“Elsinore” stars Andrew Scott as real-life actor Ian Charleson, who secretly battled AIDS while performing the title role in a 1989 Royal National Theatre production of “Hamlet.” According to Yahoo Entertainment, Charleson was 40 years old during the run and died eight weeks after leaving the stage. Charleson was previously widely known for playing Scottish Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire.” Scott told interviewers at the Telluride Film Festival that the production demanded immense physical and emotional energy from Charleson, who would reportedly seek treatment in the morning before performing the demanding Shakespearean role.
Inside Andrew Scott’s Personal Film “Elsinore” at Telluride
“That he would go for treatment in the morning and then play this Olympian role is just endlessly moving,” Scott said. “I don’t know how he did it.”
Addressing Themes of Death, Ghosts, and Genre Fluidity
The film’s exploration of mortality echoes themes from Scott’s previous work. Three years prior at the same festival, Scott starred in the romantic fantasy “All of Us Strangers,” in which his character processes unresolved trauma through conversations with the dead. Addressing whether he believes in literal spirits, Scott told Yahoo Entertainment: “If I had a gun put to my head—which you don’t have to—I would say that I don’t believe in them. But the idea of the afterlife and where we will go is still really fascinating to me.”
Scott also emphasized his desire to break down rigid boundaries between comedy and tragedy, pointing to his recent work and his admiration for performers like Lisa Kudrow. In “Elsinore,” Scott balances the heavy subject matter with moments of levity, including a sequence where he dances to an Ethel Merman disco album. “My job, what I prioritized, is keeping it light,” Scott explained to Yahoo Entertainment. “The effect is tragic and there are some heavy things in it. But I think the job is to get rid of categorizing and make it more fluid. Like life.”
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