Simpson's Scandal-ous Role
Andrew Simpson, the young actor who seduces Cate Blanchett in the film, offers his own 'Notes on a Scandal.'
By Karl Rozemeyer
Most 16 year-old boys fantasize about getting hot and heavy with a gorgeous Hollywood actress, but it actually happened to Andrew Simpson. In Notes on A Scandal, the barely-of-age actor from Derry in Northern Ireland does his share of canoodling with Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett as a student who successfully seduces his art teacher, played by Blanchett. The affair results in dire consequences for both of them when their tryst is uncovered by a manipulative teaching colleague of Blanchett's (Judi Dench).
Simpson had starred in a couple of films, including the Aidan Quinn film Song for A Raggy Boy, before his role in Notes, but nothing prepared him for the Scandal part of the film.
"The very first scene I did was a sex scene," said Simpson. "It was a closed set but it was really scary and plus Cate and I hadn't really got to know each other yet but they were all amazing. Before every sex scene we would talk about it — [director Richard Eyre], Cate and I. We would choreograph the whole thing."
Blanchett has said that her role as teacher Sheba Hart was one of the most morally taxing for her as an actor and she was shocked by her own puritanical reaction to how she approached the sex scenes. But she gives much of the credit to her young co-star: "He was fantastic. He was really game and really enthusiastic and very open. I blushed my way through the entire experience. It was almost like he was saying to me: 'It is fine. It is alright.'"
The actress had almost as much difficulty in finding reason for why her character would embark upon a relationship that could only result in self-destruction and devastation for those closest to her. She said, "I think if she had fifteen years on the analyst's couch then she might find the language to make conscious her deeply unconscious actions. If you want to get out of a relationship — which I don't think Sheba necessarily does — there are many, many ways of self-combusting that don't involve sex with a minor. There is a level of exhibitionism and the desire to be found out that contains a very clear cry for help."
But understanding what drives and motivates a teenage boy is simple to Simpson, who admitted, "I have had a crush on my teacher and people flirt with their teacher's all the time. There is a very thin line from taking that step further and I think it is not unbelievable in that it could actually happen. [Steven] comes into it with a schoolboy's dream of landing the best-looking schoolteacher. [But] he really doesn't give a shit, to be honest. The first thing he says when he finds out everyone knows is: 'They are going to expel me now.' And I think it sums him up. He didn't spare one thought for Cate's character."
However, Simpson emphasizes that it is not his intention to demonize Steven: "Because at the end of the day, I think it is up to Sheba to say: 'This is wrong.' He was pushing all the time but Sheba accepted and all she had to do was refuse." It was not from stripping in front of Blanchett that Simpson has taken away most from his experience on Notes. Instead, what he learned from his co-star is how important it is for an actor to be thoroughly prepared. "She turns up on set and the script is almost unidentifiable. It is tattered. It is written all over with Post-its sticking out everywhere. It shows you how much preparation she has done."
After his role in Notes on a Scandal' impson sounds like he's prepared for almost anything.
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