Doctor Who actor Matt Smith has discussed what attracted him to the role of avant-garde photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

Written and directed by Ondi Timoner (Dig!, Brand: A Second Coming), Mapplethorpe begins filming this summer.

The new biopic film will also star Girls actress Zosia Mamet as Patti Smith, Mapplethorpe’s one-time lover and best friend.

Smith told EW in a recent interview: “He’s a fascinating man and his art and his photographs and his lifestyle, I think the time and the culture that he lived in were a very interesting period. I’m interested in that, and I’m interested in his psychology.”

He added: “I thought it would be a challenge, and I love New York. This is a story that’s really based and set in New York, so it felt like an interesting project to try and take on.”

Mapplethorpe is best known for his controversial sexual images of New York’s underground BDSM scene and died of AIDS in 1989 at the age of 42.

Matt Smith can currently be seen in UK cinemas in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, with his Netflix series The Crown and zombie thriller Patient Zero arriving later this year.

Are you looking forward to the movie? Let us know below…