Andrew Scott has delivered what critics at the Telluride Film Festival are calling a career-defining performance in "Elsinore," a new film that could put him at the forefront of this year's Best Actor Oscar race. Directed by Simon Stone and written by Stephen Beresford, the film dramatises the true story of Scottish actor Ian Charleson, who played Hamlet at London's National Theatre in his final year of life while dying of AIDS, and drew acclaim for one of the finest interpretations of the role of his generation before his death in 1990 aged 40.

The casting carries added resonance, as Scott is himself a celebrated stage Hamlet, and he has never previously received an Oscar nomination despite acclaim for films such as "All of Us Strangers." Should he be nominated and win, he would become the first openly gay man to take the Best Actor Oscar. The film also features strong supporting turns from Olivia Colman as Charleson's doctor and Billie Piper as a casting director and confidant, both tipped for possible awards attention, alongside a score by Stefan Gregory. A dispute over writing credit, involving an "idea by" attribution to Ethan Silverman, has also raised questions over whether the Academy will classify the screenplay as original or adapted, though the Writers Guild of America has designated it original.