Paul Mescal said he “fell in love” with Andrew Scott while filming their BAFTA-nominated movie, All of Us Strangers.
“It’s a very easy thing to do,” he told British Vogue. We agree. In fact, it’s too easy.
WATCH: All of Us Strangers | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures. Article continues after video.
Scott has always been in plain sight, yet he’s always flown under the radar, and lived a fairly normal existence for a big star.
Supporting roles he’s made legendary. From the ‘Hot Priest’ in Fleabag, to the titular character’s devilishly handsome nemesis Moriarty in Sherlock, and now a lonely screenwriter opposite Mescal in All of Us Strangers, Scott delivers a new and memorable character every time.
In his next project, Netflix’s Ripley, we expect he’ll deliver a killer performance as Tom Ripley.
The eight-episode limited series is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, which Matt Damon brought to screens in the 1999 film adaptation of the same name.
Despite Ripley being a sociopath and a grifter, Scott has some sympathy for his character, telling The Guardian, “To me, it’s about what it’s like never to be invited to the party. We all know people who don’t make it easy for themselves, who are maybe a bit strange.”
“But if you’re constantly ignored, or sidelined, or don’t fit in, what happens? Is it that something dark emerges?”
Playing such a creepy character did end up having an emotional effect on Scott, who began filming when the rest of the world was locked down.
“I don’t mind saying that playing him was challenging,” the 47-year-old admitted. “It was very lonely. We filmed during COVID, and the five-day isolation requirements that were in place both here and in Italy meant people couldn’t come and visit, and I couldn’t come home … he’s a solitary figure in this version, so I was on my own a lot.”
Being alone and delving into the mind of a psycho killer sounds like hell, but for Scott it helped get the job done, and that’s one of the reasons why fans, and his friends, adore him.
“Andrew is a very easy person to fall in love with,” Mescal told Screen Daily, explaining that they were friends before shooting the desperately moving All of Us Strangers, but their bond grew stronger during filming.
“He’s kind, generous, talented. We shot the film at the perfect junction in our friendship where there was a lot we didn’t know about each other, but there was mutual admiration and respect. And a similar sense of humour,” he added.
Scott called his connection with Mescal “immediate”. He told People, “A lot of that is kind of a magic [that] happens and you don’t necessarily know what it’s down to and you’re just grateful that it’s there.”
Fans of Strangers, which centres around Mescal and Scott’s characters falling in love, have called the movie’s Oscars snub an abomination.
Meanwhile, film critics have credited Scott’s performance in the role, as a man also searching for answers about the death of his parents decades earlier, as a “masterpiece” and “one of the greatest displays of acting in modern times”.
“When I was growing up, the idea that a film like this would even exist, and that I would be able to play that role in it – it’s miraculous,” he told Vanity Fair.
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