Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott is an Irish actor born on 21 October 1976 in Dublin, the son of Nora and Jim Scott. His mother worked as an art teacher and his father at an employment agency. The second of three children, he has an older sister, Sarah, and a younger sister, Hannah. He was raised Catholic and attended Gonzaga College while taking weekend drama classes at Ann Kavanagh's Young People's Theatre in Rathfarnham. He also appeared in two advertisements on Irish television during his youth. At 17, he was cast in a starring role in the film Korea. Though he won a bursary to art school, he chose instead to study drama at Trinity College Dublin, departing after six months to join Dublin's Abbey Theatre before relocating to London at age 22.

Scott's earliest stage work included portraying Stan in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs at Andrew's Lane in Dublin in 1992. His film debut came with the Irish drama Korea (1995), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 1998, he worked with director Karel Reisz at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, playing Edmund Tyrone. That performance earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the Actor of the Year prize at the Sunday Independent Spirit of Life Arts Awards. He subsequently took on a small role as Michael Bodkin in the film Nora and appeared in a television adaptation of Henry James's The American. His London theatre debut came in Conor McPherson's Dublin Carol at the Royal Court Theatre. He appeared in the drama Longitude (2000) opposite Michael Gambon and had a role in Steven Spielberg's World War II miniseries Band of Brothers (2001).

In 2004, Scott was named one of European Film Promotions' Shooting Stars. That same period brought him the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for his role in A Girl in a Car with a Man at the Royal Court Theatre, as well as the Theatregoers' Choice Award for his performance in the Royal National Theatre's production of Aristocrats. He also originated the dual roles of twin brothers in the Royal Court's world premiere of Christopher Shinn's Dying City, a production later nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

In 2006, Scott made his Broadway debut at the Music Box Theater in The Vertical Hour, written by David Hare and directed by Sam Mendes. He appeared in the production alongside Bill Nighy and Julianne Moore, and received a Drama League Award nomination for his performance. Around the same period, he appeared as Colonel William Smith in the historical miniseries John Adams. In 2009, he starred in Sea Wall, a one-man show written for him by playwright Simon Stephens, and later that year appeared in a sold-out run of Cock at the Royal Court, which went on to win an Olivier Award in 2010. His screen work during this era included the role of Paul McCartney in the BBC film Lennon Naked and an appearance in the 2010 film The Duel.

Scott gained widespread recognition beginning in 2010 through his portrayal of Jim Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, in the BBC series Sherlock, a role he continued through 2017. The performance earned him the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also had a guest role in the second series of Garrow's Law and appeared in the Old Vic production of Noël Coward's Design for Living in 2010. The following year he played the lead role of Julian in Ben Power's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Emperor and Galilean at the Royal National Theatre. He also appeared as Adam Le Ray in the drama series The Hour, alongside Dominic West and Romola Garai. His voice work during this period included the roles of Jay Gatsby in an audio adaptation of The Great Gatsby and Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce's Ulysses. In November 2013, he participated in the Royal National Theatre's 50 Years on Stage broadcast, performing a scene from Tony Kushner's Angels in America alongside Dominic Cooper.

In 2014, Scott played Paul, a rock star on the verge of a breakdown, in Simon Stephens's Birdland, directed by Carrie Cracknell at the Royal Court Theatre. The following year he appeared in the James Bond film Spectre as Max Denbigh, a British government official seeking to shut down the Double-0 section. In 2016, he portrayed solicitor Anthony Julius in the film Denial, alongside Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, and Tom Wilkinson, and appeared in the romantic drama This Beautiful Fantastic, written and directed by Simon Aboud.

Scott's stage work continued to earn major recognition in subsequent years. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Garry Essendine in a 2019 production of Noël Coward's Present Laughter at The Old Vic. That same year, his role as the priest in the second series of the BBC comedy Fleabag brought him broader public attention and earned him the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. His film credits from this period include Pride (2014), the World War I epic 1917 (2019), and the romantic drama All of Us Strangers (2023), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. In 2024, he starred as Tom Ripley in the thriller series Ripley, a performance that garnered Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations as well as a Peabody Award.

Across his career, Scott has accumulated two Laurence Olivier Awards, a BAFTA Television Award, a Silver Bear, a Peabody Award, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.