After earning a place to follow his father's footsteps and study English literature, Robert entered the hallowed halls of Oxford University. For a few years, Robert studied with the aim of fulfilling his academic promise. A few years later, the young scholar found himself bored and frustrated by the limitations of this new career. The promises of academic glory seemed to lose its shine: the work was too solitary and slow and didn't offer enough attention for his taste. Before he finished his degree, therefore, he withdrew from school and moved to London to pursue acting instead.
Soon after arriving in London, Robert filmed small roles in period adaptations of books ranging from classics like The Count of Monte Cristo and I Capture the Castle and fairytales like Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. His big break came when he was cast in the title role as the Old Vic's production of "Hamlet," directed by Trevor Nunn. Because of his youth, Robert shared the role with Al Weaver, performing all nights and weekends except matinees and Mondays, although Robert was featured on the majority of promotional materials. He was widely praised for the role and was even nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. This reception seemed to affirm all of Robert's views of himself: he was finally getting the recognition that he deserved.
Following the acclaim of his Hamlet, Robert seemed ready to take the world of British film and theatre by storm. Against friends' advice, Robert was determined to guide his career himself without the aid of an agent or publicist. Rigidly stubborn about the roles he took, Robert auditioned for many films but turned down roles such as Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter series and in Stardust because he feared taking on roles that would not allow him to showcase what he considered to be his considerable talent or that would take him in directions he deemed too commercial. Unfortunately critics agreed that the choices he made instead were ill-conceived, and with time the acclaim of his Hamlet faded into obscurity following a series of badly received films. Despite his early promise, and although he received acclaim for his role in The Libertine (and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the role), his projects of the next few years failed to impress audiences. Films like Stoned went unseen, while others like Factory Girl, Imagine Me and You, and Outlaw were panned by critics. Although he was overjoyed to be cast as Mitya in the National Theatre's stage adaptation of the Russian film Burnt by the Sun, Robert found himself frustrated by how quickly his star had seemed to rise and fall; the career that had started so promisingly seemed to have stalled just as quickly as it had begun.
Two months before the show opened, however, Robert's life changed dramatically when it was announced that he would be replacing the much-beloved David Tennant as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. When the casting was announced, Robert's life changed instantly. Although he had been working steadily since he began his acting career, he had never received the amount of attention that taking on this iconic role gave him. Later that year, An Education came out, breaking Robert's streak of poorly received films. The film, which was eventually nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, also gave Robert more attention by a public who was curious to size up the new Time Lord.
Once filming began and throughout his term as the Doctor, Robert was privately ambivalent about his new role. He worried about over whether the show's more campy elements would prevent him from being taken seriously as an actor at the same time that he enjoyed his time as the Doctor both because it introduced him to other British talent and because it gave him instant recognition with audiences. He took advantage of this attention to get himself small roles in bigger films like Captain America: The First Avenger and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. In the latter film he played American author F. Scott Fitzgerald and was thus able to show off his ability to do impressions, a skill that he had previously channeled in his portrayal of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in the 2005 film Stoned. Over the next few years, when not taking adventures in the TARDIS, Robert poured himself into the role, viewing each episode as his "audition" to prove himself week after week to
When, after three series, Robert decided to move on from the show, his decision was bittersweet. Not wanting to stall his career any further or to become typecast as the quirky Time Lord, Robert began auditioning immediately and was thrilled when he had the opportunity to revisit both Shakespeare and the National Theatre when he was cast as the villainous Iago in "Othello." He won a Laurence Olivier Award for the role and felt more assured that he would not be the Doctor Since that time he has filmed roles in other serious dramas, helping to ease his worries about the specter of the TARDIS.