Andrew Scott Plays Ian Charleson in 'Elsinore' — SkimNews
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- Andrew Scott plays Ian Charleson in Simon Stone's 'Elsinore,' portraying the 'Chariots of Fire' star who in 1989 fought to play Hamlet at the National Theatre while fighting HIV complications.
- 'Elsinore' won at the Telluride Film Festival, with the writer's own Anne Thompson and the TIFF audience hailing Scott's turn as his next big contending role.
- Scott has played Hamlet more than any other character, including a three-hour-50-minute version eight times a week, calling the role 'the great training' that makes 'everything else a walk in the park.'
- Scott told Thompson the hardest part was unlearning his own Hamlet interpretation to honor Charleson's reality, noting that 'to be or not to be' carried literal stakes — 'weeks or months before that really is the undiscovered country from which no traveler returns.'
- 'Elsinore' features Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Monica Dolan, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau, Kadiff Kirwan, Juliet Stevenson, and Peter Mullan.
- Focus Features will release 'Elsinore' in theaters on Friday, November 20.
Why it matters: For Scott, 'Elsinore' continues a deliberate pivot from 'Hot Priest' fame toward heavier dramatic work, following 'All of Us Strangers' and his solo 'Vanya.' With a TIFF audience award already secured and Focus Features opening it November 20, the film enters the prestige corridor with the kind of fact-based, actor-obsessed material that historically draws awards attention.
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