‘Sherlock’ Star Andrew Scott Came Out

Sherlock is a show so steeped in homoerotic sexual tension that surely one of the cast members had to be gay. Well, it turns out that one is. Andrew Scott, who plays the devilishly handsome--and straight up devilish--Moriarty came out on Friday in an interview with The Independent.

The 37-year-old Irish actor, whose portrayal of the "Consultant Criminal" eared him a Bafta last year--he even beat out his costar Martin Freeman (aka Dr. Watson)--told the paper that he is indeed "a gay person." In preparing for the role of Viktor Koslov in BBC2's upcoming Legacy, a one-off adaptation by Paula Milne of Alan Judd's bestselling 2001 spy novel of the same name, Scott had to pull of a convincing Russian accent.

"There isn't a huge amount of footage of Russians speaking English as a second language," Scott tells The Independent. "So I started looking at Vladimir Putin videos on Youtube. But then Putin introduced anti-gay legislation this summer--so, being a gay person, I switched to Rudolf Nureyev videos instead. It was another Nureyev defection of sorts!"

Scott says he's a "private person" and doesn't make a big to-do about his sexuality. "Mercifully, these days people don't see being gay as a character flaw. But nor is it a virtue, like kindness. Or a talent, like playing the banjo," says Scott.

In even more Moriarty news, we may see him return in the third season of Sherlock, which also stars heartthrob Benedict Cumberbatch. While it appeared that Moriarty may have met his end--that's not a spoiler; season two wrapped up over a year and a half ago--Scott has been photographed filming scenes for season three.