Andrew Scott says he didn’t ‘over-rehearse’ his X-rated sex scenes with Paul Mescal in All Of Us Strangers… as actor reflects on the ‘wonderful gift’ of being out and proud: ‘I feel so lucky to have been born gay’

Andrew Scott admits he barely rehearsed his raunchy sex scenes with Paul Mescal while working with an intimacy coordinator ahead of his latest role in All Of Us Strangers.

The actor is widely praised for his portrayal of a lonely screenwriter who encounters the ghosts of his deceased parents in director Andrew Haigh’s latest film, an adaptation of Japanese author Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel Strangers.

But while an explicit sexual encounter with Harry, played by Irish heartthrob Paul Mescal, has dominated the commentary surrounding the release, Scott insists they both took an organic approach to its development.

Speak with AttitudeThe actor, 47, also credited the film’s intimacy coordinator for mediating any concerns about the graphic nature of their sex scene.

“Sex is just communication, right?” he said. “It’s just physical communication rather than verbal communication… We didn’t rehearse it too much. We knew those scenes, especially the early ones, had to have some kind of excitement.

The actor (left, with Paul Mescal) has been critically acclaimed for his portrayal of a lonely screenwriter who encounters the ghosts of his deceased parents in director Andrew Haigh’s latest film.

‘And we had an intimacy coordinator, who can be very useful for the simple reason that if you can talk to someone about your fears or what you want to show, what you don’t want to show, or what you think it should be and what the story of the storyline is, you have that foundation of safety.

‘But chemistry is very interesting. You’re really just listening to see what the other person is doing physically, the same way you would in a dialogue scene.

“And you can talk about that all you want, but until you’re actually there, it’s not living that way, so it’s just about listening, but really just listening with your body.”

The actor, best known for playing James Moriarty in the BBC drama Sherlock and the untitled ‘Hot Priest’ in the Phoebe Waller-Bridge comedy Fleabag, publicly acknowledged his own sexuality for the first time in 2013.

And Scott admits that being an openly gay man in modern times has been a “beautiful gift” that has helped him form strong friendships within the queer community.

He said: ‘I think it’s such a wonderful thing for me. It has been an extraordinary gift to my life and just being able to see the real beauty of being gay is absolutely amazing.

‘The older I get, the more fortunate I am to have been born gay, and that permeates my life in the sense of all my friendships. I have so many amazing queer friends in my life now that I adore.”

He added, “I feel such a huge sense of camaraderie with other queer people right now, and without sounding too hippie about it, I feel like I just want to spread that love and positivity in our community because we have come such a long way. and it’s important that we be kind and care for each other, and celebrate how uniquely different and how wonderful that can be.”

Although a sexual encounter with Harry, played by Mescal, has dominated the film’s release, Scott insists they both took an organic approach to its development.

‘We didn’t rehearse it too much. We knew those scenes, especially the early ones, had to have some kind of excitement,” he told the latest edition of Attitude magazine.

Scott says being an openly gay man in modern times has been a “beautiful gift” that has helped him form strong friendships within the queer community

‘It feels like an extraordinary privilege to be able to play a character like this. And I wanted to give as much of myself as I could because it was cathartic for me,” he said.

“I never thought I would be able to see a movie like this, let alone be in the middle of it, so I wanted to take that opportunity to express myself in some way.”

‘Why get an imaginary backstory from somewhere else? I wanted to bring as much of myself as possible because I feel like this is what the audience will identify with the most.”

The full interview can be read in the March/April issue of Attitude, which will be published on February 16.

The full interview with Andrew Scott can be read in the March/April issue of Attitude, which will be published on February 16.