Andrew Scott has praised joyful LGBTQ+ hits including Heartstopper and Heated Rivalry, but says queer cinema must also confront the painful history behind today’s freedoms. Speaking in London around the BFI premiere of Elsinore, he made a heartfelt case for stories that remember who was ignored, blamed and lost.

Essential Takeaways

  • Joy still matters: Scott warmly welcomed the popularity of contemporary queer dramas and romances.
  • History cannot be edited out: He argued that audiences should also face the AIDS crisis and the prejudice surrounding it.
  • A brave central performance: Elsinore revisits Ian Charleson’s Hamlet, performed while he was living with AIDS.
  • The film has personal weight: Scott also discussed the support Charleson received from fellow theatre professionals and the influence of his late mother.
  • A measured release: Elsinore is scheduled to arrive in selected US cinemas on 20 November 2026.

Andrew Scott wants queer stories to hold joy and pain together

Andrew Scott's message is less a criticism of feel-good LGBTQ+ storytelling than a plea for a bigger picture. Speaking in London, the actor said he welcomed the rise of joyful queer films and television series, including Heartstopper, Heated Rivalry and Red, White, and Royal Blue.

That enthusiasm matters. For many viewers, seeing queer characters fall in love, flirt, argue and simply enjoy ordinary life can feel quietly revolutionary. But Scott believes that comfort shouldn't come at the expense of memory, particularly when the history being forgotten is so recent and so devastating.

His comments came during discussion of Elsinore, a new film centred on Ian Charleson's celebrated performance as Hamlet. Screen Daily reported that the film opened the 70th BFI London Film Festival with an emotional reception, setting the tone for a project built around art, illness and remembrance.

The story behind Elsinore is painfully physical

Charleson took over the role of Hamlet from Daniel Day-Lewis and performed it while battling AIDS, dying only months after his death in 1990. Scott, who previously played Hamlet himself at London's Almeida Theatre, understands just how punishing the role can be even in good health.

The scale of the feat is difficult to take in. Hamlet is a demanding, lengthy part, filled with psychological shifts and physically draining scenes. Scott has recalled performing the play repeatedly in a single week, describing the experience as something that left him completely spent.

The film's power comes from that contrast: the grandeur of Shakespeare's tragedy set against the vulnerability of a performer whose body was failing. The Guardian's coverage of Charleson's Hamlet underlines the extraordinary physical and emotional pressure surrounding the original production.

Why remembering the AIDS crisis still matters

Scott's central point is blunt but important. The shame surrounding AIDS did not belong to the people who were ill; it belonged to governments that failed to act, institutions that allowed stigma to spread and societies that treated gay men as if they were responsible for their own suffering.

That distinction can easily become blurred when difficult history is treated as something too uncomfortable to revisit. Yet avoiding these stories risks turning hard-won progress into a vague, feel-good tale with its most painful chapters removed. As the Associated Press has noted in its reporting on Scott's career and projects, his work often sits at the intersection of mainstream popularity and LGBTQ+ visibility.

There is room for both kinds of story. A glossy romance can offer escape, while a film such as Elsinore can explain what earlier generations endured to make that freedom possible. The strongest queer cinema doesn't force audiences to choose between celebration and grief.

A theatre community offered Charleson rare support

Scott also focused on the solidarity Charleson received from fellow actors and theatre workers after disclosing his diagnosis. At a time when public understanding was scarce and prejudice was widespread, that support carried enormous emotional weight.

His description of Charleson's final Hamlet is especially moving because illness was visible. Scott discussed the swelling caused by septicaemia and the possibility that Charleson might have worried about being stared at or no longer recognised. Performing under those circumstances required more than technical skill; it demanded extraordinary courage.

That communal response is one of the film's most human threads. Behind the headlines and the historical significance was a group of people trying to protect a colleague when wider society offered too little protection. The Guardian's reporting on the production similarly presents Charleson's performance as an artistic achievement inseparable from his physical ordeal.

From the stage to a wider legacy

Scott's reflections also extended beyond Charleson. He spoke warmly about actors as a source of friendship and support, naming collaborators including Benedict Cumberbatch, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Mescal and Olivia Colman.

He also remembered his mother, Nora, who died during the filming of another project. Scott said she loved theatre, films and the arts, even though her life was not lived in the spotlight. Her influence, he suggested, shows why local theatres, galleries, book clubs and community arts groups matter: they can make the world feel larger, even without fame or glamour.

That idea gives Elsinore an appealingly broad emotional reach. It isn't only about one legendary performance or one historical crisis. It's about the people who create art, the people who keep them standing and the audiences who decide which stories deserve to survive.

It's a timely reminder that queer cinema can celebrate the present while still honouring those who made it possible.

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