Andrew Scott has never once been nominated for an Academy Award, despite a screen career that began with Cathal Black’s “Korea” back in 1995. Now he is being tipped to pick up two nominations at the same time, in the same category, something no performer has achieved in almost a century. irishtimes
The opening comes from a rules overhaul. On May 1, 2026, the Academy confirmed that an individual actor may now hold multiple nominations in a single acting category for performances in different films, rather than only receiving a nomination for the performance that drew the most votes. The new rule allows actors to be cited for “multiple performances in the same category,” provided both land in the top five of voting. The last double nomination of that kind came in 1930, when George Arliss was shortlisted for both “Disraeli” and “The Green Goddess.”
Scott’s strongest card is “Elsinore.” Directed by Simon Stone and co-starring Olivia Colman, it casts him as Scottish actor Ian Charleson, with Scott also serving as a producer. Charleson was best known for the Best Picture winner “Chariots of Fire,” but insisted on continuing to act in the role of Hamlet at London’s National Theatre after a terminal AIDS diagnosis.
The reviews have been close to rapturous. Writing in Screen Daily, Dave Calhoun declared that “Andrew Scott triumphs as Ian Charleson,” while Variety called it “an astonishingly layered and moving performance.”
In a five-star review for The Times, Kevin Maher wrote that Scott “has all but secured the best actor trophy.” BFI London Film Festival artistic director Kristy Matheson praised the film’s “astounding central performance” when it opened the festival in October. Andrew Scott could be unbeatable at the Oscars.
Then there is “Pressure,” the second string to his bow. Directed by Anthony Maras, it stars Brendan Fraser as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Scott as Captain James Stagg, the meteorologist charged with delivering an accurate forecast ahead of the Normandy landings, with Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, and Damian Lewis in support. Rotten Tomatoes summed it up as a war film that draws much of its tension from Scott’s “simmering performance.”
Andrew Scott in "Pressure".
A double nomination is far from guaranteed, and the wider race is tight. The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg had regarded John Malkovich, of Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” as “the clear front-runner to win the best actor Oscar” before “Elsinore” premiered at Telluride, and The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard has since described Scott as “almost certain to take the prize next spring.” The Irish Times’ Donald Clarke is more cautious, calling it “a gripping two-horse race.”
For Irish American audiences, the stakes run deeper than trivia. No out gay actor has ever won an acting Oscar, and Scott could become the first. His omission from “All of Us Strangers” was widely treated as a snub.
“Elsinore” opens in select North American theaters on November 20 before expanding over Thanksgiving, reaching cinemas in Ireland and Britain on January 29, 2027. Nominations are announced on January 21, with the ceremony following on March 14.
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