Fleabag actor Andrew Scott has explained his dislike for being described as “openly gay”.
After being awarded for his performance in the BBC Three drama at the GQ Awards last week, Andrew sat down with the magazine to discuss his time on the show, and admitted that being referred to as “openly gay” in the media is not something he’s particularly enjoyed.
“You’re never described as openly gay at a party - ‘This is my openly gay friend Darren’, ‘She’s openly Irish’,” he joked. “It implies a defiance I don’t feel.”
He also insisted that he had no difficulty portraying the chemistry between his and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag characters, telling the magazine: “Sexuality isn’t something you can cultivate, particularly. It isn’t a talent... You believe the relationship, that’s my job.”
Andrew spoke publicly about his sexuality for the first time in an interview with The Independent, around the time he was best known for playing the villainous Moriarty in Sherlock.
“Mercifully, these days people don’t see being gay as a character flaw,” he said at the time. “But nor is it a virtue, like kindness. Or a talent, like playing the banjo. It’s just a fact.
“Of course, it’s part of my make-up, but I don’t want to trade on it. I am a private person; I think that’s important if you’re an actor. But there’s a difference between privacy and secrecy, and I’m not a secretive person.
“Really I just want to get on with my job, which is to pretend to be lots of different people. Simple as that.”
Read Andrew’s full interview in the latest issue of GQ, on sale now.