ANDREW SCOTT X OLIVIA COLMAN
There was a time when Andrew Scott was famous to a bunch of people who didn’t know his actual name (google “hot priest” if you don’t get it). But those days are over. To follow up his heartbreaking turn in All of Us Strangers, the 47-year-old Irish actor straddles the edge between sexy and psychotic in Netflix’s Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels. To mark the occasion, his Fleabag costar Olivia Colman got in touch to talk lazy journalism, creepshots, and knowing how to live.
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SUNDAY 11 AM FEB. 18, 2024 LONDON
OLIVIA COLMAN: So, Mr. Scott, it’s a pleasure to get to talk to you.
ANDREW SCOTT: It’s lovely talking to you, too.
COLMAN: Huge fan.
SCOTT: Likewise, must say.
COLMAN: These are varifocals, so I can only see if I hold you like that, sorry. So do forgive. Right. Could we talk about your upcoming things, and then jump in with whatever the fuck we want to talk about.
SCOTT: [Laughs] Perfect.
COLMAN: Ripley.
SCOTT: Yeah.
COLMAN: Was that the one you were filming ages ago?
SCOTT: Yeah, we filmed it during COVID and there was loads of stuff that delayed it. So I was in Italy and America for a year.
COLMAN: Wow. It’s taken this long.
SCOTT: Yeah. To be honest, it’s extraordinary. They’ve taken a long time to edit it. Steven Zaillian, our director, is a hardworking man, and they wanted to get it right.
COLMAN: You’ve forgotten what it’s about now.
SCOTT: [Laughs] Exactly. Is it about a guy who buys a zoo? And he falls in love with some of the animals? [Laughs]
COLMAN: Oh, don’t say that, Andrew Scott.
SCOTT: Have you seen Anatomy of a Fall?
COLMAN: God, it’s brilliant.
SCOTT: Isn’t it unbelievable? That dog.
COLMAN: The dog is amazing.
SCOTT: There’s a cat in Ripley, and I remember saying, “That part is brilliant!” Because it sits at the bottom of the apartment and watches Ripley do all these terrible things, and he just has to sort of look.
COLMAN: That is a good part!
SCOTT: Absolutely extraordinary performance. But you do get that with animals, don’t you?
COLMAN: Is that why in drama school we are made to go to the zoo and then do an impression of an animal? Did you have to do that?
SCOTT: God no, I didn’t go to drama school.
COLMAN: Wow. You’ve done it all on your own.
SCOTT: I’ve done it all on my own, darling. Did you like it?
COLMAN: I don’t know. Parts of it I really loved. More than anything, I learned a work ethic, which you have anyway, spilling out of you. And I realized how few jobs there are and how many actors there are wanting the jobs.
SCOTT: The thing I’m glad that I perhaps didn’t have is that I’ve never felt competitive with other actors. Because sometimes in drama school you’re surrounded by people who are at the same level as you, which isn’t representative of when you’re in a play or a film and hanging out with people who are 80 and 14, do you know what I mean? There are lots of different types, and that’s what I love about it. I suppose that feeling of everybody going up for the same job, I’ve never really had. Although I also think that you get a huge amount of camaraderie and all that stuff starting out, going to drink in pubs. But I went to youth theater and that was similar.
COLMAN: That is the same thing, yeah. It’s a group of like-minded people. You find your tribe.
SCOTT: During the pandemic, I was like, “What am I going to do?” I ended up speaking at a couple of drama schools, because all their stuff was shut down as well. I spoke to the students and learned so much more from them than they did from me. Just seeing what people still think about acting, and the passion, and what the pressures are. All this self-taping now is so hard.
COLMAN: We were so lucky, weren’t we, to start before that?
SCOTT: We really were. Because when we had an audition, at least you got to go in and talk to the casting director, but putting yourself on self-tape where they ask you to learn 11 pages—
COLMAN: It’s very disrespectful. It’s basically a memory test, isn’t it? Because they give it to you really late.
SCOTT: And you don’t get any feedback.
COLMAN: It’s really rude. I can see how it’s easier for them not to have to do things in the flesh, but I wouldn’t have gotten where I am if I’d had to do self-tapes, because I used to go to auditions knowing that they didn’t want me, but it was so much fun to win them over.
SCOTT: That’s exactly it. I used to go into the post office on Denmark Street and buy myself a zippy bag or whatever, put my videotape in and send it off to America for some fucking thing I was never going to get.
COLMAN: Oh my gosh.
SCOTT: It’s horrific. And then you wouldn’t hear anything. But yeah, one of the best things I’ve discovered is the liberation that you never actually have to watch anything that you’re in. Some things I like to watch, but some I’ve never seen.
COLMAN: Yes, I always find that I feel quite good and fit and healthy, I’ve been eating clean food, and then I watch a job that I did a year ago when I was not doing that and just go, “Oh no.”
SCOTT: Well, that’s the problem for me, the fucking catering.
COLMAN: Oh yeah.
SCOTT: There’s never so much food available as there is on a set. And you go, “Okay, I will have spaghetti with my sandwiches.” I’ve tried to get better at that. Do you ever look at the monitor on set?
COLMAN: Oh no, no, no. I don’t know how people do that. Unless a director’s really struggling to get the point across and I say, “Can I just see the last one and maybe I’ll see what you mean?” Some actors look at every take, don’t they?
SCOTT: Yeah. In a way, I can understand why someone goes, “I need to be able to see.” But I could never do it, I would be crippled. It’s why I love the theater, because it’s one art form where you don’t see what you’ve done. A painter sees his painting, you can see your film, a writer can read their book. Whereas in theater, you’re only reflected in the audience, which is why I can’t bear it when they record. I’d never watch a recording of a theater thing.
COLMAN: I remember during lockdown watching you do, was it Three Kings?
SCOTT: Oh yeah. Jesus.
COLMAN: And that was recorded. And thank the lord that we were able to see it. Why are you hiding your face? Was it terrifying?
SCOTT: Oh my god, darling. It was so sad at the time.
COLMAN: Yeah, when you can’t hear the applause, it’s lonely.
SCOTT: Yeah. Well, they played recorded applause at the end. When I was finished, I bowed to the camera and they played, “Yay, whoo!” Then I went into the dressing room and I was alone, 200 meters away from the stage manager.
COLMAN: Well, you were amazing. Can I ask you a proper journo question?
SCOTT: Oh, yeah. You as a journo, I love it.
COLMAN: I’ve just done a week of press and Jessie [Buckley] and I were going a bit stir-crazy with the same questions. My lovely PR said, “Should we turn it into a drinking game?” So she gave all the journalists mimosas and said, “If anybody asks the same question, you have to drink.” Then the whole thing was fun.
SCOTT: I bet you were hammered.
COLMAN: Yeah. It was brilliant.
SCOTT: And I bet the question that you drank the most to was, “What did you think when you first read the script?”
COLMAN: Oh my god. That’s it. Or, “What drew you to this?”
SCOTT: Yeah, me and Paul [Mescal] had it just recently on All of Us Strangers and that was our big one. But it’s amazing when somebody asks you a really offbeat question. You’re immediately energized by it, because the thing is, you’re never going to say, “Well, I was the seventh choice for this part, and I did this because I’m in a huge amount of debt.”
COLMAN: I have occasionally said that. “I had a huge tax bill, so it came at the right time.”
SCOTT: [Laughs] But it’s a very weird thing to try and speak about how absolutely feral you feel sometimes in that interview room. Do you know what the other one is? “Any funny stories?”
COLMAN: Hate that. There are lots of funny stories, but they were our funny stories.
SCOTT: It’s also questions like, “Who’s your dream dinner party guest?” And I literally cannot think of any human being that’s ever lived.
COLMAN: I know. We should have these in our back pocket, shouldn’t we? Also, it’s really hard for journalists to come up with new questions, I do understand that.
SCOTT: Yeah, it is hard. But I love when it’s a bit more of a conversation. If there was a little back-and-forth I’d maybe enjoy it more.
COLMAN: Yeah. I had a couple of lovely young men interviewing us who had watched Heartstopper. We all got quite teary because they said, “It really influenced me and gave me the courage to come out.”
SCOTT: Oh wow.
COLMAN: We all had a bit of a cry and a bit of a cuddle. I’m not expecting all journalists to share something quite so heart-wrenching, but it was lovely.
SCOTT: Yeah, because you want to connect. The thing I find a little bit challenging—obviously I feel incredibly lucky—but one of the things that you want to maintain is to be able to look outwards rather than being looked at in a social situation. Because that’s the breadth of life for me. It is what we’re interested in: people. And to have that removed from you is really—I used to draw people on the Tube. Did I tell you this before?
COLMAN: No, but I’ve seen your drawings, they’re incredible.
SCOTT: Well, when Sherlock first came out, it freaked me out that people were recognizing me, particularly on the Tube. And so as a way of deflecting from that, I used to draw people really far down the carriage, so I wouldn’t be freaking them out and so I’d have something to focus on. And then when I’d get off the Tube, I’d give them the drawing.
COLMAN: That’s so sweet.
SCOTT: It was cool. Did you find that difficult at the start or, I mean, ever?
COLMAN: Totally. People find it hard to understand and I find it virtually impossible to explain, but most actor mates of ours are intrinsically shy people. The beauty is you can be someone else, that’s the whole point of what we do. I know that being onstage takes courage, but you are being someone else, and people applaud and then disperse. It takes more courage to be yourself. Once you’ve been in people’s sitting rooms and people know your face, I find that eternally difficult. I have to do the Olivia Colman show, you know? Do what’s expected in those times. The rest of the time I want to hide under a duvet and ask other people questions. How do you feel about people taking secret photographs of you?
SCOTT: Oh my god. I was on the Tube recently, quite an empty Tube in the afternoon, and this girl, I could tell what she was doing—you become an expert at knowing. Anyway, she took out her phone, which is quite an unusual thing, to text somebody when you’re underground. Like, “I don’t think you have any signal here, love, but alright.” Anyway, she takes out her phone, and the flash goes off by accident. I was like, “Oh sorry, can you just ask? I really would’ve said yes.” And she goes, “I didn’t take your photograph.” I was like, “Oh, come on, you did.” She goes, “I didn’t.” And I was like, “Well, your flash just went off.” And she was like, “I didn’t take your photograph, that’s just my phone.” I was like, “Okay.” And then this woman from down the Tube went, “Love, call it a day, you did. We all saw it!” [Laughs] I was so grateful for that woman because that’s a thing where you just go, “I’m not losing my mind here!” And if you’re going to do it, be a bit better at not being caught!
COLMAN: I really know that feeling. How lovely that a witness called it.
SCOTT: Absolutely glorious.
COLMAN: Oh, that’s so good. I’ve had it at school, with other moms.
SCOTT: Really?
COLMAN: We’re all watching our kids doing a play, and you know when they’re doing it.
SCOTT: Just ask, I would have a conversation.
COLMAN: It feels like bullying to me, is the only way I can explain it. If someone goes, “Excuse me, may I?” “Absolutely. Thanks so much for asking politely and treating me like a human being.”
SCOTT: It’s the feeling of, “I’m not stupid, I’m in the same environment as you.” So at least if you’re going to do it, do it really subtly.
COLMAN: Don’t do it subtly, just ask. I don’t want to be an arsehole. I want every interaction to be kind.
SCOTT: And fun.
COLMAN: But I take myself out of the arena by not having any social media, and also by not really leaving the house. [Laughs]
SCOTT: Well, you’ve got such a beautiful house.
COLMAN: And it currently smells really nice. I’ve got a lovely candle.
SCOTT: I just got this fucking candle that is absolutely gorgeous. I’m going to get it.
COLMAN: Get it!
SCOTT: It’s Sandalwood by St. Eval. Absolute bliss on Sunday morning.
COLMAN: Oh, that’s lovely. My favorite is Diptyque Baies.
SCOTT: I’ll have to get involved with that.
COLMAN: Oh, do you want to see a blind old dog? Come on Alfred! He doesn’t really like being picked up anymore. But here’s Alfred.
SCOTT: Hello, darling!
COLMAN: Very smelly and blind.
SCOTT: He’s such a beauty.
COLMAN: Can you see his milky eyes?
SCOTT: I can.
COLMAN: He’s still so happy and so clever getting around the house.
SCOTT: Nothing like a dog.
COLMAN: They’re little angels.
SCOTT: I know. My dog was quite sick recently, but he’s mercifully better. But it was absolutely traumatic.
COLMAN: Oh Andrew, that’s awful. Yeah. They’re little bundles of love, aren’t they?
SCOTT: They just know how to live. And it’s such an antidote to everything, isn’t it?
COLMAN: Yeah. And just the kids as well, if they’ve had a miserable day at school, they can come and hold a dog who loves them unconditionally. And they give so much. I’m pleased your dog is okay.
SCOTT: Yeah, because they get these little tumors. And when you hear the C-word, you’re like, “Oh my gosh.” But they got it very early, so it was grand. So what else?
COLMAN: We’re being so well-behaved, we’ve done nothing rude, which is a miracle. Are we all going to go on holiday again this year, please?
SCOTT: Without a shadow of a doubt. Got to get in that pool, bit of volleyball—what do we call it?
COLMAN: It’s sarong ball.
SCOTT: Oh right, sarong ball.
COLMAN: But without the sarongs. That’s what we invented on our honeymoon. Remember?
SCOTT: Oh yeah. Darling, thank you so much for doing this. You’re the best in the world.
COLMAN: I hope it’s helpful. I’m not going to get a job as a journalist anytime soon, clearly.
SCOTT: No, you’d nail that too. She’d nail that too, people!
COLMAN: I love you, Andrew.
SCOTT: I’ll see you really soon. And I love you.