​For two straight months this past spring, Andrew Scott spent his evenings in the Lucille Lortel Theatre, performing all eight characters in a one-man interpretation of Uncle Vanya. Sam Yates’s adamantly off-Broadway adaptation of the Chekhov play, which made its way to the barely 300-seat New York venue after a sold-out, award-studded London run, saw Scott oscillate effortlessly among its lovelorn, disgruntled, and debonair characters, performing two-person coital scenes solo and melting in and out of tears—without breaking a sweat. “On the last day, the crew came to the theater dressed as me, and each played one of the characters,” Scott recalls. “I thought, Jesus, there are loads of people in this play, no wonder I’m exhausted.”

It was a fitting move for the Irish actor, who has spent the past decade leaving his tender yet eviscerating mark on everything from TV dramedies to heartbreaking indies. Following his star-making role as a maddeningly irresistible man of the cloth in Fleabag, Scott appeared opposite Paul Mescal in 2023’s eviscerating All of Us Strangers and 2024’s moody Patricia Highsmith adaptation, Ripley. All of this happened between the Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor’s turns on the stage—a feat which Josh O’Connor, who first witnessed Scott’s magnetism at the Royal Court in London while still a theater student, has always admired. “You’ve managed to balance film and theater, but I find it really hard,” O’Connor, known for roles in films like God’s Own Country, La Chimera, and last year’s thirst trap Challengers, tells Scott. “If you keep avoiding it, it becomes a monster in your mind.”

The pair, who developed a close friendship over the years, share a penchant for independent films about the monsters in our minds that never fail to whip festival audiences into a frenzy. Last year, they departed from those roots to shoot the destined-to-be blockbuster Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The project offered a brief comic respite for both actors—Scott was grieving the loss of his mother while simultaneously shooting Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon (out later this year); O’Connor had recently wrapped his forthcoming drama The History of Sound and was preparing to shoot Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind.

Early glimpses of the latest Knives Out reveal O’Connor putting his own spin on one of Scott’s most infamous roles: a hot priest. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but Scott and O’Connor don’t waste time on that. Instead, their relationship is defined by a whole lot of teasing—so much so that when the pair sat down for Scott’s CULTURED cover feature, they had to promise to behave themselves.

Josh O’Connor: Andrew, before we start, I want to set some ground rules. Half of our friendship is putting each other down. And that doesn’t work in print.

Andrew Scott: It’ll seem really dark and abusive, so we’re going to be good. How did we meet?

O’Connor: Well, I’ve known your work for ages, because you’ve been around so long. I think I first saw you onstage at the Globe, performing with William [Shakespeare].

Scott: Wow, you’re starting like that. Bill was lovely to work with.

O’Connor: He’s good, isn’t he? No, but I first saw you in Birdland at the Royal Court. I was in my final year of drama school. That performance was really formative for me.

Scott: Did you swoon during my performance, like you always do during my close-ups onscreen?

O’Connor: I prefer you at a distance. But you started in the theater, right?

Scott: It’s weird to think that I started in the theater, because I feel like I’m never going to leave. I’m hoping to finish in the theater.

“Did you swoon during my performance, like you always do during my close-ups onscreen?” —Andrew Scott

O’Connor: That’s one of the things I look up to you for—you’ve committed to doing a piece of theater every year or so.

Scott: I suppose I’m just scared of not doing it—I love it so much. This is a cliché, but it’s completely the actor’s medium, you know? It engages so many parts of your brain. Like Vanya—obviously I performed it, but [director Sam Yates] and I developed it together, from the way it looked to the way it was marketed.

O’Connor: Did you come to Sam, or did he come to you?

Scott: Originally, it was going to be a more straight-up version of Uncle Vanya, and they wanted me to play Vanya. A few of us did a reading of the script and divvied up the parts between us, like three each. But we misallocated them, so I ended up acting with myself a lot. It was kind of funny and ridiculous. Eventually, they were like, Why doesn’t Andrew just do the whole thing?

I was very resistant to it, if I’m honest. I thought, It’s going to be so cringe. Everyone will say, “Oh, fuck off, Andrew.” But it became very interesting, because so much of the play is about how people carry themselves. Some characters are very attractive but think they’re not; others think they’re unattractive but have a different type of confidence. Embodying all those ways of being was interesting.

O’Connor: I saw it live in London. What I found so crazy about it was that it felt less like a piece of theater and more like the kind of storytelling you hear in pubs—the purest form of storytelling.

Scott: We wanted it to be no-frills—no costume changes, very little tech support—so that you have to use your imagination. It’s as lo-fi as possible, but you have this masterpiece of a play to back it up. If the source material didn’t have that soul and strength, I don’t think we could have been as inventive. On the last day, the crew came dressed as me, and each played one of the characters. I thought, Jesus, there are loads of people in this play, no wonder I’m exhausted.

O’Connor: You finished a few days ago. How are you feeling?

Scott: Last night I had that feeling—It’s 7 o’clock, I’m sitting here eating a pizza! So exciting. When is the theater beckoning for you, my darling? We need you back on the stage, Josh O.

O’Connor: I don’t know. I’m inspired by how you’ve managed to balance film and theater, but I find it really hard. It’s always being kicked down the road. If you keep avoiding it, it becomes a monster in your mind. But it really is our bread and butter—the foundation of what we do.

Scott: Doing a play makes me feel much more confident as a performer. I find it so incredibly moving that people willfully enter a dark room to listen to a story that will make them laugh and cry, and then get up and go back to their lives at the end. I know it’s the same with cinemas, but to be able to talk directly to the audience—it’s just amazing. Are you having fun shooting at the moment?

O’Connor: It’s been fun. It’s similar to Knives Out [releasing later this year], which you and I obviously shot together last summer—

Scott: Oh, you were in that?

O’Connor: Yeah.

Scott: No, that’s Josh Brolin. He’s a wonderful, very handsome, very talented actor.

O’Connor: He’s in it, and also me. I was in it loads. Don’t you remember?

Scott: We didn’t have any scenes together, did we?

O’Connor: Yeah. We had loads. [Both laugh] How did you find Knives Out? It was the first time I’d ever done that kind of movie. What I’m doing right now is in a similar vein—big studio operation. It’s quite a different thing.

Scott: I think we have this in common—we’ve done independent films for so long, which is a completely different atmosphere. Knives Out was so fun. This is not PR speak—we had the best time.

O’Connor: A funny thing happens to me after a project—I come away from it and go, I actually haven’t a clue what we did. But what I remember most was being surrounded by some of the greatest actors working today and having so much fun.

Scott: As you know, my mum died a month before we started filming. I was in a vulnerable place. But everyone was kind and supportive—I’ll never forget how touched I was when you gave me that beautiful sonnet. Between scenes, everybody would sit around in the green room, telling stories or playing board games together. I kept falling asleep there, in the middle of everyone. It’s a weird thing, grief—just completely exhausting. I was also doing another film at the same time ’cause I’m very, very popular.

“A funny thing happens to me after a project—I come away from it and go, I actually haven’t a clue what we did.” —Josh O’Connor

O’Connor: I forgot that you were doing a Richard Linklater film at the same time!

Scott: Josh, that’s because you don’t listen to me. You’re always talking.

O’Connor: Well, the truth is—and you can put this in the article—I don’t care.

Scott: I’m glad you finally came clean. Why don’t you just say it in a full sentence? You don’t care about other people. [Both laugh]

O’Connor: This is exactly what I was worried about before we started. Now the headline will be, “Josh O’Connor doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.” What’s happening with the Linklater film? I don’t think we talked about that too much.

Scott: Blue Moon! I think it’s coming out in October-y time? I’m not sure, to be honest. It all takes place during one evening, on the opening night of Oklahoma! Rick Linklater is a complete joy, Ethan [Hawke] is beautiful, Margaret Qualley too. Did you go straight on to something else after Knives Out?

O’Connor: Yeah, I had a couple of weeks off, and then I went to Ohio to do this Kelly Reichardt movie [The Mastermind]. It played at Cannes.

Scott: Wasn’t your film with Paul [Mescal, The History of Sound] in Cannes too? Oh my God, that is so embarrassing for you.

O’Connor: So embarrassing for… really? I mean, it’s pretty cool. Is it embarrassing?

Scott: I don’t know, Josh. The last thing I want to do is be discouraging in any way. But having two films at Cannes, I’m not sure. And you’re sure you haven’t been cut out of Kelly’s movie?

O’Connor: Oh my God. [Both laugh]

Scott: I’m sorry. I can’t wait to see them both.

O’Connor: Paul’s wonderful in History of Sound. It’s quite rare to get to support a friend in a movie, like Paul did with you [in All of Us Strangers]. He’s been a friend for a long time.

Scott: I’m so excited to see you guys together onscreen. Two people I love.

O’Connor: He’s not a brilliant actor, but he’s…

Scott: No, but you can carry him through it.

O’Connor: Right. And what I like about Paul is that he’s enthusiastic. Again, these jokes will not land.

Scott: This interview is going to ruin my career.

O’Connor: And now, are you finally going to get a holiday?

Scott: Yes. Remember last year when we were obsessed with talking about holidays?

O’Connor: It was honestly all we talked about.

“I find it so incredibly moving, the idea that people willfully enter a dark room to listen to a story that will make them laugh and cry, and then get up and go back to their lives at the end.” —Andrew Scott

Scott: Last year, I worked very, very hard. I did fucking loads of things. This year I thought, I can’t do that. Life is short and God knows I’m more aware of that than ever. So, I made a vow that I’m not going to work this summer—I’m just going to do little things. For example, I’m looking forward to our movie coming out and seeing the gang.

O’Connor: Me too. I remember Daniel [Craig] saying that Knives Out is a proper family atmosphere—kind of like doing a play. I was kind of dreading it, to be honest. I like being on my own.

Scott: Yeah, because you have a very particular energy…

O’Connor: Well, no. I think what we’ve discovered is that I’m brilliant with people.

Scott: I suppose that’s probably why we have that separate WhatsApp group. Sometimes, it becomes too much.

O’Connor: What? Did you say a separate WhatsApp group?

Scott: We only really post in it… not like every day. Well, we post in it every day, but we still have the main one.

O’Connor: The main one’s gone quiet.

Scott: Oh yeah, that one’s sort of dead. The other one is really going good.

O’Connor: And the only difference between the one that’s dead and the other one is that I’m not in it…

Scott: Glenn [Close] invited the whole chat for a lovely barbecue. Oh my God, you would have loved it. Had I thought of it, I absolutely would have invited you.

O’Connor: You should have put it in the… main group.

Scott: Is there anything you’d like to promote?

O’Connor: No. Absolutely not. I’m so excited for you, finishing the play and taking some time off this summer. You’re the best actor, and you’re my great friend.

Scott: I love you so much. And yeah—just keep trying. The thing about acting is, if you just keep trying, eventually you’ll crack it.

O’Connor: That reminds me, will you send me a copy of your latest book draft? You said you were working on a book, How to Act by Andrew Scott. You’re self-publishing, right?

Scott: Somebody put us to death.

Order your copy of the Art + Food issue, with Andrew Scott on the cover, here.

Grooming by Erica Whelan
Production by Dionne Cochrane
Tailoring by Paul Burgo
Digital Tech by Cat Marshall
Photography Assistance by Sam Williams and Tony Jarum
Styling Assistance by Devyn Banta and Lunetta Green
Production Assistance by Brittany Thompson and Thalia Saint-Lôt
Location: Splashlight Studios

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