Andrew Scott Speaks Up for Short Films (and Irish Whiskey) With New Redbreast Partnership

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It’s a sweltering Thursday afternoon in Texas and Andrew Scott is ready for a drink to take the edge off. But while a pricey bottle of Redbreast Whiskey sits next to him, just begging for a neat pour, the actor says he’s sticking with a familiar favorite.

“I don’t want to have any kind of puritanism,” he says, by way of placing his order, “but a whiskey sour is really, really good and how I take my whiskey.”

The Irish actor is craving a cocktail after a busy few days at the SXSW Festival, where he’s been judging short films for the “Redbreast Unhidden Award,” presented by the popular Irish whiskey brand and part of the official SXSW calendar. 2026 marks the second year of the “Redbreast Unhidden” competition, which was created to “discover, support, and elevate exceptional short films and emerging filmmakers,” and after first signing on as an ambassador last year, Scott expanded his role to be the executive producer for this year’s winning film.

After weeks of short-listing entries, and a public screening of the finalists at Soho House Austin, Scott selected Indian filmmaker Pranav Bhasin’s We Were Here as the winning short. The film pits people versus machines, as three men in a small Indian town refuse to surrender their everyday tasks to technology, and fight back by trying to become human household appliances.

Scott says he found the short film to be a “clever and funny perspective on the everyday infiltration of technology into our lives. The story is wonderfully simple, yet manages to ask big questions about humanity, our relationship with technology, and with each other,” he says.

As part of this year’s Redbreast Unhidden program, Scott will help to “elevate the winning project and support its journey to audiences around the world,” per a release. Bhasin, the winning filmmaker, will also receive a grant sponsored by Redbreast to help develop his next project. More than anything, Scott says he’s just excited to spend time time with emerging talent to be a sounding board for their creative pursuits.
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“Both my parents worked with young people,” Scott says. “My mother was a high school teacher and my father worked for an employment agency in Ireland and so they’ve always talked about what your particular skill might be and how do you manifest that? And I just love the idea that we’re uncovering this new talent and supporting it in whatever way we can.”

The actor adds that he was eager to partner with Redbreast on the initiative, noting that new filmmakers — especially from the world of short films — rarely get a chance to have their work showcased on such a large stage.

“It’s kind of interesting, because we’re in this generation where we have content that is much shorter now,” Scott offers, “[and] our ability to look at something on TikTok for three minutes and be entertained is certainly a line that could be drawn back to short films, considering them as genuine pieces of origin.”

“Sometimes I think it’s even more difficult to make a short, because your constraints are considerable,” he continues. “What somebody is able to do in nine minutes is absolutely massive. It’s extraordinary.”

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(Scott’s favorite whiskey sour is pictured at right)

Also extraordinary is Scott’s love for whiskey, a testament to his Irish roots of course. His dad loved a whiskey and 7 Up, while his sister favored a whiskey and Coke. Irish whiskey was also something the family would have “after a pint of Guinness,” Scott says, “sort of as a chaser.”

“We’re much more creative now with whiskey than we used to used to be,” he offers with a smile. “There’s loads of different ways of having it now and people are real connoisseurs.”
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Still, while his Redbreast partnership has his bar cart stocked with Redbreast 21 Yr, and Moscatel Wine Cask Edition, the latest installment in the brand’s Iberian Series, Scott says he’s a “go out kind of person,” and “not a person who likes to drink at home.”

The actor says he has a very specific plan this year, to go out more with friends to have a drink while listening to live music. “I was just listening to Harry Styles’ new album and I thought his stuff at the Brit Awards was so inventive and exciting,” Scott says, when pressed for his favorite artists. “I love to dance so I love Robyn, and I also saw Chappell Roan at the Brixton Academy and I think it was one of the last small venues she played before she just got huge.”
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“I really do love a good pop artist,” Scott admits. “I think it’s really joyful and sometimes under appreciated.”

And then there’s U2, “who were huge when I was growing up,” Scott says, tracing a bottle of Redbreast with his fingers to turn the conversation back to the topic at hand. “I’m obviously an Irishman so I just like a really strong Irish brand,” he says. “And this,” he states, pointing at the bottle, “is a brand that has done us really proud.”