Born in Edinburgh in 1968, Mark Bonnar was keenly interested in performing as a child, and even won a prize for it in school at age 12. However, when a career advisor cautioned him to consider a different career path, Bonnar took the advice to heart and put acting behind him-at least for a time. He worked for a number of years in Edinburgh's library system and even worked for the planning commission of Edinburgh's city council. However, when some friends convinced him to return to the stage by joining the Leith Theatre in Glasgow, Bonnar found himself even more passionate about the craft. Before long, Bonnar was acting full time and becoming a fixture of the Scottish stage. He made his on-screen debut in 2001 on an episode of the series "Rebus" (ITV, 2000-04), and was off and running. He would co-star on "Casualty" (BBC, 1986-) from 2004 to 2005 before landing a co-starring role on the mini-series "Paradox" (BBC, 2009-2010). He would become even more well known after taking on the role of Duncan Hunter on the crime drama "Shetland" (BBC, 2013-), which he soon followed with a role on the hugely popular Amazon series "Catastrophe" (Amazon, 2015-). In 2017, Bonnar began co-starring on "Unforgotten" (ITV, 2015-).