Andrew Scott on homegrown talent: 'It’s a really confident time for the Irish'

From the Irish actor he’d love to work with to his favourite spot in Cork and what it was like on the set of the new Knives Out movie, nothing was off limits when Weekend columnist Esther McCarthy hopped on a Zoom with Golden Globe-nominated Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott: It’s a really confident time for the Irish, and I’m so proud to be part of that. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

I am with a friend, watching clips of Andrew Scott on the red carpet.

“I bet he’s totally sound in real life,” she says, as on screen, Scott hops from one foot to another, his eyes bright and crinkly, engaging enthusiastically with the interviewer. Clip after clip, he’s there, with his eyebrows waggling, always in motion, always doing his best to make the person with the microphone’s job a little bit easier.

Still, he’s an actor — he can make us believe what he wants us to, right? So, I’m a bit nervous about interviewing the Bafta winner, Golden Globes, and SAG nominee. The interview is on Zoom, but when we link up, it’s a blank screen. I curse under my breath — being able to see each other adds a whole other dimension to the experience. Especially since, just last night, I was watching him as Ripley, trying on some teeny swimming togs in sultry Italy.

“Ah Andrew,” I lament, staring at a black screen. “Can I not see you?”

“Sadly not,” he says, his voice husky, a little hoarse. “I’m in a very strange place.”

“Ooh, tell me more,” says I, picturing sexy confession boxes with Phoebe Waller-Bridge or a flat in an isolated tower block with Paul Mescal.

Alas, no. He’s just off a long redeye flight, and video isn’t an option. I tell him I wouldn’t have bothered putting on makeup if I’d known, and he laughs and apologises. Pretty sound so far.

Andrew Scott: I won a prize at the Berlin Film Festival. And my first instinct, of course, was to call my mum. Picture: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Scott grew up in Dublin, the middle child in a close-knit family. His beloved mum, Nora, an art teacher, passed away around this time last year. I ask him what his family think of his rise to fame.

“Well, you know, my family have been so great over the years,” he says.

“They were up at the Edinburgh Festival, when I was doing little plays. They were always so supportive, right from the very start. And my sisters came over to the Emmys this year, and it was great to be able to show them all that kind of stuff and to be able to see it through their eyes as well, you know?

“My sisters are the best. My mum was always such an incredibly supportive mum, not just to me, but to my two sisters as well.

“So we all miss her beyond words,” he pauses for a couple of beats and continues, “it’s been, if I’m honest... it’s been tough, you know, because a lot of the sadness hits you when the good things happen.

“Even last week, I won a prize at the Berlin Film Festival. And my first instinct, of course, was to call my mum. I wanted to share that with her. And you know, it’s bittersweet, but I hope, I do hope she’s watching from somewhere.”

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in Ripley. Picture: Cr. Stefano Cristiano Montesi/Netflix

His sisters, he tells me, are his best friends.

“We are very, very close, myself and my sisters. I love them so much. My older sister and I are kind of Irish twins — there are only 11 months between myself and Sarah. I’m in the middle. Hannah then is seven years younger than me. So it’s great; we are always there for each other.” 

I ask him if they have fun with the more glamorous part of his job.

“When we went to the Emmys actually, Simone Rocha dressed us, that was great fun. I adore Simone’s designs, she creates such beautiful stuff. Her team were so incredibly kind to my sister too, she looked so beautiful.

“I think Simone Rocha is just a wonderfully inventive designer. So, I was delighted to wear her the other day too at the Independent Spirits Awards in California.”

Scott enjoys fashion and isn’t afraid to experiment.

“I feel it’s important to be a bit playful on the red carpet, not to be too buttoned up, to play around with it a bit.”

Eva Birthitle and Andrew Scott at the Iftas. Picture: Andres Poveda

Does he really enjoy the red carpet as much as he appears to in all those clips online?

“I see it as a celebration, really, once you can get past the intimidating thing of 50 cameramen shouting at you, and of course they’re just doing their job. It’s really important to me to have fun, to enjoy it. I have an amazing team; we’re all part of the same thing, we spend a lot of time together and we all do this extraordinary thing; it’s important we don’t take it all too seriously and to enjoy the process as much as the product.”

I can't talk to Andrew Scott without asking him about the Hot Priest he played in Fleabag. He has said in past interviews that he didn’t create a name for the tortured priest. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and he just focused on the connection and chemistry that their two characters had. I ask him if he feels any regret in how the show ended — Fleabag confessing her feelings to the priest at a bus stop. “I love you,” she says. He looks at her for what feels like an eternity and then delivers the devastating line: “It will pass.”

“Oh yes!” he laughs. “That’s what people like, though, isn’t it, the exquisite agony of that. The audience might think, ‘Oh, we wanted them to get together,’ but that scene is what makes it really memorable. I love that show, and I love the fact that it sort of ended that way. You couldn’t change it. You couldn’t!”

Andrew Scott as 'The Hot Priest' in Fleabag

Scott has partnered with Redbreast Irish Whiskey and SXSW Film & TV Festival to shine a spotlight on Irish films and filmmakers. Well-established as one of Ireland’s most versatile and skilful actors, Scott says he remains deeply connected to the emerging talent that is flourishing in Irish film and television.

“I love the idea of finding new voices,” he says. “Especially in relation to young filmmakers. We’ve been speaking with a lot of emerging filmmakers, and there’s a prize for them. I’ve spent time talking to them, and it’s been really inspiring to see such genuine, beautiful movies. It feels very, very positive.”

It’s an exciting time for Irish creatives; you can hardly go to an awards ceremony without tripping over Irish talent. Why does he think that is?

“Well, it’s hard to put a finger on it, really, I guess the world, in some ways, is a smaller place than it used to be. Studios can look at people’s screen tapes from all over the world. If they like somebody, they’re able to bring them into town and try and make that work. That’s not to underestimate the individual talent, of course.

“I was at the Iftas recently, which was such a special evening. I loved seeing everybody. I was sat beside Saoirse Ronan and her beautiful mum, and we were just saying exactly that, you know, we felt so proud. And so many up-and-comers! I love seeing Kneecap doing so brilliantly. It’s a really confident time for the Irish, and I’m so proud to be part of that.” 

Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal at the 2024 Baftas. Picture: Carlo Paloni/BAFTA via Getty Images

Does he have the cúpla focal himself?

“I think it’s great, that pride in our language. I have a bit of Irish, but I let it slide. But sometimes, it’s very handy. Like when you’re on the tube in London and you want to talk in code, if you want to say: ‘Cé he an fearr seo?’ or something, it can come in handy.”

Is there anyone Irish, I ask him, that he would love to work with?

“Wouldn’t it be great if there was a script to put all the Irish talent together in one film? So, a big epic Irish like… maybe a big Irish superhero movie!” he says laughing.

I still have that scene from Ripley in my head, and I silently congratulate myself for not blurting out that he could play Captain Underpants.

Instead, I tell him any star worth their salt has a house in Cork at the moment, and ask if we can expect to see him holidaying in Schull with his All of Us Strangers co-star, Paul Mescal?

“I need to get myself an invite!” he laughs.

“Cork is such a beautiful part of the world. We actually used to go down to Kinsale a lot, I’ll definitely have to get down there again soon. If ye’ll have me! If ye’ll have a Jackeen?” I assure him he will be made most welcome. Saoirse Ronan, of course, also has a place in Ballydehob.

“I’d love to do something with Saoirse, I’d love to work on something with her. I think she’s a genius,” he says.

Andrew Scott as Adam in ‘All Of Us Strangers’. Picture: Searchlight Pictures

While we’re waiting for Saoirse to sort her schedule out and for her people to call his people, Scott has recently finished work on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Rian Johnson’s thriller headlined by Daniel Craig, and also starring Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, and Kerry Washington as well as eight-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close. When I ask him what it was like working on that movie, I don’t need to see him to know he’s smiling.

“Certainly, the cast was pretty undeniable. On the first day, I was intimidated,” he admits. “You’re working with some incredibly iconic people, also some very exciting young people, and so it just provided this absolutely extraordinary atmosphere.

“They’re all amazing actors, but my God, what a brilliant group of people, we just really gelled right from the beginning. I think, because it’s an ensemble you’re sitting around in between takes, and nobody has too much of the burden themselves. So it just provides a, you know, they have an atmosphere there where you don’t go back to your trailer and go on your phone, you sit around and talk to each other and have a laugh. And they were incredibly kind to me,” he says. “I had an absolute ball.”

Andrew Scott launches Redbreast Unhidden at The Roxy Cinema in New York. Picture: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Redbreast Irish Whiskey

I wonder was there anyone he was star struck by, or is that a thing that doesn’t happen anymore?

“Do you know what,” he confides, “l thought like when you’re working with Glenn Close because, she’s just somebody who’s just such a cinematic giant, I thought I might be a little bit in awe.

“But right from the beginning, you realised that she’s just an actor to her fingertips, and she’s so funny and so generous and brilliant, we all absolutely adored her. She was lovely.”

Earlier, when Scott was sharing about missing his mum, and hoping she was watching him, I said to him that I was sure she was enormously proud of her son.

“I hope so,” was his reply.

A gifted actor, on screen and stage, an ambassador, and advocate for new talent, Andrew Scott is, as Mescal so perfectly described him, “an extraordinary human being”. Plus, my friend was right. He is so sound. What mum wouldn’t be proud?

• Redbreast Irish Whiskey and Andrew Scott will be curating film and cocktail experiences around Ireland. To find out more, visit redbreastwhiskey.com/redbreast-unhiddencinema or follow @RedbreastIrishWhiskey on social media.