Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It (2005–2012), for which he received four British Academy Television Award nominations, winning Best Male Comedy Performance in 2010.
Capaldi won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for his 1993 short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. He went on to write and direct the drama film Strictly Sinatra (2001) and directed two series of the sitcom Getting On (2009–2010). Capaldi also played Mr Curry in the family film Paddington (2014) and its sequel Paddington 2 (2017), as well as the Thinker in The Suicide Squad (2021).
He appeared as Professor Marcus in the stage play The Ladykillers. He won a BAFTA Scotland award for Outstanding Contribution to Film & Television. Capaldi wrote a rock album titled St. Christopher. He is married to actress Elaine Collins and the pair have a child together.
Capaldi was born on 14 April 1958 in Glasgow, Scotland, to Gerald and Nancy (née Soutar) Capaldi. His paternal grandfather was Italian, while the rest of his ancestry is Scottish and Irish. His parents ran an ice cream business in Springburn, where they were neighbours and acquaintances of the family of Armando Iannucci, creator of The Thick of It, although the two men did not know each other as children. He was a fan of Doctor Who as a child, and met Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker while a teenager. Capaldi is known to have lived in Bishopbriggs while he was an active member of the Doctor Who fan club.
He attended St Teresa's Primary School in Possilpark, St Matthew's Primary School in Bishopbriggs, and St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch, before attending the Glasgow School of Art. Capaldi displayed an early talent for performance by putting on a puppet show in primary school. While in high school, he was a member of the Antonine Players theatre group, who performed at the Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs. As an art student, he was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called the Dreamboys, whose drummer was future comedian Craig Ferguson. The pair also performed a cabaret act together as Bing & Dean Hitler and wrote an alternative pantomime of Sleeping Beauty.
The first few years of Capaldi's acting career were marked by sporadic appearances, beginning in a 1974 performance of the play An Inspector Calls; his first onscreen appearance occurred in 1981 as Joe Edwards in the Charles Gormley film Living Apart Together. Starting in 1983, Capaldi received many more roles, appearing in diverse mediums as film, television, and theatre; he appeared as Beatles member John Lennon in a performance of John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert at the Young Vic, and the same year had a significant role in the film Local Hero as Danny Oldsen.
The early years of his career saw him primarily acting in films - on both the big screen and television. Some of his major roles on the big screen include the archaeology student Angus Flint in The Lair of the White Worm, and Azolan, a valet in pre-Revolution France in Dangerous Liaisons, both in 1988. His roles in television films include playing another Beatle, George Harrison, in John and Yoko: A Love Story in 1985, and Robert McRae in Chain in 1990. He portrayed roles in theatre such as the servant Fabian in Twelfth Night and the protagonist Jonathan Harker in Dracula, in 1983 and 1984, among many others; and appeared in Shadow of the Noose (1989) and Agatha Christie's Poirot (1991).
1992–2004: Pivot to television
Capaldi got his first starring role on television as Luke Wakefield, a strange man who imagines he has witnessed a crime, in the BBC drama series Mr Wakefield's Crusade in 1992. He also featured prominently as the spy chief Mr. Vladimir in the drama miniseries The Secret Agent, also in 1992, and the protagonist's nemesis Dr. Ronnie Pilfrey in the comedy-drama Fortysomething in 2003. He has been part of the regular cast on many shows: the protagonist's uncle Rory in the television adaptation of Ian Banks's The Crow Road, and the angel Islington in Neil Gaiman's BBC Two gothic fantasy serial Neverwhere, both in 1996. His minor and guest roles have included: a TV producer named Tristan Campbell in two episodes of the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley in 1994, and an appearance as a university professor in the sitcom Peep Show in 2004.
He auditioned for the role of Benjamin Sisko in the sci-fi series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1992, though he lost the role to Avery Brooks. He was invited, in 1995, to audition for the role of the Eighth Doctor for the Doctor Who television movie, though he declined stating: "I didn't go. I loved the show so much, and I didn't think I would get it, and I didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors."
As he took on more and more roles on television, Capaldi's roles in films and on-stage mostly included minor or supporting roles, with major titles including Gareth in the comedy film Bean in 1997, and the French poet and director Jean Cocteau in the biographical film Modigliani in 2004; investigator Luke Fitzwilliam in a stage adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel, Murder Is Easy at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1993; and as journalist and art critic Robbie Ross in the premiere run of the stage play The Judas Kiss at the Almeida Theatre in 1998, with the play subsequently moving to the West End of London and then to Broadway in New York City.
These years marked the beginning of Capaldi's occasional writing and directing career: he wrote and starred in the film comedy Soft Top Hard Shoulder in 1992, which won the audience award at the London Film Festival; and directed the short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, which starred Richard E. Grant and which was nominated and won various awards, with IndieWire's Erik Kohn describing it as "a brilliant mix of gothic horror and holiday cheer" and praising the ambiguous nature of the film. Capaldi also wrote and directed the drama film Strictly Sinatra, starring Ian Hart and Kelly Macdonald in 2001.
These years saw Capaldi performing in various radio shows and audiobooks, with major roles including the German filmmaker and author Wim Wenders in Emotion Pictures, airing on BBC Radio 3 in 1996; and Chief Petty Officer Grieves in the BBC Radio 7 (now BBC Radio 4 Extra) comedy series Our Brave Boys between 2002 and 2005.
2005–2012: Rise to fame and accolades
Before taking over the lead role in Doctor Who, Capaldi was best known for playing spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the Armando Iannucci-written BBC sitcom The Thick of It from 2005 to 2012. Tucker is said to be largely, if loosely, based upon Tony Blair's right-hand man Alastair Campbell, although Capaldi has said that he based his performance more on Hollywood power players, such as the often abrasive Harvey Weinstein. A film spin-off from The Thick of It titled In the Loop was released in 2009; Capaldi reprised his role.
The role of Tucker was met with acclaim and won Capaldi several awards. From 2006 thorough 2010 he was nominated various times at both the BAFTA TV Awards and Royal Television Society Awards for Best Comedy Actor. He won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Male Performance in a Comedy Role. He also won the 2010 and 2012 British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor.
Other major roles during these years included: Dr Pete in the Scottish crime-drama series The Field of Blood in 2011, for which he received a BAFTA Scotland nomination in the TV actor category, though he was beaten by his co-star Jayd Johnson; and Randall Brown on the BBC Two drama The Hour in 2012, receiving a BAFTA nomination for the role.
Minor roles on television included Sid's dad Mark Jenkins in the E4 teen comedy drama series Skins in 2007, though his character was killed off in the second series; King Charles I in the historical fiction The Devil's Whore in 2008, and Balthazar in the drama series The Nativity, based on the Nativity of Jesus in 2010. He also only held minor roles in films and stage-acting during this time: priests in the horror film Wild Country and comedy film The Best Man, both in 2005, and a small role as therapist Peter VanGellis in the comedy film Big Fat Gypsy Gangster in 2011, written by and starring his Getting On co-star Ricky Grover, the absurdist play Absurdia in 2007 in the Donmar Warehouse; and Professor Marcus in The Ladykillers at the Liverpool Playhouse and Gielgud Theatre in London in 2011.