Andrew Scott’s journey as an actor and gay role model is an inspiration for the entire community

Andrew Scott is an actor whose star has risen significantly over the last 12 months.

Of course, many first became aware of him when he played Moriarty on the BBC’s Sherlock revamp (2010-2017) with Benedict Cumberbatch, or as the “hot priest” on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s comedy Fleabag (2016-2019).

However, it was his starring role in All Of Us Strangers at the end of December, and then more recently in Ripley on Netflix, that has brought him to wider attention. 

All Of Us Strangers is by director Andrew Haigh (Weekend, Looking). It’s based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. Scott plays Adam, a screenwriter in London who lives in a new tower block. He’s one of the first residents to move in. His physical isolation echoes his emotional loneliness. 

Another neighbor, Harry, drunkenly flirts with him. The two men enter into a brief, passionate relationship. At the same time, Adam decides to explore his troubled childhood. He lost both his parents in a car crash just before his 11th birthday. He goes back to visit the home in which he grew up. 

He finds his parents living there, as they were as young parents in the 1980s. They appear to have been waiting for him and welcome him back and are eager to find out about his life.

Awards and awkward red carpet encounters

The supernatural tale, with its exploration of loneliness and lost connections, struck a chord with many. Scott’s performance earned widespread praise. He was nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe. 

The movie was also nominated for several BAFTAS in the UK. Scott enjoyed an awkward viral moment when he walked the red carpet. A BBC reporter asked him about Barry Keoghan’s nudity in the movie Saltburn, and if Scott thought Keoghan donned a prosthetic. Many found the questioning cringeworthy, especially given that Scott is gay and the reporter could have instead asked Scott about his own, much-nominated movie. 

There’s is something so deeply homophobic about asking Andrew Scott a gay man this weird ass question about Barry’s scene in Saltburn?? ask him about all of us strangers the BAFTA nominated film he is in… “how well do you know Barry” Andrew deserves an apology from the BBC pic.twitter.com/HpBliJGyHo— Amber (@wxlkover) February 18, 2024

Scott and fellow Irishman Mescal clearly became close friends while filming the movie. Their camaraderie meant they clearly enjoyed doing press together to promote the film.

Check out an adorable montage of clips of them making each other laugh. 

Early life

Scott was born in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland. He studied drama at the city’s Trinity College, before dropping out to join the local Abbey Theatre. He moved to London at 22 to pursue his acting career. 

He quickly became an in-demand theater actor. He also picked up occasional TV roles, including a small part in Steven Spielberg’s miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). He made his Broadway debut in 2006 in The Vertical Hour, for which he was nominated for a Drama League Award. 

Scott balances movie roles with TV and continues to do a lot of theater, which he clearly loves. 

Earlier this year, he played eight characters in a one-man production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in London. It deservedly won him a Best Actor Award in March at the UK’s Annual Critics’ Circle Theatre awards. 

Scott used the ceremony to pay tribute to one of his biggest inspirations and supporters: His mom. Nora Scott, an art teacher, died following a sudden illness a couple of weeks earlier.

The 47-year-old also won Best Actor at the Critics’ Circle Film Awards in February for All Of Us Strangers. It was the first time an actor won both awards in the same year.

Scott reached new audiences with his latest project. Ripley on Netflix is an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal crime novels (which first hit the big screen with The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999).  

He recently sat down with Queerty to discuss the role and whether he believes Ripley is or isn’t gay. 

Watch below.

On being out as a gay man

Scott first publicly commented on his own sexuality in an interview with The Independent in 2013. 

“Mercifully, these days people don’t see being gay as a character flaw,” he said. “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.”

More recently, he suggested to Attitude that he’s developed a greater appreciation for his sexuality as a component of who he is: “I think it’s such a wonderful thing to me. It’s an extraordinary gift to my life and just to be able to see the real beauty in being gay is completely wonderful.

“The older I get, just the more I feel so lucky to have been born gay and that pervades my life in the sense of all my friendships. I have so many amazing queer friends in my life now that I just adore,” Scott added.

“I feel such a huge sense of camaraderie with other queer people now, and without sounding too hippy about it. 

“I feel like I just want to spread that love and positivity in our community because we’ve come such a long way and it’s important that we are kind and look out for each other, and celebrate how uniquely different and how f**king wonderful that can be.”

We couldn’t agree more with Scott.