Andrew Scott hails 'unsung hero' meteorologist in D-Day thriller Pressure

Andrew Scott has said he relished the challenge of portraying Group Captain James Stagg, the meteorologist whose crucial forecast persuaded General Dwight D Eisenhower to launch the D-Day landings, in the new wartime thriller Pressure. The actor, known for his Bafta-winning turn as Moriarty in Sherlock and his unforgettable "hot priest" in Fleabag, described the real-life Stagg, who advised Eisenhower on the largest seaborne invasion in history, as "an extraordinarily interesting cinematic character" and "an unsung hero from history."

Speaking to the BBC aboard HMS Belfast, the warship that led the opening bombardment for the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, Scott painted a nuanced picture of the man he portrays. He called Stagg "very chilly," but also "forthright, direct, obsessed with weather – and not afraid to speak truth to power." The actor said he particularly admired that Stagg "was not interested in ingratiating himself with anybody," describing him as "a real fish out of water" in the high-stakes, ego-driven atmosphere of the planning rooms where the invasion was decided.

The film, adapted from David Haig's successful 2014 stage play, charts the intense 72-hour period before D-Day, during which Stagg and his team of meteorologists, who robustly disagreed with one another, worked around the clock under immense pressure. Scott noted that Stagg's wife was heavily pregnant at the time, adding to the personal strain. "It's completely unimaginable, the pressure that they would have been under, not just Stagg, but everybody in the building," he said.

Central to the drama is the theme of leadership and the ability to listen to expertise. Scott said the film is chiefly about "the humility of leadership, and about the difference between power and expertise," adding that "real experts have the humility to go, 'I don't know about that, but I am in a position of power, so I'm going to delegate this, and I'm gonna listen to what this person has to say'." Eisenhower, he suggested, had the good sense to heed Stagg's advice, which proved decisive.

Scott, who drew on his own experience as a 19-year-old extra in the opening sequence of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, said he loved that the film pays tribute not only to Stagg but also to Maureen Sweeney, the Irish lighthouse keeper whose observations from County Mayo first confirmed the break in the weather. He said he found Stagg's singular passion moving, noting that "if you apply yourself to something and you become excellent at something, it serves a place in the world and serves a place in humanity." He concluded that it was "wonderful that we can pay tribute to him in this way all these years later. He's a movie hero." Pressure is released in UK and Irish cinemas from 9 September.