Andrew Scott (born October 21, 1976) is a talented Irish actor, known his diverse roles on stage and screen.
He has received a BAFTA TV Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards, along with nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award.
|
Andrew Scott
|
|
|---|---|
Scott in 2019
|
|
Scott came to prominence portraying James Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock (2010–2017), for which he won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His role as the priest on the second series of Fleabag (2019) earned him the Critics’ Choice TV Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
He is also known for his roles in Pride (2014), Spectre (2015), and 1917 (2019).
All of Us Strangers: My Choice for Best Actor in 2023
He earned critical acclaim for his starring role in the 2023 queer romantic drama, All of Us Strangers.
On stage, Scott earned praise for the lead role of Garry Essendine in 2019 production of Present Laughter at The Old Vic, for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.
He also won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre in 2005 for his role in A Girl in a Car with a Man at the Royal Court Theatre.
Out Actor
Scott first commented publicly on his sexuality in interview with The Independent in November 2013: “Mercifully, these days people don’t see being gay as a character flaw. But nor is it a virtue, like kindness. Or a talent, like playing the banjo. It’s just a fact. Of course, it’s part of my make-up, but I don’t want to trade on it.”
Scott was born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 21, 1976, the son of Nora and Jim Scott. His mother was an art teacher, while his father worked at an employment agency. He is the second of three children; he has an older sister, Sarah, and a younger sister, Hannah.
Scott was raised as Catholic, but no longer practices.
He attended Gonzaga College while taking classes at Ann Kavanagh’s Young People’s Theatre in Rathfarnham, and appeared in two ads on Irish television.
At 17, Scott was chosen for starring role in his first film, Korea.
He won a bursary to art school, but elected to study drama at Trinity College Dublin, leaving after 6 months to join Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and then moving to London when he was 22. He always had a “healthy obsession” with acting.
In 1982 he portrayed Stan in the Neil Simon play Brighton Beach Memoirs at Andrew’s Lane in Dublin.
Film debut
Scott made his film debut in the Irish drama Korea (1995) which premiered at Toronto Fest.
Scott worked with director Karel Reisz in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, production of Long Day’s Journey into Night (1998) taking the role of Edmund Tyrone, the younger son, in Eugene O’Neill’s play about a tortured Irish family living in Connecticut in 1912.
He won Actor of the Year at the Sunday Independent Spirit of Life Arts Awards 1998 and received an Irish Times Theatre Award 1998 nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Scott had the small part of Michael Bodkin in the film Nora, and in a television adaptation of Henry James’s The American, before making his London theatre debut in Conor McPherson’s Dublin Carol at the Royal Court Theatre.
He appeared briefly in the BAFTA-winning drama Longitude (2000) opposite Michael Gambon who he called, “a brilliant actor, the best actor in England.”
He also acted in Spielberg’s World War II miniseries Band of Brothers (2001).
In 2004, he was named one of European Film Promotions’ Shooting Stars.
After starring in My Life in Film for the BBC, he received his first Laurence Olivier Award for his role in A Girl in a Car with a Man at The Royal Court, and the Theatregoers’ Choice Award for his performance in the Royal National Theatre’s Aristocrats.
He created the roles of the twin brothers in the original Royal Court production of Christopher Shinn’s Dying City, which was later nominated for Pulitzer Prize.
In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in the Music Box Theater production of The Vertical Hour written by David Hare and directed by Sam Mendes. Scott starred opposite Bill Nighy and Julianne Moore. For his performance, he was nominated for Drama League Award.
Scott appears as Col. William Smith in the historical miniseries John Adams.
In 2009, he appeared in Sea Wall, a one-man show written for him by playwright Simon Stephens.
He starred in a sell-out run of Cock at the Royal Court in late 2009, a production which won an Olivier Award in 2010.
He gave a standout performance in episode of Foyle’s War, in which he plays prisoner determined to allow himself to hang for a crime he may not have committed.
His film appearances include a role in Chasing Cotards (short made for IMAX) and a role in the short film, Silent Things; he plays Paul McCartney in the BBC film Lennon Naked.
He also stars in the critically acclaimed 2010 film The Duel.
He gained prominence for his role as Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis Jim Moriarty in the drama series Sherlock, which he played from 2010 to 2017. He starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
For his performance he received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. In an interview with The Independent, Scott stated “Sherlock has changed all our careers, and I’m really pleased about that. It gives you the benefit of the doubt because executives like to see recognisable faces … It was overwhelming to be on a TV show that is quite so popular. That took me totally by surprise. People had an instant affection for it from the first episode. The reaction was extraordinary”.
He had a guest role in the second series of Garrow’s Law playing a gay man on trial for sodomy.
In 2010, he appeared in Old Vic production of Noël Coward’s Design for Living directed by Anthony Page.
In 2011, he played the lead role of Julian in Ben Power’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s epic Emperor and Galilean at the Royal National Theatre in London.
He had a part in the drama The Hour as Adam Le Ray, a failed actor. The series starred Dominic West and Romola Garai. In addition to his stage and TV work, Scott is known for his voice acting in radio plays and audiobooks, such as the roles of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
In November 2013, Scott took part in the Royal National Theatre’s 50 Years on Stage, a theatrical event which consisted of excerpts from many plays over the National’s fifty-year run, which was broadcast live on TV.
Scott performed alongside Dominic Cooper a scene from the epic play about the AIDS crisis Angels in America by Tony Kushner.
In 2014 Scott took to the stage in Birdland, written by Simon Stephens and directed by Carrie Cracknell at the Royal Court Theatre, playing the central character of Paul, a rock star on the verge of a breakdown. Scott received positive reviews for the performance, with comments such as “beautifully played” and he “pulls off the brilliant trick of being totally dead behind the eyes and fascinating at the same time, an appalling creature who’s both totem and symptom.”
James Bond Movie
In 2015, he appeared in the James Bond film Spectre as Max Denbigh, a member of the British government intent on shutting down the Double-0 section. Scott stated, “I was thrilled to be asked. I found it difficult to be in that film. I could’ve just been a bit better. I think I allowed myself to be a little intimidated by the budget and the history of the franchise, and I don’t think I attempted enough to be original”
The following year he appeared in the romantic drama film This Beautiful Fantastic (2016), directed and written by Simon Aboud.
In 2017, Scott’s performance in the title role of Hamlet won critical acclaim and earned him the nomination for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play. The play was directed by Robert Icke and first produced at the Almeida Theatre.
The production was filmed and broadcast on BBC Two at Easter 2018.
Scott also voiced Obake in Big Hero 6: The Series (2017).
Scott portrayed Edgar in the TV adaptation Shakespeare’s King Lear (2018), alongside Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and Florence Pugh.
The following year, he portrayed The Priest in series two of the comedy-drama Fleabag (2018), created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
For his performance, he received acclaim and nominations for Critics’ Choice TV Award. In 2019, he appeared in the anthology series Black Mirror, as the lead character Chris in the Season 5 episode “Smithereens” for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Also in 2019, he acted in the Sam Mendes drama 1917, which received acclaim as well as Best Picture Oscar nomination.
In June to August 2019, Scott starred as the matinee idol Garry Essendine in Matthew Warchus’s revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter at the Old Vic in London. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.
He portrayed Colonel John Parry/Jopari/Stanislaus Grumman in adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials from 2019 to 2022.
He played Lord Merlin in the miniseries The Pursuit of Love (2021). Also that year, he portrayed Terje Rød-Larsen in the film Oslo (2021).
He then acted in the comedy Catherine Called Birdy (2022).
NSFC Award
In 2023, Scott starred opposite Paul Mescal in the queer romantic drama All of Us Strangers. His performance earned him the Best Actor kudo from the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC).
Ripley
Scott stars as Tom Ripley in Ripley, a TV series adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels.
