From 'hot priest' to Ripley, Andrew Scott is an advocate for his characters

In Pressure, Scott plays an army meteorologist advising military officials on the date for the D-Day invasion. He previously starred in Fleabag and Ripley. Originally broadcast April 8, 2024.

Transcript

DAVE DAVIES, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies. The new film "Pressure" takes place in the days leading up to D-Day during World War II, when the exact date of the invasion was as yet uncertain because it would depend on the weather. Today, we feature our interview with Irish actor Andrew Scott. He co-stars in "Pressure" as Captain James Stagg, the chief Royal Air Force meteorologist. Allied commanders are gathered in England, and Stagg is urging them to hold off on the invasion, as he sees a storm brewing. But he's at odds with the meteorologist for Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces, who thinks the weather will be fine. His name is Irving Krick. Here's a clip from the film in which Andrew Scott, as Captain Stagg, responds to the forecast Krick has just presented to the commanders.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PRESSURE")

ANDREW SCOTT: (As James Stagg) Well, Colonel Krick's just said that it's going to be safe to land in Normandy tomorrow. And so that's what you believe. But everything that he's just said is pure unadulterated horses***.

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: (As James Stagg) You can muster all the tanks and soldiers and ships that you like. You can assemble the greatest armada that ever there was. But if you invade tomorrow, they're going to be washed away - because the storms that I'm talking about are real. And the jet stream that's propelling them towards the Normandy coast is real. And the wrath of nature is real.

DAVIES: Andrew Scott most recently played Tom Ripley, a con man with no conscience in the Netflix series "Ripley," adapted from the famous Patricia Highsmith novel. He was the famous hot priest in the award-winning comedy series "Fleabag," torn between his vow of celibacy and his love for a woman. And he was Sherlock Holmes' nemesis Moriarty in the British series "Sherlock," opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. Scott was also a soldier in Steven Spielberg's series "Band Of Brothers," a wise-cracking lieutenant in the World War I film "1917" and a gay man who shut down his emotions in the film "All Of Us Strangers." Terry spoke to Andrew Scott in 2024. She asked him about his part in "Fleabag."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

TERRY GROSS: So you may be tired of talking about your role in "Fleabag" as a priest...

SCOTT: No, not at all.

GROSS: OK.

SCOTT: Not at all.

GROSS: As a priest, torn between your commitment to the priesthood and your love for the main character, the woman nicknamed Fleabag, torn between your commitment to celibacy and your own sexual desire. And, you know, it stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also created and wrote it. And she plays a single woman who really loves sex and has had a lot of partners but isn't really in love until she meets you. And you're a priest who performs the ceremony for Fleabag's father's second marriage.

She falls in love with you. You're drawn to her. But you're a priest. You become good friends, and she started to hope that you'll leave the priesthood and be with her. And I want to play a scene in which she's visiting you at the parish in the evening, and the scene starts inside and then moves outside, so we just did a bit of editing to edit together those two parts of the scene. So let's hear that. Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag speaks first.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FLEABAG")

PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) So I read your book.

SCOTT: (As Priest) OK, great.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) Well, it's got some great twists. But I just - I couldn't help but notice...

SCOTT: (As Priest) Come on. Just spit it out.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) ...Just one or two little inconsistencies.

SCOTT: (As Priest) OK, sure.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) So the world is made in seven days. And on the first day, light came. And then a few days later, the sun came.

SCOTT: (As Priest) Yeah. That's ridiculous.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) But you believe that?

SCOTT: (As Priest) It's not fact. It's poetry. It's moral code. It's for interpretation to help us work out God's plan for us.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) What's God's plan for you?

SCOTT: (As Priest) I believe God meant for me to love people in a different way. I believe I'm supposed to love people as a father.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) We can arrange that.

SCOTT: (As Priest) A father of many.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) I'll go up to three.

SCOTT: (As Priest) It's not going to happen.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) Two, then.

SCOTT: (As Priest) OK, two.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) Do you think I should become a Catholic?

SCOTT: (As Priest) No, don't do that. I like that you believe in a meaningless existence. And you're good for me. You make me question my faith.

WALLER-BRIDGE: (As Fleabag) And?

SCOTT: (As Priest) I've never felt closer to God.

GROSS: That's Phoebe Waller-Bridge and my guest, Andrew Scott. That's such a great role and such a great performance. Did you ever know a young priest as attractive as you were?

(LAUGHTER)

SCOTT: That's very kind and also impossible to answer. Yeah. No, I completely adore Phoebe and...

GROSS: Well, wait. Let's not avoid...

SCOTT: I'm very...

GROSS: ...The question here. We'll...

SCOTT: Yeah.

GROSS: ...Take out the comparison to you so you don't have to worry about being humble here. But did you ever know a young, very attractive priest?

SCOTT: No, no. The priests that I knew were not young or attractive.

GROSS: Right. OK.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: You were raised Catholic in Dublin. What was the role of the church in your life?

SCOTT: Well, I think it was a huge role in my life growing up. The culture is based on the Catholic Church. Ireland is a small country. I was at a Jesuit school. I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore, but certainly the culture around Catholicism is one that is very hard to dispel. And parts of it are wonderful. I think the sort of focus on community within the Catholic Church is really wonderful. And there's also, of course, you know, the huge amount of corruption and abuse that happened when I was growing up in the '90s. I remember, you know, driving to school. My father would drive me to school in the mornings and we would listen to the news in the morning. And, you know, my very strong memory is of just a whole litany of abuse cases within the Catholic Church just coming out every morning.

GROSS: Sexual abuse.

SCOTT: Sexual abuse. And not just sexual abuse but infidelity within marriages and - or marriages where people would be, you know, having affairs with priests and, you know - but mainly sexual abuse.

GROSS: Were you really angry with the church for having so many hypocrites in positions of religious power? You know, you talk about the priests who were accused of sexual abuse and, you know, infidelity and, you know, entering other people's marriages. And, you know, you're gay. I don't know how old you were when you realized that, maybe all your life. But like I said, in the Republic of Ireland, being gay was against the law until, I think, 1993. I think that's when it was...

SCOTT: Yes, 1993. Yeah.

GROSS: ...Repealed. And the church condemned it. And yet you have these priests, you know, abusing boys and having affairs with women - and men, probably. So how did you fit all these complicated feelings into your character of the priest in "Fleabag"? And it's a comedic role, too...

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

GROSS: ...As we could hear from the scene that we played. And he's wrestling with the natural sexual desire that people have.

SCOTT: And love. I think he falls in love.

GROSS: And love.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

GROSS: Yeah, physical expressions of love, too.

SCOTT: Yeah. So it's not the abstinence that I have the problem with. It's the silence around the abstinence and the way that people in positions of power silence people who want to be able to talk about that. And so the reason that I found that character so cathartic is that, you know, when I first had the conversation with Phoebe - I don't want to play sort of a stereotype of somebody who is extreme in that way. This is a human being. I think that's why we like that character, because he does have faith. I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to have romantic feelings and to also have faith and to be able to talk about the human struggle.

And so I love the fact that this quite radical, sexual, kind of risque series has at its center a real addressing for young people of what faith is, because I think there's a real gap in the - for people of my generation who have been let down by the church and feel like it's not for them. To have a still space is something that would be wonderful for them, if they were made to feel welcome. And I think that's perhaps why "Fleabag" appealed to so many people, because it wasn't cynical. I think we tried to talk about religion, and in, of course, a humorous way, but also in a way that isn't just too judgmental of the Catholic Church, that actually this is a person who really is struggling and is a human being.

GROSS: And I love the fact that he questions his faith...

SCOTT: Yes, yeah.

GROSS: ...But constantly stays with it.

SCOTT: Yes, exactly.

GROSS: And that it's OK to question it.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

GROSS: Like, if your belief is deep enough, it's OK to challenge it and question it...

SCOTT: Yeah.

GROSS: ...And remain committed, so yeah.

SCOTT: Yes, exactly. Remain committed, exactly. To see that struggle, like in any relationship - in a marriage you think, am I - this is tough. This relationship is hard. How do I keep it going? How do I talk about it? It's not just blind devotion the whole time in any relationship. You question it. And it's how you approach those crises that makes us honorable and courageous. And that's a wonderful thing to be able to convey and also, of course, to just address.

GROSS: Did any priests give you feedback on your role in "Fleabag"?

SCOTT: Yeah, they did actually. I had really, really positive feedback from priests, I think because they, like all of us, like to see themselves represented in a sort of fair way - that they're not just these pious, flawless people. I think most of the feedback I got was really wonderful.

DAVIES: Andrew Scott speaking with Terry Gross, recorded in 2024. We'll hear more after this short break. This is FRESH AIR.

This is FRESH AIR, and we're listening to Terry's 2024 interview with actor Andrew Scott. Scott co-stars in the new film "Pressure."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

GROSS: I think you first became known in the U.S. in "Sherlock," the BBC series that played in the U.S., as well, with Benedict Cumberbatch a Sherlock Holmes and you as his nemesis Moriarty. So, I want to play a scene from Season 1. And this is the first scene where Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty meet face-to-face. And Moriarty has lured Sherlock to rescue his friend Watson, who's been outfitted with an explosive vest. So Sherlock is pointing a gun at you during this entire exchange, and your character, Moriarty, speaks first.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SHERLOCK")

SCOTT: (As Jim Moriarty) Do you know what happens if you don't leave me alone, Sherlock? To you?

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: (As Sherlock Holmes) Oh, let me guess. I got killed.

SCOTT: (As Jim Moriarty) Kill you? No. Don't be obvious. I mean, I'm going to kill you anyway, someday. I don't want to rush it, though. I'm saving it up for something special. No, no, no, no, no. If you don't stop prying, I'll burn you. I would burn the heart out of you.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Sherlock Holmes) I have been reliably informed that I don't have one.

SCOTT: (As Jim Moriarty) But we both know that's not quite true. Well, I'd better be off. Well, so nice to have had a proper chat.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Sherlock Holmes) What if I was to shoot you now right now?

SCOTT: (As Jim Moriarty) Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face. 'Cause I'd be surprised, Sherlock. Really, I would. I'm just a teensy bit disappointed. And, of course, you wouldn't be able to cherish it for very long. Chao, Sherlock Holmes.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Sherlock Holmes) Catch you later.

SCOTT: (As Jim Moriarty) No, you won't.

GROSS: So you play Moriarty big and smirky, sinister and funny. What was your audition like?

SCOTT: My audition was incredibly fun. Just the day before, I knew that they were auditioning people to play Moriarty, and their original idea was that this character would appear almost like a - just an image, and it would say something like hello, Sherlock, and that would be the end of the series. But then when they realized that, lots of actors coming into audition just saying, hello, Sherlock, doesn't give them much of an idea of the actors' range, you know, for future series if they cast this actor. So they quickly wrote - Stephen Moffat, the writer, quickly wrote that scene, which eventually appeared as the scene we've just listened to, as an audition scene for actors to read in the audition. And they sent it maybe, I don't know, like, the night before the audition, and I thought, wow, this is really fun. And I was aware that I didn't look like a villain at the time. I had quite a sort of, you know, boyish face and stuff. And so I took great pleasure in frightening them. And I knew in the audition that they were amused but also that they were scared.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: Were you able to tap into a place in yourself that you thought could scare people?

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah. I was. I feel like one of the things that I feel quite fortunate about is that I feel quite near my emotions, you know, I feel that's stood me in good stead as an actor. I feel like it's an enormously, I don't know, it feels healthy to me to be able to access that part of you but not really do any harm, you know? Yeah, it's a funny thing - isn't it? - to be an actor?

GROSS: Yeah, yeah. I want to move on to "Hamlet." You got an Olivier award, I think - right? - for your portrayal?

SCOTT: I...

GROSS: No?

SCOTT: I might have, yeah.

GROSS: You might have. OK.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: How am I supposed to know if you don't know?

SCOTT: Yeah, well, I don't know. How am I supposed to know if you don't know?

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: Well, Anyways, you were acclaimed.

SCOTT: Yeah.

GROSS: OK.

SCOTT: Yeah. Yeah.

GROSS: You were acclaimed.

SCOTT: People liked it.

GROSS: Yeah.

SCOTT: People liked it, yeah.

GROSS: So, you've spoken about how you wanted to make the language understandable so often, especially...

SCOTT: Yeah.

GROSS: ...For Americans who sometimes have to work hard just to grasp a British accent when spoken quickly or spoken with a regional British accent. And, of course, so much of the language is - so much of the language in Shakespeare is language that we no longer use. It's archaic. But you really wanted to make every word understandable. So I went on YouTube to see if I could find anything, and I found you doing part of the to be, or not to be soliloquy, which is, of course, the most famous part. And it was so interesting because, you know, Hamlet is really, like, thinking through, like, should I live, or should I end my life? I don't know. And what's the worst that can happen if I die? What would that be like?

SCOTT: Yeah.

GROSS: And, of course, he's using very elevated, poetic language to say all of that. But you say it, like, really slowly. There are so many, like, long pauses in between, for instance, to be - long pause - or not to be. And on the one hand, I thought, like, wow, that's a lot of pauses. And on the other hand, I felt like, well, every word is ringing out, and I'm kind of hearing things I hadn't heard before. So...

SCOTT: Right.

GROSS: ...Can you describe your thoughts about those pauses and why you took them and where you took them?

SCOTT: I suppose the thing about the pauses is that he's thinking, am I going to live, or am I going to die? And we're seeing that live, and, you know, your job is to not play the famous speech. Your job is to just - that speech wasn't written to be famous. It was just written to be authentic. And this is somebody who's thinking, am I going to do this, or am I not going to do this? And nobody's watching him. So why wouldn't he take his time? You know, a lot of the language is archaic, but a lot of words that we still use today were invented by Shakespeare. So I have this real passion about Shakespeare that it shouldn't be kidnapped by academics. It's something that's very actable, and for young actors, if you really examine it and you're not intimidated and you're not told this isn't for you, then, actually, it should be really, really accessible. And you may not understand every single word, but in the same way you may not understand or get every word in a rap song, you understand that there's a musicality to it, and there's a feeling that you have to get, and that could be witty or it could contemplative or it could be whatever it is. And it's incredibly actable. And also, "Hamlet" is incredibly funny.

And so it was just - like with all things, it's just to be able to ignore the famousness of the play. In fact, we had a thing in rehearsal called the famous play buzzer...

GROSS: (Laughter).

SCOTT: ...Where you're like, are we just doing this just because everybody knows this is what you would do? Like, Hamlet's father appears to him as a ghost at the beginning of the story. And we don't know - we should unlearn the fact that we don't know that that character could be in - that character only appears fleetingly, but we know that probably because we know the play so well that actually that he just appears to him and then he sort of - and then he goes for the majority of the play. But for a 16-year-old who's watching it, they don't know that this character isn't going to be by his side for the rest of the show. So you have to unlearn what you already know about the famousness of the play in the same way you have to unlearn all the stuff that you know about Tom Ripley or James Moriarty or anything that, you know, when you're reinterpreting, you know, a famous story.

So, I found all that really interesting, and all this stuff about Hamlet, to me, is fascinating because people say, oh, he's the dark prince and he's wearing, you know, the inky black cloak and blah, blah, blah. But actually, this is just a guy, which I - you know, I very much understand at the moment, which is a guy who's in mourning. His father has died very recently. So the question is that you don't drown that character in just, oh, he's just a dark, depressing guy. Where was his lightness? And so, I feel like you always have to go towards the lightness when you're dealing with tragedy, a little bit like "Fleabag." Then you - when you're dealing with comedy, you need to look for the soul. And that's what I think the great art, or certainly the art that I'm interested in, you know, has a bit of both because that's the way we are as human beings. You know, we like a bit of both. We laugh on the saddest day of our life, and we cry, you know, in the middle of a brunch when we don't think we're going to. It's always within us all the time, the potential to go in either direction.

GROSS: Andrew Scott, I want to thank you so much for talking with us. And, you know, your face changes from role to role. Can you pass unrecognized on the street?

SCOTT: I can, yeah. Yeah, I can. (Laughter) Sometimes.

GROSS: Right. Sometimes. Yeah. Do you use...

SCOTT: Depends on the day.

GROSS: ...Any kind of disguise or...

SCOTT: It depends. I'm very lucky. I can walk the streets pretty easily, you know.

GROSS: Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts (laughter).

SCOTT: People have been saying that for a while, so hopefully I'll...

GROSS: Yeah.

SCOTT: Hopefully I'll be able to duck and dive into the future.

GROSS: Thank you so much for being with us.

SCOTT: Thank you so much for having me.

DAVIES: Andrew Scott speaking with Terry Gross, recorded in 2024. He stars in the new film "Pressure." After a break, we'll remember artist and writer Marjane Satrapi, who died last week, and Justin Chang will review Steven Spielberg's new film "Disclosure Day." I'm Dave Davies, and this is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF VOLKER BERTELMANN'S "PRESSURE ENDING CREDITS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.