Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman and the cast elsinore The 2026 BFI London Film Festival has officially kicked off, and it couldn’t have been a more fitting start.
Scott – who is already racking up immense awards buzz for his “fantastic” performance – joined co-stars Coleman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, Peter Mullan and Joe Locke for the show, and became emotional on stage as he welcomed the real-life people who especially inspired elsinore Characters include Coleman’s Professor Margaret Johnson, a pioneer of HIV/AIDS treatment in the late 80s, as well as the National Theatre’s 46-year-old stage door keeper Linda Tolhurst and Ian Charleson’s sister, Lizzie.
Described by Thompson as “a real love letter to the theatre”, the film is based on the life of Ian Charleson. It tells the story of the actor’s final weeks before his death from AIDS while playing Hamlet at London’s National Theater in the 1990s. The glitzy celebration at this year’s London Film Fest was particularly poignant for the audience, with the Royal Festival Hall just a stone’s throw from the NT.
“I can’t tell you how extraordinary it feels for us to be here,” Scott — who is also a producer on the film — introduced on stage. “[And] How grateful I feel to play this extraordinary man. […] He continued, “It was an extraordinary honor to play someone who was so funny and delightful, talented and charming and beautiful.” He added, “It was the honor of a lifetime.”
After the screening of the film, which received a standing ovation from attendees (and a standing ovation for its lead actor), Scott encouraged the audience to dance to a song by the late Ethel Merman. He said, “Ian made an extraordinary impression on Ethel Merman.” “We want you to remember not only who Ian was, but how extraordinary he lived – with so much talent and enthusiasm and warmth and charm and passion and brilliance.”
Monica Dolan, Juliet Stevenson, Adeel Akhtar, Matthew Beard, David Dawson, Cadiff Kirwan and Dickie Beau also star elsinoreFrom digging Director Simon Stone and Proud Author Stephen Beresford.
heart arrester alum locke confessed heart He said that reading the script for the first time was emotional. “I was going home for Christmas last year and I was reading it and couldn’t stop crying,” he said on the carpet before the premiere. “The flight attendant said, ‘Are you OK?'” he laughed. “I was crying the whole time. But it’s a gorgeous piece of writing and Andrew gives the most incredible performance. I think Andrew is the best actor working, and it’s really cool that he’s getting his own identity.”
Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman in ‘Elsinore’
Anthony Dickenson/Focus Features
Filmmaker Stone agreed with Locke’s assessment of Scott’s performance and praised it. heartChief film critic David Rooney said in his review. The Australian said, “Andrew has spent most of his life on stage. He’s a stage animal.” heart. “It’s rare to know someone who is as charming on stage as he is in film, and [who] Can really move seamlessly between those two modes, and you can see him do that in this movie. “It’s really exciting.”
As the shadow of the National Theater looms over the carpet, you can’t help but feel the evocativeness of the setting. Stone added, “It’s amazing to have been chosen to open the London Film Festival, the story takes place 100 meters from here.” “I think we haven’t made a bad enough film to allow us to do this quintessentially London experience. But the London theater and film community is so incredibly strong; it’s a Mecca, and we’re all here tonight to celebrate this delightful tribute to why we’re all in this business.”
Artistic Director of the BFI London Film Festival, Christy Matheson, reported that the selection committee “fell so deeply in love”. elsinore. He added: “There’s an array of incredible British talent in it. But I think what makes the film so amazing is how it can actually be radical caring. You have all these people in this film; they’re working together, they’re building communities together. So I think it’s a film that’s full of activism and it’s also full of the triumph of art. And they think they have really wonderful subjects to offer to the world.”
heart Scott and Coleman broke the news Fleabag reunion on elsinore earlier this year. The Irishman is also a producer on the film, along with Lucky Red’s Andrea Occhipinti, Magnolia Mae Films’ Gabrielle Tana, LD Entertainment’s Pete Shilaimon and Mickey Liddell, and Stefano Macenzi and Caroline Marks Blackwood.
It marks the beginning of 10 movie-like star-studded days for the British capital artificial, bunker, Demon!, INK, club kid, a long winter, wild horse nine, Ray Gunn And paper tiger All will be premiered at the Royal Festival Hall on London Southbank.