andrewscottfans | 2008 Mirror Interview

It's enough to make any red-blooded actor fluff his lines. The spotlight is beaming on you in the middle of a Broadway hit and, as you glance momentarily into the enraptured audience, one of the world's sexiest women is gazing back at you. That's exactly what happened to Andrew Scott, but he held his nerve - and his lines - as gorgeous Halle Berry hung on his every word. The gorgeous James Bond actress liked him so much she even sent him flowers and a note telling him how much she enjoyed the play.

Andrew, who plays hapless out-of-work actor Barry in RTE's bank holiday comedy drama Little White Lie, said landing a part in Broadway's The Vertical Hour was his dream come true. The Dubliner, who appeared alongside movie stars Bill Nighy and Julianne Moore, added: "The play was directed by Sam Mendes of American Beauty and, as you can imagine, I was delighted to get the role.

"For the run I had my own apartment on New York's Upper West Side. So all my family and friends came over to stay and see the play as well."

Andrew got to hang out with some big Hollywood names, including Sam's wife, Titanic's Kate Winslet.
Andrew, 30, added: "Kate's one of my favourite actresses so it was an honour to meet her.

"And it really was extraordinary in one way because I met so many famous people. There's a tradition in Broadway that other actors will come backstage to congratulate you if they come to watch the play. So I was getting star-struck after the show every night. David Bowie came in, Lauren Bacall - practically every Hollywood star you can think of. Halle Berry was in the audience one night and because she couldn't come backstage afterwards she sent three huge bouquets of flowers with a note to say how much she enjoyed the play. At times it was almost a bit surreal as the whole experience was a dream come true for me."

Andrew first hit the headlines when he starred in Cathal Black's Korea at the age of just 17.
He's also had roles in Band Of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan and the 2003 thriller Dead Bodies.

Since being in Broadway he has also starred in the American series John Adams alongside Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney which was nominated for 23 Emmys.

And Andrew, who stars in Little White Lie with Elaine Cassidy on RTE1 tonight at 9.30pm, reckons choosing your roles carefully is very important for up and coming actors.

He said: "I don't think I've had one big break - I think it's more a case of having loads of them.

Doing Korea in fifth class was my first one but going to The Abbey to learn my craft helped me learn everything about acting. Doing Brian Friel's Aristocrats a couple of years ago in London got me the Broadway gig as Sam and a lot of other people saw that. And The Vertical Hour got me a great agent in America and a part in John Adams. So every little thing you do pays off in the end.

I've been at this a long time now and when I moved to London I realised it was important to turn down some roles, as much as it was important to get the ones I wanted to play. And it was tough because if you aren't working it means you're out of pocket.

But you have to be very careful that you're not repeating yourself just because it's an easy thing to do. So even if there's no work around sometimes you have to think more about the long term. That can be hard going but it's part of the fun of being an actor."

Andrew's character Barry in Little White Lie is experiencing one of those quiet moments and he tells a fib about his career that gets him into trouble.

But the actor added he would be happy to hang out with Barry.

Andrew said: "I think he's a nice guy. He's probably a wee bit gormless but he's very charming and it was partly that which got me to take the role. The comedy in it is great fun plus I got to come home to Ireland and work. I live in London but I haven't even been working there much lately. I've been in America quite a bit and I really missed Ireland. It's important to me that I get to do projects here because I'm very proud of being Irish. You come to realise that when you're away more so than when you're at home, so I was looking to do something, the right thing in Ireland.

It was the script more than anything that drew me into it. It was emailed over to me when it was just a work in progress but even then it had so many snappy lines in it I found it hard to resist. And it also gave me a good chance to come back home a bit before Christmas last year which was really nice."

Source: TheFreeLibrary.com