Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife, on 25 November 1965.[1]. He is the son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, a travelling salesman of refrigerators and freezers, and a former actor. He then gained a place on the full-time acting and performance course at Fife College's Kirkcaldy Campus.
Career
Scott began his acting career in national theatre, television, and puppet shows. He appeared in his first role on the television series Soldier Soldier and made his film debut in Twin Town. His first major film roles were as Prince Henry in Ever After and the hero in the film adaptation of the Robert Harris novel Enigma. He played the villain in Mission: Impossible 2 (and was selected to do so by Tom Cruise). He was cast to play Wolverine in the feature film version of X-Men, but Mission: Impossible 2 went over schedule, and he was injured in a motorbike accident while shooting the chase scene. He was forced to drop out of the project and was replaced by Hugh Jackman in X-Men.[2][3]
After the 2002 release of Die Another Day, Scott was a candidate to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.[4] Despite the numerous reports that Eon Productions was leaning towards naming Scott as the new Bond in the 007 adventure Casino Royale, the role eventually went to Daniel Craig. In January 2006, he appeared in the miniseries The Ten Commandments as Moses. He also appeared in the NBC series Heist, which aired in March 2006 for five episodes. From 2006 until 2007, he starred in the third season of Desperate Housewives as Teri Hatcher's character's new love interest. In 2007, he played the primary antagonist in the film Hitman, based on the Hitman video games. He appeared in the title role(s) of a modern re-telling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In May 2009, it was announced that he was to play ex-con Michael O' Connor in the new RTÉ-ITV drama Father & Son.
Scott starred in The Day of the Triffids.[5] The drama was broadcast in December 2009 as part of the BBC One Christmas schedule.[6] In 2011, Scott featured in the film Love's Kitchen alongside his wife Claire Forlani. In April 2011, Scott portrayed football manager Matt Busby in the BBC TV drama United, which was centred on the Munich air disaster of 1958, in which Busby was badly injured but survived. In 2013, he guest starred as para-psychological researcher/ghost hunter Alec Palmer in the Doctor Who episode "Hide". In 2014, Scott portrayed the main villain in Taken 3.[7]
In March 2016, Scott became the voice of Orby in adverts for the oil and gas company BP.[8] In April 2016, Scott appeared in the second season of Fear the Walking Dead as Thomas Abigail, Victor Strand's business partner and lover.[9] In 2019, Scott joined the CW series Batwoman as Jacob Kane, the title character's father, set in the Arrowverse. He left the series during its second season.[10] He appeared on the show Crime, for which he received a BAFTA and an International Emmy. In 2025, Scott played in the Netflix movie Exterritorial his first German-speaking role alongside Jeanne Goursaud.[11]
Dougray Scott in 2010
Personal life
Scott is the father of twins (b. 1998), with former wife Sarah Trevis.[12] On 8 June 2007, he married actress Claire Forlani in Italy.[13] They have a son[14] born 27 December 2014. Scott is a fan of Hibernian Football Club, stemming from a grand-uncle being a scout for the team.[15] Three maternal great-uncles were football referees, Tom Dougray being the most prominent.[16]
Politics
Scott is in favour of Scottish independence. In March 2023, he told The Big Issue: "The question a lot of people always ask is, how can Scotland pay for itself? That's not the question to ask, we can look after ourselves. We could outlast the English purely based on Irn-Bru profits ... The question is, would it serve the country better to have its own government? We have a particular vision of the world, which is why I think it makes sense to have independence and we have many great stories to tell."[17]
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