Andrew Scott Shines in ‘Elsinore,’ a Portrait of Actor Ian Charleson’s Defiant Final Year
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Andrew Scott has delivered what critics at the Telluride Film Festival are calling a career-best performance in "Elsinore", a drama chronicling the final year of Scottish actor Ian Charleson. Charleson, best remembered for "Chariots of Fire", continued performing Hamlet at London's National Theatre after being diagnosed with terminal AIDS, taking over the role only after Daniel Day-Lewis walked out mid-run. His portrayal, met with a strong reaction at the film's Friday-night world premiere, has established Scott as a genuine contender for the best actor Oscar, reshaping expectations that had briefly favoured John Malkovich for "Wild Horse Nine".
Charleson completed 24 performances against medical advice before dying seven weeks after the run ended in 1990, aged 40. Reviewers note Malkovich, 73, may retain an edge given his experience and his film's broader awards prospects, including a likely best picture nomination, whereas "Elsinore", directed by Simon Stone, carries more uncertainty beyond Scott's performance, with potential nominations floated for Olivia Colman, the screenplay and editing. Commentators have also observed that, while several actors have won Oscars for playing gay characters, none were themselves openly gay, and Scott, who is, could become the first.
- Andrew Scott's "Elsinore" performance wows critics at Telluride Film Festival.
- He plays Ian Charleson, who defied terminal AIDS to finish Hamlet's run.
- Scott now seen as a serious best actor Oscar contender, rivalling Malkovich.
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Andrew Scott plays Ian Charleson, a British actor best known for the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire", who took on the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre in London in 1989. He accepted the part after another actor left the production, and continued performing while seriously ill with AIDS, at a time when the condition carried enormous stigma and was often fatal. He died shortly after the play's run ended, aged 40.
"Elsinore" is a new film that dramatises this period of Charleson's life, directed by Simon Stone from a screenplay by Stephen Beresford. Rather than following the format of a conventional biopic, it focuses on his final months and his determination to keep working on stage despite his declining health.
The film had its first public screening at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, an event where new films are often shown ahead of wider release and awards consideration. Its appearance there, alongside a separate documentary about the National Theatre's history, has drawn early attention to both Charleson's story and Andrew Scott's portrayal of him.
Full account
Elsinore, directed by Simon Stone from a screenplay by Stephen Beresford, dramatises the final year in the life of Ian Charleson, the Scottish-born stage and screen actor who died of AIDS-related illness in 1990 at the age of 40. Andrew Scott plays Charleson in a dual performance that also has him stepping into the role of Hamlet, the part Charleson famously took on at the National Theatre after Daniel Day-Lewis abandoned the production partway through a performance in 1989. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.
Charleson had achieved international recognition through two consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners, playing Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire in 1981 and appearing in Gandhi the following year, yet he found himself increasingly defined by a single, much-loved piece of theme music rather than by his own work. Frustrated by the thinner film and television roles that followed and by long stretches of idleness on set, he yearned to return to the stage, a desire sharpened by his HIV diagnosis and the awareness that his time was limited. When Day-Lewis walked off during the ghost scene on the castle ramparts, the National's director, Richard Eyre, turned to Charleson, who took on Hamlet in secret from almost everyone around him, ultimately completing 24 performances while undergoing chemotherapy and against explicit medical warnings. He died seven weeks after the run ended.
Both accounts single out Andrew Scott's performance as the film's chief achievement, describing his work as emotionally overwhelming and technically demanding given the need to embody both Charleson and Hamlet simultaneously. They also frame Elsinore less as a conventional biopic than as a meditation on mortality and the sustaining power of performance, with the story's echoes of Hamlet's own preoccupation with life, death and choice repeatedly drawn out. The film is additionally presented as an affectionate tribute to the National Theatre and its backstage community, capturing the camaraderie among actors, directors and technical staff, as well as the culture and humour of that world, including its playful use of camp and gay vernacular against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis in London.
The two write-ups differ somewhat in focus. One dwells more on the texture of the screenplay and its ensemble, highlighting supporting performances such as Monica Dolan's stage door supervisor, and is more willing to note that the film occasionally lapses into inspirational cliché despite its emotional force. The other places greater weight on the broader industry context of the Telluride premiere, noting that Elsinore's debut coincided with that of Into the Breach, a separate documentary about the National Theatre's history featuring figures including Ian McKellen, Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh, and leans more heavily into unreserved praise for the film's inspirational qualities. Neither account details why Day-Lewis left the original production, and both confirm that Beresford drew on extensive research and interviews with people who knew Charleson in shaping the screenplay.
Where outlets differ
One review is more critical, explicitly noting the film sometimes tips into inspirational cliché, while the other is largely celebratory throughout.
One source gives more attention to supporting cast and the theatre's backstage culture (e.g. Monica Dolan's character), while the other emphasises the festival context, mentioning the concurrent premiere of the National Theatre documentary Into the Breach and its starry roundtable of contributors.
Neither source explains Daniel Day-Lewis's reasons for leaving the original Hamlet production, though both reference the incident.
Coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — Andrew Scott portrays Ian Charleson’s final Hamlet performances in Elsinore
- Deadline — ‘Elsinore’ Review: Andrew Scott Is Heartbreakingly Great As AIDS-Stricken Star Determined To Play ‘Hamlet’ – Telluride Film Festival