on to add that he’d be doing an American accent for the role, and said that HTCAM “has a wonderful Lynch-ian quality to it.”
How To Catch A Monster is expected to open in 2014. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one…
For much more from Smith, and the other 99 movie people, trends and game-changers you need to watch out for, pick up the Future 100 issue on 10 May 2013.
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