Overview of Andrew Scott
Actor Andrew Scott joins Conan for a wide-ranging conversation about his career, his Irish upbringing, and why he thinks acting works best when it stays playful. They cover his standout roles in Sherlock, Fleabag, Ripley, Vanya, and The Comeback, plus his new film Pressure, which dramatizes the D-Day weather forecasting operation. The episode mixes thoughtful discussion about craft and theater with a lot of very funny banter about hair, irishness, and absurd Hallmark-movie pitches.
Career Highlights and New Film Pressure
- Scott reflects on the work that made him widely known:
- Moriarty in Sherlock
- The “hot priest” in Fleabag
- Ripley
- Vanya
- The Comeback
- A Bond-villain turn
- Conan praises Scott’s ability to make villains:
- charming
- funny
- unnerving
- They discuss Pressure, a World War II film about the lead-up to D-Day and the weather decision that helped determine whether the invasion could go forward.
- Scott plays a key figure in the story about forecasting conditions for the Allied landing.
- He notes that the film is really about the enormous pressure behind a decision that affected the course of history.
Acting Philosophy: Playfulness, Risk, and the Value of Mistakes
- Scott says acting is fundamentally about play.
- He argues that the best performers keep a sense of curiosity and improvisation, even after years of success.
- A major theme of the conversation is that mistakes can be gifts:
- In theater, a mistake can make the audience feel the live immediacy of the performance.
- Audiences often become more attentive when something goes off-script.
- He pushes back on over-intellectualizing acting:
- too much analysis can “calcify” the work
- art should stay alive, flexible, and responsive
- Conan strongly agrees, comparing acting to comedy and live television:
- the best moments often come from unexpected errors
- audience energy changes everything
- One of the key lines of the interview is Scott’s idea that:
- “The tools change, but the task doesn’t.”
- Whether it’s a pen cap, a lighter, CGI, or an entire production, the job is still to create belief and emotional connection.
Theater, Audience Energy, and Why Live Performance Matters
- Scott explains why he still makes theater a regular part of his career, even with major film and TV success.
- He loves the directness of live performance:
- the audience is present
- the performer can react in real time
- the room becomes part of the piece
- He and Conan talk about how audiences can “feel” truth in a live show.
- Scott describes theatrical effects that are simple but powerful:
- a tiny object can imply scale or emotion when handled well
- the imagination of the audience does a lot of the work
- They also joke about standing ovations:
- Conan says they’ve become almost automatic
- Scott and Conan both enjoy the awkwardness of the one person who doesn’t stand
Background: Shyness, a Lisp, and Growing Up Irish
- Scott shares that he was a very shy child.
- He had a pronounced lisp and went to elocution lessons.
- He says the speech-and-drama training helped him come out of his shell.
- His mother was an art teacher, and he spent a lot of time drawing.
- He grew up in Dublin with:
- a father from the west of Ireland
- a mother from Northern Ireland
- He describes Irish identity as something that becomes even more pronounced when you leave Ireland.
- He also talks about how Irish people rely on:
- storytelling
- wit
- language
- emotional sensitivity
Favorite Culture Touchstones
- Scott says he grew up loving:
- The Muppet Show
- Shakespeare
- Warner Bros. cartoons
- Conan agrees with his point that there’s no real divide between “high” and “low” art:
- great comedy and great theater are built from the same instincts
- timing, character, and delight are universal
Lighthearted Bits and Running Gags
- A major comic thread is Conan and the others obsessing over Sona’s hair and the many products she uses on it.
- The conversation spirals into jokes about:
- argan oil
- Morocco
- “mood hair”
- absurdly intense grooming routines
- They also revisit old Conan bits, including:
- a story about Sona being “crushed” at birth
- a clip from Scott’s appearance on the Irish-language show Ros na Rún (misheard in the transcript as “Ross Naroon”)
- The episode ends with an extended joke about a fake, overly explicit Hallmark-style holiday movie concept, which turns into a ridiculous pitch for a new genre.
Key Takeaways
- Andrew Scott sees acting as a lifelong practice of play, spontaneity, and attention.
- He values theater because it preserves the human element that technology can’t replace.
- His career spans prestige drama, comedy, villainy, and experimental stage work, but he approaches all of it with the same basic instincts.
- The interview’s central idea is that great performance comes from staying alive to the moment rather than over-controlling it.