Andrew Scott is urging audiences to make room for both queer joy and painful LGBTQ+ history. Speaking in London about his new film Elsinore, the Irish actor said stories about the AIDS crisis and discrimination mustn't be pushed aside, even as shows such as Heartstopper offer warmer, more hopeful representation.

Essential Takeaways

  • A new historical drama: Elsinore stars Scott as Scottish actor Ian Charleson during his final Hamlet performance.
  • Joy still matters: Scott praised Heartstopper, Heated Rivalry and Red, White and Royal Blue for celebrating queer happiness.
  • History mustn't be softened: He argued that AIDS-era suffering should be remembered rather than hidden.
  • The blame belongs elsewhere: Scott said responsibility lies with governments and societies that allowed stigma to flourish.
  • A layered performance: The role connects theatre, illness, ambition and the courage required to perform under unimaginable pressure.

Andrew Scott wants queer stories to show the whole picture

The strongest message from Scott's London Film Festival appearance was refreshingly simple: queer cinema doesn't need to choose between happiness and heartbreak. According to The PinkNews, the actor welcomed joyful titles such as Heartstopper, Heated Rivalry and Red, White and Royal Blue, while defending more sombre dramas including Elsinore and All of Us Strangers.

That matters because representation can sometimes be treated like a single-lane road. One week, audiences are told they need cheerful romances; the next, they fear that stories about grief or illness are somehow taking the culture backwards. Scott's point is more generous. There should be room for the soft glow of a love story and the harder truths of a history that still shapes people's lives.

Why Elsinore carries such emotional weight

Elsinore dramatises the life of Ian Charleson, the Scottish actor best known for Chariots of Fire and for his celebrated stage work. The film follows Charleson as he prepares to play Hamlet at the National Theatre while living with AIDS, under the care of a doctor portrayed by Olivia Colman.

Screen Daily reported that Scott also discussed the positioning of gay stories and his ambitions beyond acting. That wider conversation gives the film extra resonance: Elsinore isn't simply a period drama about a famous performance, but a story about what happens when professional duty continues alongside fear, pain and a shrinking future.

Charleson died in 1990, aged 40, after performing Hamlet only weeks earlier. The Daily Beast has previously noted how Scott's ability to combine intensity with vulnerability has made him one of the most compelling actors of his generation, qualities that seem particularly suited to a role built around quiet endurance.

The history behind queer joy still needs telling

Scott's remarks cut through a familiar discomfort. Many people understandably want to celebrate the progress represented by modern LGBTQ+ stories, but that progress didn't appear from nowhere. It was shaped by activists, artists, patients, families and communities who faced indifference and hostility during the AIDS crisis.

The actor reportedly said that shame shouldn't rest with gay people, but with governments that ignored the crisis and the prejudice surrounding it. That's a pointed distinction, and an important one. Remembering institutional failure isn't the same as defining queer life by suffering; it's a way of identifying who made that suffering worse.

Reviews of Elsinore from City A.M. and Flickfeast underline the film's emotional force, with the latter examining its place at the 2026 London Film Festival. Viewers should expect a moving experience rather than easy comfort, but sometimes the most valuable films are the ones that leave the room quieter than they found it.

From the Hot Priest to the yearner

Scott also reflected on earlier roles, including Moriarty in Sherlock, the Hot Priest in Fleabag and his appearance in Pride. He described yearning as an inherently cinematic feeling, which sounds almost obvious until you consider how often his performances turn longing into something physical: a glance held too long, a pause that says more than dialogue, a person trying not to reveal how much they want.

That quality helps explain why Scott's queer roles have connected so strongly with audiences. His characters are rarely reduced to labels or tidy lessons. They're funny, complicated, lonely, hopeful and sometimes infuriating, which is precisely what makes them feel like people rather than symbols.

And there is a pleasing continuity between Pride and Elsinore. One celebrates collective resistance and friendship; the other looks at an actor working under the shadow of illness. Both recognise that queer life has always contained wit, ambition and desire, even in frightening circumstances.

What audiences can expect from the film

Elsinore also brings together an impressive supporting cast, including Joe Locke, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Monica Dolan and Juliet Stevenson. According to festival coverage, the film's premiere included real-life figures connected to Charleson's story, including Professor Margaret Johnson, the HIV and AIDS treatment pioneer portrayed by Colman.

That connection between the film and the people who inspired it appears to be central to its impact. It gives the project a sense of responsibility that goes beyond awards-season drama. The film isn't just borrowing a painful chapter for atmosphere; it's asking audiences to look directly at the people who lived through it.

Elsinore is due for a wider UK release in January 2027. For viewers looking for queer films that balance emotional honesty with historical context, it could become one of the year's most significant releases. Bring tissues, perhaps, but also bring curiosity. Scott's argument is that remembering difficult history can be an act of pride, not shame.

Queer cinema is strongest when it makes room for joy, grief and everything in between.

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