Andrew Scott Clarified The Origin Of That "Tortured Man Club" Chat
The truth about his group text with Joe Alwyn.
Two of pop culture’s most famous tortured poets have found one another. Andrew Scott has been tangentially related to Taylor Swift’s lore for a while now thanks to his buzzy list of co-stars, but he revealed in a recent interview that he’s actually friends with the superstar. Close enough friends that they casually text, even. Oh, and speaking of texting, he also shed some light on his eyebrow-raising group chat name that Swifties think may have inspired The Tortured Poets Department.
Scott went full Swiftie mode in his May 22 Variety profile, confessing he is a huge fan of her latest release. “Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” Scott said. “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing.”
His favorite song on The Tortured Poets Department? The vengefully dramatic “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” which is believed to be inspired by Swift’s breakup with Matty Healy. Scott himself is interestingly connected to Healy through a few degrees of separation: His All of Us Strangers co-star and close friend Paul Mescal used to date Phoebe Bridgers, who has a long friendship with Healy.
Scott has also been involved in Swiftie lore himself recently, when it was revealed that he, Mescal, and Swift’s ex Joe Alwyn were in a group chat call “Tortured Man Club.” After Swift announced her sound-alike album title, fans speculated it may have been inspired by that very chat name.
But according to Scott, the “Tortured Man Club” never really became a thing. He explained it was meant to be a joke about the depressing characters the three actors are prone to playing, but it fell apart almost immediately.
“They were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in Fleabag. It wasn’t about our own characteristics!” Scott explained. “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”
