Andrew Scott says he did ‘Fleabag’ as he was searching for something that wasn’t ‘villanious’

British actor Andrew Scott says his Hot Priest in “Fleabag” was a result of his quest to break away from the image of a bad guy, which he attained after working in James Bond movie “Spectre” and playing Jim Moriarty in “Sherlock” series

Scott’s Hot Priest became the worldwide heartthrob soon after the premiere of “Fleabag” season two and the actor says starring in the series, fronted by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, gave him an opportunity to explore romance in an “intelligent way”.

“One of the reasons ‘Fleabag’ came about was that I was searching for something that wasn’t villainous. After Sherlock, there were a lot of “sub-Moriarty” roles that were offered to me. I played a villain in one of the Bond films – I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to be in the Bond film!’ – and that was a really good experience.

“But I think after a while you have to go, ‘No, I don’t want to do that anymore.’ I think ‘romantic comedy’ is very underrated; I was always looking for something that explored romantic love in a really intelligent and human way and I felt, when I first started talking to Phoebe about it, that this was ideal,” the actor said in an interview with GQ magazine.

The actor said even though he is not “worried” about getting pigeonholed, he believes it is important to keep reinventing with time. “At every given stage of your life, you’re associated with a particular role.

The Priest was definitely a character that people were really interested in... So at the moment, that’s the one that’s front and center, but it’s my job to smash that down and start focusing on the next thing.”

“Fleabag” had a golden run at the award season this year winning all the major trophies including Golden Globes. Scott said traveling to the US and meeting artistes he admires was an amazing experience.

“It’s like a whole new life; you go out there for a few weeks and there are so many awards shows. You forget that there’s a lot of people there who are also finding it bizarre, people who you really admire. “You get to know them a little bit better, so that was cool, to hang out with people I’ve admired. We had a great time with all the crowd from ‘Succession’,” he said.

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