Despite the fact that The Devil’s Hour star Peter Capaldi and his wife of 35 years, Elaine Collins, met through the film industry, they have successfully kept much of their personal life private.
The 67-year-old actor and the famous Shetland producer first crossed paths in 1983 during a production with the Paines Plough Theatre Company. Eight years later, they tied the knot in Scotland, and only one unearthed photo shares a very rare glimpse into their wedding day.
Dressed in summery outfits, the newlyweds looked so in love as they posed for a photo at the Country Club hotel in Strathblane near Glasgow in June 1991.
Elaine showed off her daring personality, teaming her traditional white wedding dress, which featured a shoulder-baring neckline, with bright red lipstick and smoky eyeshadow. Completing her beauty look, which was notably sultry for the daytime event, the producer styled her dark brunette bob in voluminous curls.
Meanwhile, Peter equally cut a dapper figure in a beige suit with a soft pink boutonniere, slicking his dark hair away from his face.
In a rare display of public affection, he leaned in to kiss his bride’s cheek. While they have remained more private about their PDAs since then, Peter has made it no secret how he feels about his marriage in interviews.
Marriage confessions
The Dangerous Liaisons actor – who shares a daughter named Cecily with Elaine – sweetly credited his wife as the person who “changed everything” for him, encouraging him to believe in himself.
“Elaine really changed my life. She’s an incredible woman, amazing mother and producer and actress and all of these things,” he told The Daily Mail in April 2025.
“I don’t want to go into it in huge detail because I also have a private life but she’s the person who changed everything for me because she took me in at a time when I wasn’t in great shape, and loved me.”
He explained her words of encouragement helped him overcome his imposter syndrome. “She began to say to me, ‘No you must think more of yourself. You must work harder and take bigger risks and read more.'”
© Getty ImagesSpeaking of Vera producer Elaine, he gushed to the Sydney Morning Herald: “She’s fabulous and I love her. She looks after me and keeps my feet on the ground.”
Even when he was working on Doctor Who, he refused to remove his wedding ring, instead having a specially-made one to sit on top and hide it.
“I didn’t want to take it off because I felt sure that working every day for 32 weeks, if I took it off it would go somewhere or fall off somehow. So I got them to make a special Doctor Who ring that fits on top of it. It has a special gem in it … but that’s another story,” he said.
Who is Elaine?
© Apple TVIn 2011, she executive-produced and helped develop the ITV series Vera, before signing on to bring another of Ann Cleeves’ series, Shetland, to the small screen a couple of years later.
She began as an executive producer and developer from its inception in 2013 up until the third season in 2016, and went on to start her own production company, Tod Productions, the following year.
After the couple worked together on the 2024 Apple TV+ thriller series Criminal Record, which was commissioned by Elaine’s production company, co-producer Peter told HELLO!: “It was lovely to work with her. We did a film years ago and a play – we met doing a play – but this was the first time I’d acted in a show that she’d created, so it was nice.”
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