Dougray Scott
The Scottish actor Stephen Dougray Scott was born on 25th November 1965 in the town of Glenrothes, Fife. He’s known for having memorable movie roles throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, with some of his projects being “Ever After”, “Enigma”, and “Ripley’s Game”.
Dougray inherited his acting talents from his father Alan, who briefly worked in showbiz before becoming a travelling salesman; his mother Elma was a nurse. After matriculating from Auchmuty High School, Dougray adopted his grandmother’s surname as his stage name and enrolled into a foundation drama course.
From 1984 to 1987, Dougray studied at Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and won the Most Promising Drama Student Award. Shortly afterwards, he relocated to London to further his career prospects.
Career
Puppet shows and national theatre plays were some of Dougray’s first acting jobs. His first recurring TV role was playing Major Rory Taylor in 11 episodes of the British drama “Soldier Soldier” in 1995, and a couple of years later he made his film debut in “Twin Town”, a darkly humorous crime drama set in Swansea, Wales.
1998 could be described as Dougray’s breakthrough year, as he wowed audiences with his depiction of Prince Henry in the romantic period drama film “Ever After”. Not only was the movie a box office success; it was warmly praised by the legendary film critic Roger Ebert, who wrote: “I went to the screening expecting some sort of soppy children’s picture, and found myself in a costume romance with some of the same energy and zest as ‘The Mask of Zorro’.”
Over the next few years, many of Dougray’s films received a positive reception, from “Gregory’s Two Girls” and “Deep Impact” to “Mission: Impossible 2” – in the latter movie, Tom Cruise personally cast Dougray in a villainous role. A little-known fact about Dougray’s career is that he was initially cast as Wolverine in “X-Men”, but when “Mission: Impossible 2” went over schedule and he was injured in a motorbike accident while shooting one of the scenes, Dougray dropped out of “X-Men” and was replaced by Hugh Jackman.
Demonstrating his acting range, Dougray then played a convincing hero in “Enigma”, the 2001 espionage thriller film adapted from the Robert Harris novel of the same name. The highly fictionalized movie was loosely based on the real-life Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in the Second World War.
The ambitious project was produced by musician Mick Jagger, who made a cameo appearance and ensured historical accuracy by lending the design department his personal Enigma encoding machine. However, viewers found fault with the storyline, which failed to mention Alan Turing – the real codebreaker – or the Polish cryptanalysis foundation. “[Dougray] Scott is persuasive and compelling enough as his complex character to drive the narrative,” wrote Joe Leydon of Variety.
In another case of Dougray missing out on the role that could have changed his career forever, in the early 2000s the actor was slated to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond following the release of “Die Another Day”. Several media sources reported that Eon Productions was on the verge of naming Dougray as the new Bond in “Casino Royale”, however, negotiations fell through and Daniel Craig was chosen instead.
In the meantime, Dougray strengthened his TV career with an important role as Moses in the religious miniseries “The Ten Commandments”. In March 2006, he was a recurring character in “Heist”, which only aired for five episodes on NBC; however, he soon overcame the failed project when he was cast as Teri Hatcher’s love interest in season three of “Desperate Housewives”.
The romance between Dougray and Teri’s characters, Ian and Susan, was short-lived but intense. The unlikely duo met in the hospital after Susan’s estranged husband Mike fell into a coma; although Susan was at first reluctant to totally abandon her relationship with Mike, he awoke from his coma with retrograde amnesia and rejected her advances, thus leaving the path clear for Susan and Ian to begin dating. When he realized that Susan would never truly stop loving her husband, he broke up from her, and moved back to the UK.
Happy Birthday to Dougray Scott, star of The Vatican Tapes (2015), The Rezort (2015), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2008), Perfect Creature (2006) and Dark Water (2005) 🎂 #DougrayScott pic.twitter.com/8KKz6MNCCE
— Horror31 🎃 (@Horror31) November 25, 2017
From 2007 onwards, Dougray returned to antagonistic roles for a time, with projects such as “Hitman”, the remake of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, and drama series “Father & Son”. Later, he had a starring role in the BBC 1 drama “The Day of the Triffids”.
The 2010s were a quietly busy decade for the actor, with some highlights being his antagonist role in “Taken 3”, and his voiceover work for a series of BP commercials. More recently, he began playing Jacob Kane in CW’s “Batwoman”, but left during season two.
However, Dougray’s star is on the rise once again, thanks to his work in “Irvine Welsh’s Crime”, which he’s executive produced and starred in since 2021. After decades of being overlooked at awards ceremonies, his portrayal of Ray Lennox earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor.
Personal Life
Dougray is the father of three children: Eden and Gabriel Trevis Scott, born in 1998 from his first marriage to Sarah Trevis, and Milo, born in December 2014; Dougray has been married to Milo’s mother, the actress Claire Forlani, since 2007
Claire began acting professionally in 1991 and is known for her leading roles in “Mallrats” and “Basquiat”. After seven years in the industry, she crossed over to the mainstream after delivering a heartfelt performance in “Meet Joe Black”. Like countless other actresses, Claire had many negative experiences with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, which she discussed in 2017 during the height of #metoo.
Back to Dougray, the actor has been criticized over the years for being pro-Scottish independence; the “Taken 3” star defended his views in an interview with The Big Issue, saying: “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.”
Although it remains unclear whether or not Dougray has other business ventures, the actor’s net worth is estimated at $5 million, thanks to his film and movie projects.
