Russell T Davies says Andrew Scott was snubbed for awards because he’s ‘publicly and visibly gay’

Writer Russell T Davies has shared his theory on why Andrew Scott was shunned for awards for his role as Adam in devastating queer romance film All of Us Strangers.

In All of Us Strangers, Andrew Scott, 47, plays a depressed gay writer who heads back to his childhood home, only to discover that his parents – who died thirty years earlier – are still living there.

He spends several weeks journeying back home to meet their apparitions, even coming out to them as gay. Meanwhile, he sparks up an intense relationship with lonely neighbour Harry (Aftersun star Paul Mescal).

The tear-jerking film was critically acclaimed by fans and critics alike, and ahead of award season beginning in January, was seen as a shoo-in for nominations – particularly for leading man Andrew Scott.

However, All of Us Strangers was shockingly snubbed entirely by the Oscars. While it was nominated for six BAFTA awards, including Best Director for Andrew Haigh and Outstanding British Film, it took zero awards home.

Supporting actors Paul Mescal and Claire Foy, who played Adam’s mother, were both nominated, but Andrew Scott was not, much to the fury of the film’s fans. 

Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, but lost out to Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy.

Now, Russell T Davies – the man behind some of the UK’s queerest TV shows, including It’s A Sin, Queer As Folk, and the new, super gay Doctor Who season – has explained why he thinks Scott was snubbed.

“What I think happened there was, when a gay man plays a gay man, he’s not considered to be acting,” Davies said at a panel with Attitude Magazine during National Student Pride on Saturday (24 February).

“I genuinely think that happened there, that people thought, ‘Oh, he’s very good, but he’s not acting there. He’s not reaching; he was just being himself.”

Davies, who has spoken passionately about queer roles being given to queer actors, also said that Scott’s was a “world-class performance” but was “massively underrated because he’s gay and very publicly and visibly gay”.

During the panel, which Davies spoke on alongside Heartstopper’s Bel Priestly, Everything Now actor Noah Thomas, It’s A Sin’s Nathaniel Curtis and Shadow and Bone actor Jack Wolfe, the Cucumber writer reaffirmed his belief that gay actors deserve to star in gay roles.

“I very publicly and loudly proclaim that gay actors should play gay roles knowing full well that I’m not in charge of the entire industry,” he explained.

“All I’m trying to do is shift [the industry] slightly so that more queer people are seen for queer roles, so that the door is more open.”

Curtis agreed, adding: “If a queer person plays a queer role, people are like, ‘Oh yeah, very well done, lovely.’ But if a straight actor plays a queer role, a lot of the time, they’re like, ‘Give them an Oscar.’”

Following his BAFTA snub, Scott has also been in the spotlight this week after an awkward interview with the BBC which was dubbed by many as “homophobic”.

During the conversation, Scott was asked “how well” he knew Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, in the context of whether Keoghan used a prosthetic penis in the film’s final scene. In response, Scott walked away from the reporter.

Over the weekend, the BBC released a statement about the interview, saying that it was “misjudged” but not intentionally offensive.

“Our question to Andrew Scott was meant to be a light-hearted reflection of the discussion around the scene and was not intended to cause offence,” the statement read.