Born in Glasgow, Capaldi studied at Glasgow School of Art before, at the age of twenty-three, landing a role in the 1983 film, Local Hero. Sailing on its success Capaldi featured in several films and TV shows. In 1995 he won the best Live Action Short Film Oscar for Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life, which he wrote and directed. In 2010 he won a BAFTA for his intense performance as the government spin-doctor, Malcolm Tucker, in the BBC comedy series The Thick of It. Capaldi was the twelfth doctor in the BBC science fiction series, Doctor Who (2005-2012). Taken in 1999, this photograph shows the actor as a contemplative figure, looking out of the composition as though distracted by something beyond the frame.