Andrew Scott on Hamlet, Elsinore and his career in film: “Shakespeare was thinking of me the whole time”

One of the most beloved actors of his generation, Andrew Scott has played a number of roles that have permeated the zeitgeist. From his breakout television role as Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock (2010 to 2017) to the ‘hot priest’ in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag (2016 to 2019), at each mention all of Scott’s major roles earned spontaneous applause from his LFF Screen Talk audience, most of whom had already seen Elsinore, Scott’s latest project and this year’s festival opening film.

Taking on the role of Ian Charleson, the Scottish actor of Chariots of Fire (1981) fame who played Hamlet in the National Theatre’s 1989 production of the Shakespeare play, Scott’s performance in Elsinore has thrown his name into Academy Award contention. Yet, if Scott believes this, he dared not show it. Instead, he spoke of the film with characteristic humility as “a love letter to actors and acting in the theatre,” where he honed his craft.

Scott is no stranger to Hamlet, having played him in over 150 performances beginning at the Almeida in 2017, but admitted his lines are now “absolutely all gone”. He credits theatre with teaching him to be “discerning about what good writing is”. His early career at the Royal Court, which primarily programmes new writing, allowed him to “see what works live from the first preview”. “It just teaches you when people are with you or not.”

This room was with him, as Scott’s disarming manner beguiled another audience. He brought a jocular energy to the talk. When host Tim Robey noted just how unavoidable Scott has become on our screens, he was cheekily humble. “Apologies for that.” When asked if he realised many of his characters share a certain yearning, he responded with a playful, “no?”

Scott answered questions about his talent and fame with humorous self-deprecation. When an audience member asked how he embodies characters so well that it seems all his roles were written explicitly for him, Scott picked up a running gag that, in fact, they were. “He was thinking of me the whole time,” he said of William Shakespeare.

For an actor of his quality, Scott’s lack of pretension was refreshing. His approach towards acting is similarly egoless. “You play a part,” he said, “so you should be in a playful mood.” Clarifying that he has “total admiration” for method acting (or “whatever gets you through the night”), ultimately, “for me the idea is to be alive to whatever may happen.”

Underlying his modesty is an understanding of his audience and art’s transformative power. He dodged a question about his greatest collaborators to instead credit his mother, an art teacher who pushed him to explore his creativity and pursue drama to improve a childhood lisp. “It makes me think of the arts for people who exist outside the arts,” he said of their relationship. “It occupies such an important space for so many people who don’t have artistic careers.”

This appreciation has led Scott to prioritise ‘quality’ over perceived success. “That’s what I love so much about Elsinore,” he said of Charleson’s sacrifice to return to the stage at the peak of his film career. “Often we equate success as an actor with fame. There are so many actors in the world who are very successful but not recognised.” Yet Scott has garnered plenty of fame to date. He diplomatically conveys his indifference towards it. “If you’re going to be in something that is internationally recognised,” he said of Fleabag, “it’s wonderful to be in something that is also of such high quality.”

Like Charleson, Scott is most animated when discussing his vocation. “I love the fact that he nailed his colours to the mast at the end of his life,” he said of the Scottish actor’s commitment to his craft. Otherwise soft-spoken, Scott gesticulated enthusiastically as he talked of the power of acting – even if it leaves him worse for wear. “I recognise as I get older, it’s made me physically sort of ill,” he admitted of the intensity.

When asked whether queer joy should be prioritised on screen over films that depict the Aids crisis, like Elsinore, he stood firm. “I welcome things like Heartstopper [2022] and Heated Rivalry [2025] and Red, White & Royal Blue [2023] and all those things that are joyful,” he said. For those who object to more distressing topics, “I think that sometimes comes from a place of shame” – shame that Scott believes should be redirected to the governments that ignored the crisis and society’s stigmatisation.

Elsinore is Scott’s most personal project to date: “There’s so many themes in the story I relate to.” It also shows the full force of his ability. “I remember finding that line,” he said of a particularly emotional scene in the film, where Charleson recounts Hamlet’s soliloquy while dying of Aids: “‘I see the imminent death of 20,000 men that for a fantasy of a trick of fame go to their graves like beds.’ You know, that was written 400 years ago…for me.”

Andrew Scott was speaking at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, where Elsinore was the opening night film.