The man who gave Andrew Scott his first film role has admitted he initially considered the Dubliner ‘too pretty’ for the part – but the rookie’s ear for accents soon convinced the director of his worth.
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ear → give → worth
It comes as the renowned Ripley actor has emerged as ‘almost certain’ to land another Irish Oscar next year, with his performance in the upcoming film Elsinore going down a storm at its premiere last weekend.
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performance → come → premiere
In the film, Scott stars as Scottish actor Ian Charleson, best known for his role as Christian athlete Eric Liddle in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, who refused to run in the Olympics on a Sunday.
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who → star → Sunday
Director Cathal Black gave Andrew Scott his first film role in Korea, back in 1995
Andrew Scott was just 17 when he starred in Korea
Elsinore focuses on the gay actor’s talismanic performances as Hamlet in London’s National Theatre just months before he died from Aids.
Can Andrew emulate Cillian and Jessie to make it three in a row?
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it → give → row
Cillian Murphy marched to Oscars glory in 2024 with rave reviews, then Jessie Buckley did exactly the same last year.
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Buckley → march → same
Is Andrew Scott about to repeat the trick?
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Scott → repeat → trick
While the ‘first Irish’ tags are now gone, he would, remarkably, be the first ‘out’ gay man to win Best Actor.
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he → go → Actor
Here’s what the critics are saying about his performance in Elsinore…
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critics → ’ → Elsinore
‘...seems a dead cert... not only considered a lock for a leading actor Oscar nomination but almost certain to take the prize next spring.’
– Catherine Shoard, The Guardian
‘Scott triumphs as Ian Charleson… a superb performance.’’
– Dave Calhoun, Screen Daily
‘Elsinore works as a testament to Scott’s incredible range as a performer.
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Elsinore → seem → performer
He makes so many funny, moving, genuine choices as Charleson, refusing to play him as a symbol for how much we lost in the war on Aids but getting to that point, nonetheless.’
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we → make → point
– Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
‘...all but guaranteed to result in an Oscar nomination – and likely a win too – for Scott, and it would be well-deserved…’
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it → guarantee → Scott
– Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
‘You can feel a palpable connection between Charleson and Andrew Scott, the marvelous actor playing him in a shattering performance with no false notes.’
– Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
Scott was an esteemed stage performer with a Laurence Olivier Award to his name by the time of his screen breakthrough in 2010 – his BAFTA-winning turn as Moriarty in the TV series, Sherlock, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.
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Scott → feel → Cumberbatch
But the very first of the 49-year-old’s 80 screen credits was the 1995 Irish film Korea, directed by Cathal Black and based on a short story by John McGahern.
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first → direct → McGahern
Scott was just 17 when he co-starred opposite Donal Donnelly, the pair playing a father and son in 1950s rural Ireland.
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he → co → Ireland
Black said the unknown youngster ‘was suggested by one or two casting people, and not very seriously, to be honest with you’.
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youngster → say → you
Black told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Teresa Smith [now a commissioning editor for RTÉ] was helping out on the casting, and I had done a kind of a reading with Andrew, and it was Teresa who said – because I wasn’t completely sure, I always thought he was too pretty for the role – but it was Teresa who said, “Oh you’d be crazy not to use him.”’
The untrained teenager – aside from local drama classes – ‘still had a range and a seriousness and a maturity about him’, Black continued.
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Black → tell → him
‘He had the various layers of understanding of character, and so it was kind of a strange chemistry between the two of us because he was coming to it as his first film, and I was trying to work with him and also with [Fiona Molony], who was also 17.’
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who → have → Molony
The newcomer even helped ground the film closer to writer McGahern’s native Leitrim, thanks to Scott’s grasp of accents.
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newcomer → ground → accents
Black explained: ‘I had a problem with some of the dialogue and how it was being performed in rehearsals, because it sounded a little bit too like the Kerry Gaeltacht or something to me.
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it → explain → me
‘And in fact, it was Andrew [whose mother is from Omagh] who brought that cross-border sort of accent into it, because he had it down to a T.
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he → bring → T.
And he and Donal went off and came back to me and said, “You’re not happy with the other accents, so what about this?”
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You → go → this
And I thought, “That’s fantastic.”
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That → think → ?
’
Like Scott’s new film Elsinore – Korea premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before going on general release.
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Korea → premier → release
Billie Piper and Andrew Scott of Elsinore pose in the Getty Images Portrait Studio
Ian Charleson as Hamlet - his resemblance to the man who plays him in Elsinore is striking
Andrew Scott as Hamlet
Andrew Scott playing Charleson playing Hamlet in the film Elsinore
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who → pose → film
Asked if he remembers how the newcomer’s performance went down in September 1995, Black said with a laugh: ‘Yeah, I do.
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I → ask → laugh
And everybody, if they didn’t love the film, they certainly loved him.’
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they → love → him
After the acclaimed film came out, the director remembers getting a call from an agency in London who ‘thought Scott was great’.
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Scott → come → London
He added: ‘They wanted to ask me a few questions about him.
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They → add → him
What was he like to work with?
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he → work → What
He’d already started to move towards London and get into the theatre there, but I think they were thinking of bigger things for him.
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they → start → him
Irrespective of whether he was in Korea or not, he was probably always going to be spotted or get some role that would highlight his talents.
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that → go → talents
Scott has spoken fondly of his time making Korea in several interviews, particularly of his co-star and mentor, Donnelly, who he called ‘a very kind actor’.
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he → speak → who
‘By looking at him, seeing what way he talks to the crew and what way he talks to the other actors, I learned how to behave on a set,’ Scott told Netflix.
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Scott → look → Netflix
‘That’s something I’m always so grateful for.’
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I → ’ → ?
Black said: ‘He talks about the film and how with Donal Donnelly it was the best start he had, and that’s probably true.
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that → say → Donnelly
I just thought: “This guy’s gonna go far.”’
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guy → think → ?
The veteran filmmaker is currently working on Second Chance, a ‘social comedy about a bank heist that goes wrong’, written with Limerick playwright Mike Finn.
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that → work → Finn
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we → accept → article
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