Three 30 second clips of Andrew Scott in Roaring Trade at the SoHo Theatre — From the 8 January 2009 episode of the SoHo Theatre Podcast with writer Steve Thompson and director Roxana Silbert
do you have a list of quotes from andrew and benedict talking about the sherlock/moriarty dynamic?
“There’s a lot of reflection. He’s like the dark shadow self of Holmes. He’s Holmes without any of what he sees and can be a weakness. The heart, the feeling, the necessity to try and do good even if it is by bad means. I think no one can humiliate him, better him, confuse him, trouble him and give him a harder game to get better at than Moriarty. Everyone needs an adversary. Everyone needs a nemesis. Something that is going to excel them to be a better version of themselves. That’s why it’s such fun to have someone like Moriarty as a villain. There ain’t no one better than him. Except for maybe Sherlock.” - Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlocked Con 2016
What is the core of Sherlock and Moriarty’s relationship?“I think it’s ‘the great game’ and there’s a great sense that the two of them enjoy it, absolutely. The fun of it is that you shouldn’t have a [back-story]. I hate being spoon-fed things, in that sense. I think we shouldn’t know… I don’t think the question should ever be answered.” - Andrew Scott, DigitalSpy Interview
“When he’s in the courtroom, he’s very clever. He understands the human condition, he understands that people want to be flattered. Later, having tea with Sherlock, he can reveal himself, he can be as relaxed and flirtatious as he wants. It’s a quiet moment but, because it’s so well set up and so beautifully written, the inherent threat feels extremely potent.” - Andrew Scott, Sherlock: The Casebook - The Adventure of the Playful Villain
You utter something in “His Last Vow” about addiction and how you solve crimes essentially to sort of deal with your addiction. Do you think Moriarty is a part of that addiction? Do you think he’s necessary for you?“And the work addiction? Yeah, absolutely. He’s addicted to two things that destroy him in a way, or rather have the potential to destroy him. One is his archenemy and what he’s up to. The other one is drugs and when he’s not working that slips back in again.” - Benedict Cumberbatch, San Diego Comic Con 2016
“Like a lot of people that are emotionally sort of disturbed in that way, he can be massively high, and I think he gets a great deal of comfort in being able to challenge Sherlock. I think he’s somebody with a lot of immediate access to the way he feels.” - Andrew Scott, PBS Masterpiece Mystery “The Making of Moriarty”
“I can only speak about that relationship [Sherlock and Moriarty], because that’s the one I’m sort of in some way in charge of. There’s a thin line between love and hate, and of course like any great antagonistic rivals in drama, there’s going to be that sort of frisson, sexual frisson.” - Andrew Scott, Paris Comics Expo 2016
Why is Moriarty someone who’s still weighing on Sherlock, even though he’s no longer there?“I think it’s the first time he really meets his match, and it’s scarred him. It’s a nemesis, and nemeses play large in your psychology. They’re not just physical entities who are actually present. It’s about the fear of them. And I think that’s why Moriarty really succeeds. He’s terrorized Sherlock’s mind. It’s fear that lives on.”
Does he have a strange respect for Moriarty?“Absolutely! Yeah, absolutely! They’re different sides of the same coin, and he recognizes that. Sherlock is on the side of the angels, but don’t think he’s one of them. He uses similar means, but it seems to be for a better purpose, one would hope.” - Benedict Cumberbatch, Collider Interview
“They’re the same person, they’ve just gone different ways. Moriarty has to match Sherlock, he has to be intelligent and quick-witted. He has to understand him. He has a total obsession with Sherlock, and I think Sherlock is obsessed with him, too. They need one another.” - Andrew Scott, Sherlock: The Casebook - The Adventure of the Playful Villain
I wanted to ask you, what do you think about the relationship between Moriarty and Sherlock, do you think Moriarty really hates him or do you think he just likes having fun messing around with him, or do you think he really just wants to join forces with him?“I don’t think he wants Sherlock to join forces with him because then all the fun would be over. I do think that there is an element of obsession, and as you say with any obsession there is an element of love there. And I think he admires him, deeply, and I think he’s slightly envious of him perhaps as well. So all those things combined really. But no, I think he enjoys the great game.” - Andrew Scott, Sherlocked Con 2015
“The two of them are perfectly bored by the ordinary world and crave excitement. And like all polarities, they need each other,” the actor says, adding that like Holmes, Moriarty isn’t motivated by money or fame, but by his desire to find interesting, challenging things to do, no matter if it leads to people’s deaths.“ - Benedict Cumberbatch, Inquirer Interview
There's a lot of subtle flirting with Sherlock. Is that intentional or was that just spontaneous? What's the reason behind it?"I would never put a name on the sexuality that Moriarty would identify as (I'm not even sure that he would identify himself as any sexuality). But yeah, I absolutely think there's a sensuousness to his relationship with [Sherlock] because they're obsessed with each other. I wouldn't necessarily call it sexuality, but certainly it's flirting and it's game playing, and that's what the basis of all [their] chemistry is." - Andrew Scott, Vienna Comic Con 2018
“First of all, I just want to say something about mental health. I think we are in the embryonic stages of our understanding of mental health issues. There isn’t a person in this room, or in this stadium, or in this city, or in this country, or in the world that hasn’t at some stage, or will have at some stage, suffered from mental health issues. So you’re not on your own by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve had mental health issues in the past, and sometimes the weather is pretty stormy. But I think if you could remember that it is weather; it is weather and it can change, and by its very nature has to change. So you’re going for RADA. You know, maybe it will be a difficult year for you next year or maybe it won’t! I think all you can do is really take each day by the day that it is, you know? So don’t predict what it’s gonna be. It could be fantastic, you know! So I just think it’s really important to say that about mental health. We don’t know and there is no stigma attached, and I’d encourage any young person I’ve met. I’ve been genuinely so inspired by the bravery and courage of meeting people here who have spoken about their mental health issues, because I do think that what connects us as people is our vulnerability. I think when we go and meet new people and we say “How are you?”, and you say “You know what, I’m exhausted.” or “I feel lonely.” Then, if that’s the truth, people will respond to it. If we put up this constant guard and say “You know what, I’m fantastic!” …and we live in an age of Instagram and Facebook and filters, where we can be our own PR machine, you know? It’s very easy to just think that that is a reality for people, and for some reason in our unfiltered, desolate, lonely lives that we’re failing and we’re not. We live in an age where we’re fooled by other people, and, you know, we fool each other. We go “Oh I’m gonna get rid of that spot”, or “I’m gonna, you know, filter the light”, or “I’m gonna airbrush my life”, and that’s when it becomes an advertisement rather than who we really are and the way we really are – vulnerable, and sometimes unhappy, and sometimes joyful people. And great art, I think, reflects that. So when you go to RADA, my advice to you, or anybody who really wants to, would be to pursue life and art, and to tell the truth in some way. So be who you are and don’t feel that you’re not enough because you are.”
“It’s a question that I’m always reluctant to answer. I’ll tell you why because … When you do interviews with journalists that’s ALWAYS the question they ask. They always say ‘What’s the story with freaky fans that you have? What did they do? What scary things do they say?’ and I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: When it’s a sport and people are fans of a team, they go into the stadiums and they dress up in the colours and everybody accepts it as perfectly normal. But when people are fans of a TV show or a film, they’re somehow described as freaky or suspicious or that there’s something kind of odd about that and I see absolutely no difference in it. In fact, I think our ability to be able to play in adulthood which is something that we do … When children play we let them play and that’s part of life. And the further we go into adulthood, we move so far away from our ability to play and just have fantasy and do stuff that we really enjoy and do it with pride and with passion. So I’m reluctant to say that fans are strange or freaky or anything like that because … You know, from ANY of my experiences with all the people that I met today, on any Cons that I go to, I always meet fantastic people who allow themselves to be vulnerable and to be a little bit fucking weird.”
— Andrew Scott on weird fans (Wales Comic Con 2018)
This is a really sweet collection of My Life In Film trivia! Who knew that Andrew beat 49 actors to get the part, probably including Stephen Merchant, who played Jones in the pilot. Also who else can't drive, Kris Marshall or Alice Lowe?!
It´s almost 10 p.m. It´s a dark night. I´m walking along to the garden gate of Church. If I´m lucky, Pam fell asleep. My heart is racing in my chest. (I feel sick.) I tried to plan what to say since I´ve seen the three little beans in the afternoon, but… I´m clueless. I was just sitting at home, watching the sonogram I´ve got, and thought about him.
(Him and his God.)
They are his. (Perfectly sure.) He has every rights to know about them, and they have every rights to have their Dad. (A perfect Dad.)
I was sure my Priest would be the best Dad ever…
It´s almost 10 p.m. It´s a dark night. I´m walking along to the garden gate of Church. If I´m lucky, Pam fell asleep. My heart is racing in my chest. (I feel sick.) I tried to plan what to say since I´ve seen the three little beans in the afternoon, but… I´m clueless. I was just sitting at home, watching the sonogram I´ve got, and thought about him.
(Him and his God.)
They are his. (Perfectly sure.) He has every rights to know about them, and they have every rights to have their Dad. (A perfect Dad.)
I was sure my Priest would be the best Dad ever…
But he chose God.
He banned me go to his Church, and yet here I am. Because I have news.
(I´m shaking.) I´m not sure this was a good idea, but I´m knocking on the door. (No, this wasnt a good idea at all.) Still waiting. Knocking again. I´m nervous as I imagine Pam opens the door. That would be awkward.
And the door is finally opened. Not by Pam, but him. He´s standing there, wearing his Buffalo t-shirt and sweatpants, with sleepy face and messy hair, and I almost faint.
8 weeks. 8 fucking weeks since the bus stop, and my heart still jumps out when I see him again.
¨Hey¨ I smile.
˝You?˝ he´s mumbling.
˝Me.˝ (This was the worst fucking idea I´ve ever had)
He doesn´t say anything just stares at me. I swallow and see him. I need all my power not to pass out, and I hope he doesn´t see me shaking. I take a deep breath. I should say something, but I can´t.
Just smiling.
¨I think we agreed, that…¨ he starts.
¨I never ever come to your church again. Yeah. I know.¨ I cut in.
¨Never… ever¨ he repeats. ˝I don´t think it means a month and a half.¨
¨8 weeks actually¨ smile again and feel his tense. ˝I´m sorry. I know. But we need to talk, father.˝ he gazes me with his warm brown eyes and I´m shivering. ¨Really important.¨ insist firmly.
¨Is there something wrong?¨ he asks and his worry melts my heart.
He tries to be strong, but he´s still helpful and caring. I bite my low lip, and beg with my eyes.
¨I can bring some cans of G&T, if it helps…¨ smiling.
¨Better not¨ he shakes his head then sighs. ¨Come on in then, just be quiet because…¨
¨I know, Pam¨ nods and step into the house. I let him to lead me to the vestry room.
It´s cold outside, so I wouldn´t prefer to sit on a bench in the garden. I feel nervous and confused.
¨Would you like something… a drink maybe?¨ asks after he refused my offer of G&Ts.
¨No, thanks¨ I sit down and smile shyly as he´s just standing there. He seems helpless and frustrated.
(I still have no idea what to say)
I touch my low belly, and I know the table covers me.
¨A tea would be nice, if you don´t mind¨
¨Tea… yeah, sure¨ he nods, and rushes out to the kitchen.
I stay alone and have a little more time to find out what to do. I´m looking around in the vestry room and see the picture what fell down when I confessed I didnt believe in God. (What would happen if I confessed I got pregnant by Lord´s favorite servant?)
My chest starts hurting, I try to practice breathing techniques to avoid a panic attack. I don´t know how much time it took, but my Priest is finally back. Today he manage to pour tea to the mugs, doesn´t happen any accident, and he sits down to the other chair as far as he could.
¨Thanks¨ I smile and put sugar into my tea. Still shaking, still panicking. I feel his eyes on me, but I don´t dare to lift my head and facing him.
Silence.
¨Are you okay?¨ it felt forever before he asks that. I don´t know what to say.
Just nod.
¨ You?¨
¨It was a stupid question, wasn´t it?¨ he grimaces, I smile wider.
¨Definitely.¨
¨Fair enough¨ takes his mug. ¨Your turn.¨
¨Has it passed?¨ he chokes on his tea, coughs for seconds.
¨This wasn´t fair at all¨ wiped his eyes.
¨Sorry.¨
¨Why are you here?¨ he asks directly, looking into my eyes and I frown.
I put my mug down, and take a deep breath.
(It´s time to tell him… It´s time to show the pic of little beans)
¨I want to know.¨
¨What?¨
¨When you suprised me in my place at that night…¨ (8 weeks ago) ¨You started to tell me what you sacrified for God, but you didn´t finish it.¨
¨I´ve got interrupted… if you remember…¨
¨By Mr. Nine Times, I know…¨
¨By you¨ he says in his deep low voice and I hear my heartbeats in my ears. (Jesus, how he could be always so hot?!)
Through his eyes I can see our first night… (our single night actually), and I feel hot and wet again.
¨My bad¨ reply with trembling voice and I can´t say anything else.
The light in the vestry room hasn´t been the best one, but his blushing tells me, it hasn´t passed yet. We´re just watching each other for a while, and I am glad to see he is struggling too. (Sometimes I can be so cruel.)
¨I wanna hear your story¨ I state.
¨Why?¨
¨Because you owe me that.¨
¨Really?¨ asks with suprise. I nod.
¨It hasn´t passed in 8 weeks, and I feel it never will. I still love you.¨
His expression change. He looks pissed off and nervous, he opens his mouth but I stop him.
¨Don´t get me wrong! I respect your decision. You chose God and obviously this was the good choice, because you havent visited me since after that.¨ he got caught. ˝I assure you, this is my last attempt to…˝ (can´t finish the sentence.) ¨…but I need to know why. If I know your story and see your reasons, it´ll be easier to let you go.¨ explained. ¨So I beg you father, just… please… help me with that.¨
Silence.
I feel my face warm and my legs shaking. He doesn´t say ¨no¨ directly.
He´s thinking about that.
¨You don´t like answering questions either, huh?¨ joking, but he doesn´t laugh with me. Heartbreaker.
¨Alright¨ he responds finally, and drinks another sips of tea.
¨Really?¨ gasp.
¨I owe you, as you said.¨ he sighs.
¨Thank you¨ I beam.
I just came here to tell him I was pregnant, but actually I´m completely satisfied with this deal. He stands up, and grabs his mug.
¨Come with me¨
He leads me to the couch, where we was actually talking about babies… (Coincidence, coincidence.)
This will be more comfortable, than that old chair in the vestry room. I sit down to the couch and he sits into the armchair. I still remember how he sat there with crossed legs and cans of G&T around him, but now his toes stayed on the floor, and we just have two mugs of cooling herbal tea.
I put my shoes off and drawn up my legs on the couch. I dont wanna distract him, just try to find a comfy position, because I suppose this gonna be a long tale… ¨Ready¨
He nods and starts talking. He tells me everything what he wanted to. At that night, in my flat, when he decided to make me understand why he chose God. And he tries the same now, when I really want to understand him. I feel I only can make my decision, if I get to know him, (the real him) completely.
He whispers in his low voice, and in the first few minutes I just think about how he can turn me on so easily, then I start focusing on what he´s talking about, and I swear, I bite anybody´s head off, who tries to disturb us.
It´s taken several hours. His story was a rollercoaster.
(¨Life is a rollercoaster. Just gotta ride it.¨)
I feel many things at the same time. I finally know why he wants peace so badly. (More than me.)
¨Gotcha¨ I nod, when I´m sure he finished. He is naked now.
(No, I didnt rip his fucking Buffalo t-shirt and sweatpants off, but I can see him now. And I don´t fancy him less.) ¨So it´s God, isn´t it?¨
¨For fuck´s sake!¨
¨Whyyy? It´s just a question, Father¨ I laugh playfully and touch my low belly for a second. ¨Seriously. Can it be anything –ANYTHING in the world- what could make you change your mind?¨ I ask him last time, honestly, not flirty. ¨No rush. Just think about it!¨
He doesn´t respond for a few seconds, I can see that I´m still a big temptation, but then he shakes his head.
¨You already know why¨ he whispers.
¨Yeah¨ I smile, look down and hope he didn´t see the tears in my eyes.
¨You will be happy¨ he states.
¨Yeah I will.¨ sniffle then lift my head up. ¨Thank you¨
¨I am sorry. I really am.¨ his eyes was tearful too.
¨It´s okay¨ I say and we must laugh, a tear drops down from his eyes.
He looks at me sadly, and I know its still hard to both of us. I put my mug to the table, take my shoes on, and stand up.
¨Better to go.¨ He stands up, too, looking at me then out through the window.
¨Would you like me to call for a taxi? It´s late.¨ he offers.
¨It´s early, Father¨ I smile shyly. It was 4:32 a.m. ˝But no thanks, I think I walk.˝
˝Sure?˝
¨Yeah, it will be good. Everybody´s sleeping yet.¨
I take my coat and look around last time as he comes to me and opens the door. ˝Thank you Father. For your time… and for the tea.˝
I never forget his desperate, chocolate brown eyes.
¨God bless you¨ he takes my hand and I shudder again. I pull my hand out of his, then rubbing his chest suddenly.
¨You are a really good man. I hope He knows how lucky He is¨
I smile then turn around and walk away from the church. I step one by one, while my tears are falling and rolling down on my face. For a while I´m waiting for him to rush after me, stop me, love me, but he doesn´t… He chose God. Again.
END
+++ inspirated by ravenflighton´s fanfiction: I´ll Go Up To Three. (AO3)
and of course by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Andrew Scott.
So, I had the most magical and perfect weekend ever. I travelled from the United Kingdom to Paris for the weekend so I could meet Andrew Scott and Louise Brealey on Saturday 16th April 2016. If anyone knows me well enough you’ll know that I am suffering with serve anxiety at the moment so it was extremely hard for me to get the guts to travel to Paris. I finally decided to just go for it and book the tickets because I never want anxiety to stop me from going to opportunities like this. With that out the way, I had the best weekend I think I have actually ever had.
Saturday morning I was waiting in queue to meet Andrew for an autograph, I was so incredibly excited and overwhelmed that I was going to meet my idol for the first time. After a short wait it was my turn to meet Andrew, it’s hard to remember what exactly happened because I was just so overwhelmed with what was actually happening in that moment so I may miss out a few things that happened, apologies. I remember seeing Andrew’s gorgeous smile when greeting me and my friend, I think he was rather surprised to hear our British accents as we were in Paris. He asked us where we were from and of course we replied with “the UK, London” his reply “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of London” in a jokey type way. He then asked us if we caught the Eurostar (which we did). We got to spend a little while chatting to him which was so lovely, I thought we’d only get a few seconds to see him but we managed to have a good 5 minutes or so chat. I congratulated him on his role in Hamlet and told him how I was super excited to see it, he thanked me and hoped I enjoy it. I then told him about a Twitter page which is run by my good friend, Immy. It’s a Twitter page dedicated to his trainers. If you’re a ‘Scottie’ you’ll know which trainers I’m talking about and for those of you who don’t know which trainers I am talking about, it’s the ones he wears constantly all the time. It’s nothing serious, it’s just a bit of banter between us Scotties! He was very shocked (in a good way) when I told him which I’m not surprised about, how could you not be surprised if someone told you there was a Twitter page dedicated to your shoes! I specifically remember him lifting his leg up while pointing at his shoe/trainer and saying to me “What these ones?” And I replied with “Yes, those ones!” Ironic really that he was wearing the trainers. Louise turned up at the table next to his at this point for her signing, Andrew leaned over to her and said “did you hear that? There’s a Twitter page for my trainers!” Louise paused and looked up Andrew “I’m going now, bye” she said sarcastically while walking off. We all laughed. I then turned to Andrew to tell him about a little group chat some of us Scotties have on Twitter and how I met a few Scotties here in Paris, he thought the idea was lovely and said “I hope you all get on well”. After the short chat about his trainers and Scotties, I got him to sign my phone which you can see from the photo I uploaded that he drew a telephone. It reads “Jess’s phone love, Andrew Scott x”. He had 3 or 4 different Sharpie coloured pens so he asked me which colour I would like him to sign in and I went with black, his reply “you sure? You don’t want the lovely gold colour to match your phone?” he was so polite. Andrew also signed my friend’s phone case for her, it had a Lilo and Stitch quote on it which said 'Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten’ Andrew thought it was cute and asked her if it was sentimental, she told him she just likes the quote and Andrew said it was really sweet. Following on from him signing mine and my friends phone, I asked him for a hug. I wasn’t intentionally going to ask for a hug but when I was in the moment the question sort of just came out! While I was hugging him I whispered “I love you so much” and gave him a little squeeze, I hope he didn’t mind! Once he sat back down he asked me if I wanted a photograph signed, he had 3 piles of photographs of himself laid out on the table for people to chose from (2 Moriarty ones and the 3rd one of himself) but he forgot to ask me which photo I’d like, he picked the photo himself and said “What’s your name?” to which I replied with “Jess”. He started signing the photo and soon realised he forgot to ask me which photo I’d like “Oh I’m sorry! I forgot to ask you which photo you’d like! Is this one ok?” he was very apologetic about it, bless him! I didn’t mind at all, I thought it was sweet that he chose the photo himself! Once he finished signing the photos for me and my friend it was time to say goodbye.
Roughly half an hour later, me and my friend Danielle were back in line waiting to get our pictures taken with Andrew. It wasn’t a very long wait thankfully so I was soon back with Andrew again. I let my friend Danielle have her picture taken with him first, he greeted her with “hello lovely, I hope you’re having a nice day!” they then had their photo taken together. It was then my turn for a picture, I was rather nervous thinking he might have forgotten me. As I was walking up to him he asked “It’s Jess, isn’t it?” At that moment I felt a huge burst of happiness, I couldn’t believe it, Andrew remembered my name! Shocked, I replied with “you remember me?!” we had our photo taken together, he smiled at me then said goodbye (again).
Unfortunately, me and Danielle didn’t attend the Panel that came with our Package. We weren’t sure whether we were part of the first 200 people who bought the package to go. So we decided to take a stroll around the convention while we waited until I next meet Andrew and Louise for a duo photo that evening. While we were strolling around the convention, I noticed that Andrew was doing some more signing in a different location after the panel, which must’ve been the other groups turn to meet him. Me and Danielle decided to hang around with some other people to wait for him to turn up. I managed to get a little glimpse of him while he was signing which was so incredibly lovely. I got to see lots of fans meeting Andrew and just seeing the happiness on their faces was wonderful. Andrew also looked incredibly happy to meet his fans, it looked as if he enjoyed every second of it.
Once we had a little glimpse of Andrew meeting some fans and had some late lunch, we returned back to where we had our previous autograph and photos taken. Danielle didn’t buy the photo duo to meet Andrew and Louise so I was queueing on my own. Not many people bought the ticket to have a photo with them both, there was only around 15 people waiting, maybe even less than that, I’m unsure. I didn’t mind of course, it meant I had a little longer with them! Soon, it was my turn in line and it was such a magical moment for me. As I was about to walk up to Andrew and Louise, Andrew shouted “here she is! There’s Jess!” Another burst of happiness elevated as I was walking up to them both. I couldn’t believe it! Andrew Scott remembered me again! After meeting around 200+ fans since we met, he remembered me! We had our picture taken and Louise turned to look at me and said “wow! You have such pretty eyes! What colour are they? Hazel or Brown?” Very shy and nervous I replied “I think they’re brown” then I looked up at Andrew who was on right hand side of me, smiling. My heart jumped around multiple times when I saw his gorgeous smile gleaming at me. I turned back quickly to Louise feeling rather star-struck by the fact that Andrew was smiling at me when I turned to look at him. Louise started speaking to Andrew asking him what colour his eyes were, Andrew was rather quiet at this point, I’m not sure what he replied to Louise because as I said, I was feeling rather star-struck and blanked out for some of it. Once we spoke about eye colour, Louise asked me how I was, I told her I was feeling rather tired since I had been doing quite a lot of travelling. Andrew replied with “yeah these things do get pretty tiring” again I was star-struck. After this it was my time up, Louise shook my hand and said goodbye to me, along with Andrew saying goodbye. That moment was rather sad for me because it was the last time I would be seeing them both for a while.
But overall, I had the best weekend ever. Not only did Saturday go better than expected but I also had two fabulous days on Friday and Sunday with my best friend, Danielle. I cannot thank her enough for offering to come with me, if it wasn’t for her this would have never had happened.
If you’ve got this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience meeting the charmingly handsome, Andrew Scott and the beautifully sweet, Louise Brealey.
jacobvanloon
annaxmalina
areudirty
tangentwithtanner
vaporwave
dededos
kaledo-art
snowghoul
