Since the release date in mid-April, Taylor Swift’s latest release, The Tortured Poet’s Department has been all us fans can talk about.
The theories, the favourite songs, the parts that made it onto her Eras Tour setlist, and it appears that even treasured actor Andrew Scott is no exception.
Speaking to Variety, the All Of Us Strangers star said: “Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is.”
I, too, would be humblebragging if I had the ability to simply text Taylor Swift.
Andrew went on to say about Taylor, “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing.”
As for his favourite song? It’s ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ – a rousing ballad that explores the building rage and disappointment that comes with having your heart broken.
Interestingly, despite not being the rumoured muse of the album, Andrew may have had something to do with the title.
This is because Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal and Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn are all in a group chat called ‘The Tortured Man Club’ and this album title is thought to be, at least in part, a nod to that.
Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal have a WhatsApp group with Andrew Scott called "The Tortured Man Club."
— Variety (@Variety) December 15, 2022
"It hasn't had much use recently," Alwyn says.
"I feel like we're less tortured now," Mescal quips. https://t.co/CSai4ScQpzpic.twitter.com/veCp1ZdFsD
However, in his conversation with Variety, Andrew was keen to assert that the group chat name had nothing to do with their personality traits. He said: “So they [Paul and Joe] were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in Fleabag. It wasn’t about our own characteristics!”
The Tortured Poets Department is out now and available to stream on all streaming services.
