Before They Were Doctors: The Stars Before They Were Famous
By Sundi Rose
In this weekly new series, Before They Were Doctors, we’re taking a closer look at the stars of Doctor Who before they were on the show.
This week in “Before They Were Doctors,” we’re starting with Peter Capaldi. He had a pretty successful career before he ever assumed the role of the Doctor in 2008, and he’s got a lot of interesting stuff in his past. Here’s a few times you would have seen him before he was a doctor.
He won an Oscar.
That’s right… Capaldi brought home the Academy Award for a short film called Franz Kafza’s It’s A Wonderful Life. The film, which also won a BAFTA award, was about “Kafka’s struggle to write the first line of his famous novel, Metamorphosis.”
Here’s the trailer:
Coincidentally, the short film has a Whovian link. It starred Richard Grant, who’s played the animated Doctor in some of the animated adventures. Grant also played The Great Intelligence alongside Matt Smith.
He was in a punk band with Craig Ferguson.
Long before he was a Time Lord or a screenwriter, he was in a band along side the former host of The Late, Late Show. Sadly, the band, called Dreamboys, wasn’t a giant success, but I guess we should be glad his music career didn’t take off. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have him as our current Doctor.
Here’s an interview of Capaldi when he appeared on Ferguson’s show in 2009.
He played a transgender cabaret singer.
Capaldi did his best Marilyn Monroe impression in the short-lived, gritty, NBC crime drama, Prime Suspect. It’s a treasure to see our Doctor pout and sashay his way through a rendition of “I Want To Be Loved By You,” and you’ll be so glad you watched it.
Check out Capaldi in drag. You’re welcome forever.
He fought zombies alongside Brad Pitt in World War Z.
In the film, Capaldi played a doctor with the World Health Organization, WHO doctor, if you will. The producers of the film had prior knowledge that he would be the next Doctor, so in the credits, he’s listed as “W.H.O. Doctor.” Two months later, the BBC officially announced casting, naming Capaldi as the lead.
Photo: Paramount/Skydance
He was the voice of a cartoon penguin.
Capaldi voiced the character of quirky Uncle Nigel in the television series, Penguins of Madagascar. In his episode, he pops in for a quick visit from across the pond to visit his nephew, Private.
Photo: Nickelodeon
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His role as The Doctor wasn’t his first appearance in the Whoniverse.
In 2008, he guest starred in David Tennant’s episode “The Fires of Pompeii” (which also featured a pre-Amy Karen Gillan) and a year later he appeared as government official John Frobisher in “Torchwood: Children of Earth.” All this interplay makes for a confusing explanation of the mythology, but it neatly closes the loop for us.