X FILES STAR ON DUKE RECREATING INFAMOUS TV MOMENT AND GILL
Actress Gillian reveals how behind the scenes Netflix movie of Prince Andrew’s car crash interview is a real thriller
THE Newsnight “car crash” interview with Prince Andrew was watched by 1.7million people when it aired in 2019. But even though we know what happened next, Gillian Anderson insists the new Netflix film Scoop is an edge-ofyour-seat thriller.
Anderson, 55, plays renowned journalist Emily Maitlis, who famously interviewed the prince two months after the death of his friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The actor said the film goes behind the scenes and delves into areas we don’t know about.
The X Files legend said: “It’s a film that goes beyond what we already know and what we have seen. This is the story behind the acquisition of one of the most important and dramatic interviews in history. I would describe it as brilliant! Scoop is a really fun film that is actually just as the script was when I first read it, a real page-turner.
“I think most people will of course know so much already about this story but it’s somehow still a proper thriller.
“It’s really quite amazing that they were able to pull that off.”
Scoop is a dramatisation of the now infamous interview. Former Newsnight editor Sam Mcalister, portrayed by Billie Piper, was the one who negotiated with Buckingham Palace to secure the deal.
The sit-down spectacularly backfired on the prince who defended his relationship with the billionaire predator. Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking and died by suicide while awaiting trial.
The prince appeared to show no sympathy for the victims in the interview. He claimed to have been in Pizza Express in Woking on the day of his alleged meeting with his accuser Virginia Giuffre who claims he had sex with her three times while she was 17.
He also told Maitlis that contrary to Giuffre’s claims that the prince was sweating profusely while she danced with him at a London nightclub, his inability to sweat after service in the
Falklands meant her claims were untrue. The interview was described as a PR nightmare for him and he ultimately stepped back from his royal public duties.
Anderson, who also starred as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, said she didn’t watch the interview when it aired. She said: “I think I actually put off watching it initially because I heard what catastrophe it was. Then I did of course and it feels like watching a car crash in slow motion. It just throws up so many questions.”
Taking on the role of Maitlis was daunting for Anderson, and one she had to make sure she got right.
She pored over footage of her interviews to nail her mannerisms.
She said: “Yeah, it’s a little bit more daunting but it’s really mostly similar to any time you take on playing a real character in terms of the deep-dive that you might do.
“Fortunately with someone like Emily who is so much in the public eye, there’s a lot of footage out there that you get to watch. I was also very lucky to have lots of face-to-face time with her so there was a lot of listening, watching and observing mannerisms.
“I have been a big fan of Emily’s for a while so it was a joy to step into her shoes.
“Part of it was definitely the holding of the Bic pen and the way she gesticulates with her hands. But Emily is inter
esting because sometimes she talks very fast, and sometimes she slows everything right down so it was about feeling confident in being able to give both versions of that without feeling that.
“I did a lot of paying attention to Emily’s mannerisms, things like when she looked up and when she looks at her notes.
“It was a drag when I saw how many times she looks down at her notes in the film because it looks like I might be looking at my lines (laughs). I didn’t. I wasn’t reading my lines!”
The actual depiction of the interview is a small part of the film and Anderson said she and co-star Rufus Sewell, who wore prosthetics to look like the Prince, did a great job of portraying him.
She said: “Rufus and I actually prepared separately so it felt like a big moment.
“The interview itself was 50 minutes long, our version of it is about 10 minutes
I’ve seen tattoos where someone has had one’s face on their rear end or wherever ANDERSON ON THE LENGTHS
THAT SOME FANS GO TO
long, so it’s like a more compressed and intense version.
“But I really enjoyed it and I think Rufus did an incredible job.”
Anderson, who played mum and sex therapist Jean in Sex Education, is enjoying massive acclaim for her latest role but fans still want to speak to her about a part she played 20 years ago – Dana Scully.
She also said her fans can be “remarkable’”in the lengths they go to to show their adoration.
She explained: “I’ve seen tattoos where someone has had one’s face on their rear-end or wherever, people who have created pieces of art or Lego sculptures dedicated to characters I have played. There is a lot of attention to detail.
“The time some of the die-hard fans take is the most moving and remarkable.”