Born in October 1976 to Nora and Jim Scott, Andrew Scott was raised in Dublin, Ireland. His father worked at an employment agency and his mother was an art teacher. The “Sherlock” actor is the middle child of three: His older sister, Sarah, works as a sports coach and TV commentator, whereas his younger sister, Hannah, seems to have followed in her brother’s footsteps, pursuing a career in acting.
Scott himself has been acting from a very early age. While studying at a private Jesuit school, a shy nine-year-old Scott started attending acting classes at Ann Kavanagh’s Young People’s Theatre in Rathfarnham every Saturday. Fortunately, his shyness never got in the way when he performed on stage. As he told The Guardian in 2019, “I was just so self-conscious, but I felt free on stage. I could be more audacious.”
As a child, Scott also developed a knack for drawing, only to ditch it later on for the sake of acting. However, in a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Scott revealed that, at the time, he used to — and maybe still does — sketch fellow passengers while on the London tube. “I always go up to [the passengers] at the end of my journey and give them the portrait that I’ve done. Usually, they’re really pleased, and that feels nice.” When asked about his favorite artist during another Q&A interview with The Guardian, the actor didn’t hesitate before naming David Hockney.