Andrew Scott , Joe Alwyn , and Paul Mescal were antecedently in a WhatsApp mathematical group called " Tortured Man Club . "
Andrew Scottreacted to Taylor Swift’s new album after somecomparedthe title to his former WhatsApp group with Taylor’s ex.
For context, in 2022,Paul MescalandJoe Alwynrevealedthat Andrew started a group chat between them called “Tortured Man Club.” Paul later joked, “He’s just on it every day. He’s just on it by himself.”
When Taylor announced the name of her 11th studio album —The Tortured Poets Department— somenotedthe similarities between the title and the name of the viral chat. Now that the album is out, it appears the titular song is not directly about Joe, though the word “tortured” is evoked throughout the record.
“Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is," Andrew said in a recent interview withVariety.
“I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing,” he continued, adding that “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" is his favorite song.
Andrew then explained that the “Tortured Man Club” began to introduce Paul, who starred in Sally Rooney’sNormal Peopleadaptation, to Joe, who was then about to appear inConversations with Friends.He stressed that the name was nothing personal, adding, “So they were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character inFleabag. It wasn’t about our own characteristics!”
Afterwards, Andrew reiterated that the chat quickly died out: “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”
You can read the full interviewhere.
