Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal on toxic masculinity: ‘The most macho man will be the first to break’

Published

4 months ago

January 26, 2024

admin

Andrew Scott says men are going through a “crisis” right now, struggling to find “what it means to be a man” in today’s society.

The Irish actor – who became a household name thanks to his role as ‘hot’ priest in Fleabag – tells Sky News: “There’s a sort of crisis in masculinity I think at the moment and what it means to be a man.

“We have all these things within us, there’s no one way of being, there just isn’t, and sometimes the people who are the most outwardly macho in some ways, are the people who aren’t going to be there for you emotionally.

His co-star, fellow Irishman Paul Mescal, whose breakout role in hit drama Normal People has made him one of the most in demand actors right now, adds, “and they’ll be the first to break”.

Scott nods: “When you are able to accept all those parts of you, I think that leads to better mental health and just a sense of stability.”

The 47-year-old plays screenwriter Adam in All Of Us Strangers – a fantasy romance merging the themes of grief, loss, identity and isolation.

Despite being overlooked in the Oscars nominations, the film has earned six BAFTA nods including outstanding British film and best director, and best supporting actor for Mescal.

The 27-year-old, who plays troubled neighbour Harry in the movie, says that while figures like Andrew Tate act as figureheads for toxic masculinity, this film showcases a very different kind of male energy.

“Adam and Harry, they’re going through difficult junctions and moments in their life.

“They’re also using their masculinity as a kind of haven for each other. They’re not using their masculinity as a barrier or something that is that is impenetrable, it’s the opposite, and I’m proud of that.”

Their connection breaks their solitude, lived out in a deserted tower block in the heart of the capital.

The film’s writer and director, Andrew Haigh tells Sky News male fragility was something he was keen to explore.

“I always think that so many men are just like lost little boys trapped in adults’ bodies. So, I wanted the film to speak to that a little bit, and I wanted it to sort of radiate vulnerability.”

A queer love story

Inspired by the 1987 novel Strangers by Japanese author Taichi Yamada who died in November, the movie’s set in London rather than Tokyo, and pulls away from the stock ghost story elements of its source material.

But the key difference is that the novel has a heterosexual love story at its centre rather than a queer one.

Haigh has said it was important for his lead character, Adam, to be played by an actor who shared his sexuality.

He explains that while it’s not a hard and fast casting rule, on this occasion he felt it was the right choice.

“There is so much nuance in Adam and the understanding of how the past has affected him, growing up in the 80s as a gay kid, what that has done to him as an adult, the trauma of growing up at that time, which was a really rough, difficult time.

“I wanted an actor who understood that on a very visceral level. And I think it’s a very hard thing to explain to people that didn’t experience that, or actually understand how it felt or how we carry the baggage of that into our adulthood.”

Scott, who first spoke about being gay in interviews 10 years ago when promoting the movie Pride, says it’s about so much more than whether a character is straight or gay.

‘You don’t play sexuality’

“I think the most important thing in any character is to look at what the attributes of the character are, not just the sexuality of the character.”

He says representation behind the camera is as important as that in front, with people in positions of power elsewhere on the production able to speak up if they feel a representation is false or inaccurate.

“You don’t play sexuality, otherwise all gay characters would just have the same attributes – one gay character is distinct from another gay character, depending on what their attributes are, in the same way, we’d apply that theory to straight characters.”

Admitting he sometimes gets frustrated when questions about sexuality are asked even when they have no relevance to a project, Scott explains: “What we’re talking about is storytelling because representation is incredibly important. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that.

“But so is transformation because it speaks to our empathy. And I think actors like to transform because you like to empathise, like to imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes…

“We’re all more similar to each other than we might imagine.”

The chemistry is for real

Mescal, who is straight, defends his casting in the role of a gay man.

He explains: “Historically, when there’s been performances that have been deemed offensive, it’s when actors or storytellers are attempting to play a sexuality. It’s impossible. And I often times think that one of the least interesting parts of these characters is their sexuality.

“They contain so much more than just that, and that’s what I like to find in this story, not just as a queer love story, but as a love story in general.”

Haigh says he cast Mescal as he felt he’d be “incredible and wonderful in that role”, adding, “of course you can cast someone, I think, in certain roles who don’t necessarily match the sexuality of the characters.

“It’s often about who is also writing the material and who is making the material and who is behind the material, and there are a lot of us on this project who are gay and are queer and understand what this experience is.”

When asked whether Scott and Mescal had a ‘chemistry test,’ (a read through set up with the film’s potential stars to ascertain how well they’d work together) Haigh laughs.

“Everyone asks about chemistry, but when you’re making a film, you’re not saying, ‘Do we all have chemistry? Is there chemistry here?’ You don’t just do the best you can with the material that you have.

“It was clear to me that [Scott and Mescal] liked each other a lot as actors, as people. The characters are falling in love, so the actors know how to generate chemistry…

“They clearly have amazing chemistry, and they’re really good friends now, and they care and love for each other. So, something magical happened. I’m very grateful for that.”

All Of Us Strangers is in UK cinemas today.

Entertainment

BAFTA TV Awards 2024: Top Boy, Happy Valley and The Sixth Commandment among the big winners – as The Crown misses out

Published

15 hours ago

May 12, 2024

admin

BAFTA TV Awards 2024: Top Boy, Happy Valley and The Sixth Commandment among the big winners - as The Crown misses out

Top Boy, Happy Valley and The Sixth Commandment are the big winners at this year’s BAFTA TV Awards, taking home two prizes apiece.

The final season of the critically acclaimed Netflix series Top Boy was named best drama, with star Jasmine Jobson also named best supporting actress for her portrayal of Jaq Lawrence.

Happy Valley picked up the award for most memorable moment, the only prize voted for by the public, while star Sarah Lancashire was named best actress once again for her portrayal of no-nonsense police sergeant Catherine Cawood – after first winning the prize for the role in 2017.

The Sixth Commandment picked up the awards for best limited drama and best actor for its star, Timothy Spall.

Despite leading the nominations race with eight nods in total, royal drama The Crown left empty-handed.

‘You changed my life’

Crime drama Top Boy follows the lives of Sully (Kane “Kano” Robinson) and Dushane (Ashley Walters) and deals with themes of crime, drugs and violence on the Summerhouse estate in Hackney, east London.

Picking up the best drama award ahead of Happy Valley, Slow Horses and The Gold, producer Charles Steel paid tribute to stars Walters and Robinson.

Jobson also took the chance to tell the BAFTAs audience: “I just want to say I am the woman who has been standing in a group full of men, you have shown me what it is to be strong and independent and how important it is to stand out in a crowd full of people where it’s easy to be invisible.

“Netflix, Top Boy, you changed my life.”

Yorkshire-based crime drama Happy Valley was another show that came to an end in 2023, bringing to a close the story of Sgt Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), the criminal who destroyed her family.

Accepting the award for best actress, Lancashire said it was an honour to win and praised Sally Wainwright, the writer and creator of the show.

“I would like to acknowledge my fellow nominees and their tremendous work,” she said. “Sally Wainwright, I shall forever be grateful to you for this opportunity.

“I feel very, very privileged to have been surrounded by these brilliant actors and I thank each and every one of you.”

The series also won the memorable moment award for her character’s explosive final kitchen showdown with Royce, beating fellow shortlisted moments including David Beckham teasing wife Victoria about her “working class” roots in the Beckham documentary, and Logan Roy’s death in Succession.

‘Look it up on IMDB’

Picking up the leading actor award for The Sixth Commandment, a true crime drama exploring the murders of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in Buckinghamshire in 2014 and 2017, as well as the subsequent investigation and trial, veteran British star Timothy Spall joked: “Look it all up on IMDB and you will see who was involved because to each and every soul of them, they are brilliant.”

He continued: “Acting is a stupid thing, it’s a soppy old thing, standing up pretending to be someone and p*ssing around in costume. Sixty-seven and you think ‘am I still doing this?’

“But sometimes you get the chance to play people that have had a terrible thing happen to them and all they wanted was love, and it’s a beautiful thing to be able to tell a story about that. It’s about crimes but it’s also about love.”

Looking at his award, he added: “I’ve always wanted one of these. I’m just so pleased to be amongst you lot.”

Elsewhere, Matthew Macfadyen won in the supporting actor category for his performance in the final series of Succession, the conclusion of the drama about the struggle for power in a media dynasty, while Strictly Come Dancing won the best entertainment prize in its 20th year on the air.

Tess Daly, who co-hosts with Claudia Winkleman, described the win as “the best birthday present”.

Squid Game: The Challenge was named best reality TV series, while last year’s Eurovision Song Contest won the award for live event coverage.

And there was a surprise in the international category, when French series Class Act beat huge shows including The Bear and Succession.

Comedy prizes include the hosts

In the comedy categories, Mawaan Rizwan won the award for best male performance for his role in Juice, about a young gay man who desperately wants to be the centre of attention as his family continuously steals his thunder, while Gbemisola Ikumelo won the female performance award for Black Ops.

Accepting his award, Rizwan said: “Thank you to my therapist – we had a conversation last week where we said I had to stop relying on external forms of validation.”

There was even an award for the ceremony hosts, comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, who took home the comedy entertainment prize for Sky show Rob And Romesh Vs.

Former Play School children’s presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin was presented with BAFTA’s highest honour, the Fellowship, by newsreader Clive Myrie, while daytime TV queen Lorraine Kelly was also honoured with a special prize, presented by Succession’s Brian Cox.

“Don’t pull up the ladder” to those from working-class backgrounds, Kelly told the crowd as she accepted her prize.

The ceremony also paid tribute to the stars of TV we have said goodbye to in the past year, including talk show host Sir Michael Parkinson, Lord Of The Rings actor Bernard Hill, newsreader George Alagiah, Hairy Biker Dave Myers, film and TV director Roy Battersby and Friends star Matthew Perry.

Entertainment

Eurovision: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu praises Eden Golan as Irish singer Bambie Thug criticises organisers and broadcaster

Published

18 hours ago

May 12, 2024

admin

Eurovision: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu praises Eden Golan as Irish singer Bambie Thug criticises organisers and broadcaster

Israel’s prime minister has paid tribute to the country’s Eurovision performer – as Ireland’s contestant continues to criticise organisers and an Israeli broadcaster.

Switzerland won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in a competition fraught with last-minute changes, backstage incidents and boos for the boss.

Israel’s Eden Golan was clapped, cheered, booed and jeered when she took to the stage to perform her song Hurricane at the Malmo Arena in Sweden.

Despite only scoring 52 points from jury votes, the 20-year-old finished in fifth place after receiving an audience score of 323 points – including 12 points from the UK’s public vote.

Ms Golan told Sky News she was “over the moon” with the result and had ignored all of the controversy surrounding her performance.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Ms Golan and said she had brought “honour” to the country.

He said: “They booed you and we shouted ‘douze points’.

“I saw that you received almost the highest number of votes from the public and this is the most important thing, not from the judges but from the public, and you held Israel’s head up high in Europe.

“You have brought immense pride to the state of Israel and the people of Israel. Congratulations.”

Ms Golan responded that she was “proud to have the privilege” of representing Israel.

She added: “We accomplished the impossible and it was a great privilege.

“I felt our country’s love and everyone’s support, and it was unforgettable.”

Meanwhile, Bambie Thug has accused the contest’s organisers of not supporting Ireland over a row with Israel.

The “ouji pop” star secured a sixth place finish with their song Doomsday Blue in Ireland’s first grand final of the music event since 2018.

The performer, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, has been outspoken about their pro-Palestinian views and has accused Israeli broadcaster Kan of a rule break.

They said they have been waiting to hear back from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) about what action would be taken against Israel – in hope that “next year they won’t be able to compete”.

Bambie Thug – who missed a dress rehearsal amid the row – accused the EBU of allowing Ireland to be “scapegoats”.

They said: “They waited to the last minute, we still haven’t gotten statement back to us, allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves.

“And yeah, the broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be able to compete because of that.”

Bambie Thug also spoke of pressure and stress behind the scenes, but said they were proud of Switzerland’s non-binary performer Nemo for winning, adding: “I just want to say we are what Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is.

“F*** the EBU, I don’t even care anymore. F*** them.”

The EBU has been contacted for comment.

The UK’s Olly Alexander has also broken his silence after placing 18th in the competition with his song Dizzy.

Although the Years & Years singer received 46 points from the jury, he was awarded zero points in the public vote.

On Instagram on Sunday, he shared a post from the official Eurovision account announcing Switzerland as the winner, adding: “Nemo! You did it! I’m so, so proud of you.

“It’s been such an honour to be on this journey with you. You broke the code!”

Entertainment

BAFTA TV Awards red carpet 2024: Nominees and celeb VIPs arrive in style ahead of ceremony

Published

21 hours ago

May 12, 2024

admin

BAFTA TV Awards red carpet 2024: Nominees and celeb VIPs arrive in style ahead of ceremony

This year’s BAFTA TV Awards ceremony is under way, with stars hitting the red carpet ahead of the ceremony this afternoon.

Happy Valley, The Gold, Slow Horses and Top Boy are the four shows battling it out to be named best drama, while stars including Brian Cox, Sarah Lancashire, Kane “Kano” Robinson, Dominic West, Sharon Horgan, Helena Bonham Carter, Bella Ramsey and Steve Coogan are among the big names in the running for acting awards.

The ceremony will be hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan and takes place at London’s Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank this afternoon, before being broadcast this evening.

Here are the pictures from the red carpet as they come in.