Andrew Scott Slams Fleabag Fans With Cruel Jokes
If you’re a Fleabag fan who still throws the 2016 series on occasionally, actor Andrew Scott has a message for you: Stop. The Sherlock star played a character known simply as The Priest for six episodes of the Phoebe Waller-Bridge-led comedy during its second and so far last season. Now Andrew Scott is imploring Fleabag fans to give the show a rest and move on to something else. Here’s his full statement to fans:
“Go out and get some fresh air. Stop watching. Stop crying. Stop crying in your room with your curtains closed. Do something better with your life. It’s a great show, we all love it, but come on now, pull yourself together. Open the curtains and go outside.”
Andrew Scott Wants Fleabag Fans To Move On
This year will mark the fifth anniversary since the finale, and as far as Andrew Scott is concerned, the Fleabag mourning period is officially over. “Go out and get some fresh air,” Scott said in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. The actor continued by suggesting fans should “stop watching,” Fleabag, “stop crying,” over the show ending, and “do something better,” with their lives.
Andrew Scott then admitted that Fleabag is a “great show,” and that everyone loves it, but it was time for fans to pull themselves together, “open the curtains and go outside.” Ouch. The actor no doubt meant the words to be tongue-in-cheek, but that tongue is sharp enough to cut through steel.
Why The Hot Priest’s Words Are So Hurtful
Andrew Scott’s words were undoubtedly a slap in the face to some Fleabag fans. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with Scott’s advice either—going outside away from screens to “touch grass,” as the kids say, isn’t a bad idea. On the contrary, it’s actually good for your mental and physical health.
But Andrew Scott fails to take into account that Fleabag fans can do both. Who’s to say these hypothetical fans don’t go out for the day to exercise and work and come home at night to turn on Fleabag—a show they’ve watched a bazillion times—as a sort of mental comfort food? Everyone has that safe media obsession, be it Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Supernatural, Doctor Who, etc., they watch whenever they just want to chill or veg out. For the fans, Scott is chastising; Fleabag is that obsession.
William Shatner Did Something Similar To Star Trek Fans
This is far from the first time an actor has made fun of their own fandom. Long before Andrew Scott ripped Fleabag, in 1986, William Shatner famously went on SNL and did a sketch where he disparaged the entire Star Trek community. “Get a life, will you people?” Shatner famously cried during the sketch set at a Star Trek convention. “I mean for crying out loud, it’s just a TV show!”
Shatner’s words were also meant to be humorous, but not everyone in the Trek fandom thought so. For many fans, the thing they are obsessed with can begin to take over their whole personality. The Simpsons had a character named Comic Book Guy who was the very embodiment of this.
Fleabag Ended On A Cliffhanger
To be fair, Andrew Scott, whose Fleabag character was quickly renamed Hot Priest by the fans, seems to specifically address those fans who still want to know what happens to the Priest and Fleabag after they confess their feelings for each other in the series finale. In the fans’ defense, however, the show does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and since no third season appears to be forthcoming, all they can do is obsess over and speculate where they think the pair’s relationship goes after the camera stops rolling.
It’s All Andrew Scott’s Fault
If it bothers Andrew Scott that much, well, all we can say is he shouldn’t have made the Priest so hot if he didn’t want Fleabag fans to pine for him five years later.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
