Peter Capaldi in Quotes: Here are 13 interesting and funny things the Scottish actor has said about life, love, Doctor Who and Scotland
From ‘The Thick of It’ to ‘Doctor Who’, Oscar-winner Peter Capaldi is one of Scotland’s most recognisable actors – and he’s never short of something to say.
Born in Glasgow in 1958, Peter Capaldi attended St Teresa's Primary School in Possilpark, St Matthew's Primary School in Bishopbriggs, and St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch, before winning a place at the Glasgow School of Art.
He performed from an early age as part of the Antonine Players theatre group in Bishopbriggs, and was in a student punk band called The Dreamboys with future American chatshow host Craig Ferguson – who he also performed comedy with as ‘Bing & Dean Hitler’.
Capaldi’s big screen break came when he was cast as Danny Oldsen in Bill Forsyth’s classic Scottish film Local Hero in 1983 and he has had a successful career ever since – appearing in more than 40 films and television programmes. It’s on the small screen where he is perhaps most familiar, playing the sweary and terrifying spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in ‘The Thick of It’ (returning to the role for the feature film ‘In The Loop’) and as the twelfth incarnation of Doctor Who.
Notable films appearances have included Dangerous Liaisons, Paddington 1 and 2, Christopher Robin, and The Suicide Squad, while in 1993 he won both the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film and the BAFTA for Best Short Film for his short film ‘Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life’.
Here are 13 interesting, amusing and insightful quotes from the Scottish actor.
1. Peter Capaldi on...swearing
"There is no such thing as too much swearing. Swearing is just a piece of linguistic mechanics. The words in-between are the clever ones."
Photo: ANDREW COWIE
2. Peter Capaldi on...his Italian heritage
"My Italian granny and my mother made great spaghetti, but it wasn't a kind of southern Italian, Godfather-esque kind of thing - it was a wonderful, big mixing pot of all kinds of people - when you came home from school and your mum wasn't in, there were lots of people you could go to."
Photo: Lisa Maree Williams
3. Peter Capaldi on...his big break
"Before 'Local Hero,' I'd been knocking about Glasgow in rock bands, drinking too much and generally being 21. My opinion of actors was that they were straight and boring, so you see, I was completely unprepared for being one."
Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS
4. Peter Capaldi on...the Internet
"I hate the Internet. It's full of rubbish. I'm on it all the time, watching terrible, useless things and ossifying my brain."
Photo: Mark Kolbe