Out 'All of Us Strangers' Star Andrew Scott Says He's Glad He 'Ignored' Early Advice to Hide Being Gay

Andrew Scott, star of the upcoming queer drama "All of Us Strangers," explained how he chose to ignore advice to stay in the closet, and how the "burden" of being gay became "gift" to him.

The "Fleabag" star was named one of British GQ's "Men of the Year." In an interview with the magazine, Scott spoke about the experience of making "All of Us Strangers" with out writer-director Andrew Haigh. In a parallel with the story – about a gay man who discovers his long-dead parents alive and still young in his childhood home, also unchanged from the way it was decades earlier – Haigh shot the film in the house where he grew up.

GQ noted that being gay "was illegal in Ireland until Scott was 16, and growing up he witnessed the media demonizing gay people in the wake of the AIDS epidemic." That made the actor's adolescence "difficult, as he grappled with his sexuality and how it complicated things," the magazine added.

"There was so much of me that was quite fearful, actually, and ignoring that side of me," Scott reflected in his comments. "What's difficult sometimes for gay people is that you don't get to experience this sort of adolescence where you go, 'Oh, my God, I like that person, do they like me back?'"

As a young actor finding success in projects like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers," Scott's sexuality was again a source of anxiety, with others advising him to stay in the closet.

"I was encouraged, by people in the industry who I really admired and who had my best interests at heart, to keep that" private, Scott recalled to GQ. "I understand why they gave that advice, but I'm also glad that I eventually ignored it."

The actor came out in 2013 to British newspaper the Independent, but embracing authenticity hardly sloweed down Scott's career; he starred in three features in 2014 and appeared as in the 2015 James Bond film "Spectre." He's kept busy ever since, with a starring role in the upcoming eight-episode series "Ripley" – based on the character created by lesbian novelist Patricia Highsmith – due to reach Netflix sometime soon.

Scott was game to talk about filming the sex scenes in "All of Us Strangers," though it hardly sounded like an erotic experience. "Jesus, it's fucking 7:30 in the morning and you're doing unspeakable things to each other, surrounded by men in three-quarter length trousers," he exclaimed.

Overall, Scott said, being gay has only fed his art. "There's this expression, 'My burden has become my gift,'" he mulled. "I remember when I was 22 reading that and thinking wouldn't that be amazing? If something that you think is a shameful part of you is actually a bit of you that gives something back?"

And the experience of being gay is no longer seen by moviemakers and TV producers as only good for tragedy or trauma porn. Scott pointed to Netflix's global smash "Heartstopper" as an example, saying, "I just think it's so wonderful that people can see themselves."

"There's a sort of hysteria about it," Scott went on to say, even though "different forms of sexuality have existed since the dawn of humanity."