As Jim Moriarty in “Sherlock,” he spread fear and dread with a smile. As a priest in “Fleabag,” he had millions swooning. And in “Ripley,” he showed how threatening quiet control can be. His versatility is Andrew Scott’s hallmark. On October 21, the Irish actor with many faces will turn 50.
Scott wasn’t born a showman. Even today he describes himself as a shy person; as a child it was especially hard. He lisped, was tense, and not very open to the world. When he was eight, his parents enrolled him in acting lessons. At first he trembled with fear of the classes—until he learned to loosen up on stage.
At seventeen he landed a lead role in the Irish film “Korea” and chose against pursuing an art degree, for which he had a scholarship. After only six months he also dropped out of acting school to perform at Ireland’s National Theatre.
The Charisma of Ten People
The international breakthrough came in 2010 with the BBC series “Sherlock.” As the foil to Benedict Cumberbatch’s famous detective, he played Moriarty not as an ordinary villain, but as an unpredictable eccentric who shifts between childish delight and real threat. In 2012 he received a BAFTA.
Nine years later he turned a priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s series “Fleabag” into a head-turner for millions. The pull between the cleric and the titular character became the centerpiece of the second season. And Scott rose to internet fame as the “Hot Priest,” torn between desire and self-control. For Phoebe Waller-Bridge, there was no doubt that Scott was the perfect priest for “Fleabag.” Scott embodies “the charisma of ten people in one,” she told the Guardian once. “It could not have been anyone else.”
In Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” Scott showed a different, more vulnerable side in 2023. Playing a lonely screenwriter grappling with his past and the loss of his parents, opposite Paul Mescal, he portrayed a man seeking closeness while living with old wounds. In “Ripley,” he returned in 2024 to a character whose charm always carries a certain unsettling edge.
“Openly gay” and “openly Irish”
Scott has not allowed others’ expectations to dictate how he handles his own identity. In 2013 he spoke openly about his homosexuality. The advice he had been given—that he should not trumpet this topic—he later turned into subject matter for his interviews. At the same time, he resists labeling homosexuality as a constant peculiarity. In 2024 he criticized the term “openly gay”: after all, one doesn’t say someone is “openly Irish.”
He remains devoted to the stage and to the thrill of live audience encounters. In 2017 he played Hamlet at London’s Almeida Theatre; in 2023 he took on all the roles in a modern adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in “Vanya.” In the feature film “Elsinore,” slated for release in 2026, Scott plays the actor Ian Charleson, who performed Hamlet in 1989 while battling AIDS.
For Charleson and for Scott, the stage has always been more than a job. As Scott once told GQ: “The longer I practice this craft, the more I realize that it’s about showing who you truly are, rather than pretending to be someone else.” (spot/)
