- Culture
- 19 Mar 14
Star of The Stag and celebrated moustache-twirler in hit television show Sherlock, actor Andrew Scott tells Roe McDermott about playing the bad guy and the objectifying nature of his new-found fame. He also talks about coming oiut, and weighs in on Ireland's recent public debate regarding homophobia.
Known for playing one of the most unpredictable, devilish and sadistically mischievous villains ever to hit the small screen, you’d be forgiven for being just a little bit scared of Sherlock actor Andrew Scott. Until he opens his mouth, that is. Cheerful, chatty and prone to bouts of raucous laughter, the 37-year old boasts the same razor-sharp wit as Moriarty – but thankfully cushions it with an irrepressible sense of warmth and good fun.
Returning to Dublin from his adopted home of London to promote his new comedy The Stag, Scott’s mischievous sense of humour is immediately apparent when he learns that we share a mutual acquaintance – last issue’s interviewee and his co-star in The Stag, Hugh O’Conor. Notoriously one of the nicest men in the film industry, O’Conor was a schoolmate of Scott’s when he became a child acting prodigy and landed roles in Lamb and My Left Foot.
“He was two years ahead of me in school,” Scott confirms, before adding with a devilish grin, “He used to walk through the hallways, pushing children out of the way! He was parading himself around the school, like some sort of rapper – some rapper from Ranelagh.”