Andrew Scott Has 1 Shocking Confession About Sherlock Holmes Despite Playing the Iconic Villain
2023 was equal parts good and bad for the Hollywood entertainment industry. One of the good things was the rise of some of the best Irish actors out there; which included Andrew Scott. He is prominently known for his portrayal of the Hot Priest, as the internet likes to call him, in the second season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s comedy-drama series Fleabag.
Andrew Scott made his film debut in 1995 with a role in the Irish feature film Korea. Before he became famous as the Hot Priest, he was popular for his role as James Moriarty, the iconic villain in the crime drama series Sherlock. He has recently revealed something regarding the show that the fans might find a little surprising.
Andrew Scott’s Confession Might Come as a Surprise to Many
Fans of the crime drama genre or even a person with an average interest in the realm of literature and shows will know about detectives like Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. It is common knowledge that there have been numerous adaptations of both of these characters in movies as well as shows.
The role of Sherlock Holmes has been famously played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movies and Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC show Sherlock, which was aired for 4 seasons between 2010 and 2017. While Martin Freeman appeared as Sherlock’s friend and confidant Doctor John Watson, Andrew Scott played the role of James/Jim Moriarty.
Scott’s portrayal of Moriarty has been nothing short of great so one might think that he must have analyzed the character well from the books. However, that absolutely does not happen to be the case as he recently revealed the same. While breaking down his most iconic characters in an interview with British GQ, he said:
“I was not overly familiar with Sherlock Holmes. So I think that helped. I didn’t really think too much about previous incarnations. In a way, I was kind of naive about Moriarty, and what’s required of somebody who might be asked to play that part. I just wanted to have fun.”
The All of Us Strangers went on to say that Moriarty is not the kind of villain who is even remotely scared of the hero. So, bringing in his perspective on the character from scratch was helpful for the actor.
Andrew Scott Revealed the Challenge He Faced While Playing Moriarty
Playing a character in a franchise that already has a huge fanbase puts a lot of pressure on actors. Every actor has a different approach to bringing a character to life, and Andrew Scott‘s was to have fun with what he was doing. Needless to say, he along with the creators did an amazing job at bringing the character to the screen.
Scott revealed the biggest challenge he faced while playing the character, saying:
“The challenge for me in that character was to try and hold onto his power. I remember a good few times, asking Mark and Steven, who are the brilliant writers on Sherlock, for him not to say too much, or to say less, which they were always in total agreement about, just that if you had an amazing bullseye line to sort of cut around all the other lines.”
Doing more and saying less always proves to be an excellent approach to nearly everything. Now, if Moriarty were to talk more, the mystery factor surrounding him would not be there which could have made the character not as good as it was.
