shining a light on a real tv drama
Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell recreate the infamous Prince Andrew Newsnight interview
When Prince andrew submitted to being interviewed by emily Maitlis for Newsnight, it made blockbuster viewing. now, netflix’s Scoop brings the behind-the-scenes story to life – and it’s even more compelling.
Based on the book by former Newsnight editor sam Mcalister, Scoop looks at how sam (played by Billie Piper) secured the royal chat for presenter emily Maitlis (Gillian anderson), who went on to quiz the prince on his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey epstein and allegations of sexual assault against him by Virginia Giuffre.
Prince andrew denied the allegations and went on to settle the civil case in the us.
From the royal claiming to be in a Woking Pizza express at the time of the alleged meeting with the then 17-year-old Virginia, to him stating that he lost the ability to sweat during the Falklands War, the interview was a catalyst for Prince andrew’s downfall – and it’s all explored in this netflix film.
“When i watched the interview, i thought, ‘How did this happen? How did anyone sign off on this?’” Billie says. “There’s a few things that i didn’t know about the story, which i think you’ll see when you watch it.”
While the casting of rufus sewell – a Hollywood leading man – as Prince andrew may come as a surprise to many, the 56-year-old admits that he “obsessively” rehearsed the disgraced royal’s mannerisms to nail the role.
“i didn’t say yes until i’d worked on it on my own for a while,” he says. “i would dress up [as him] –
it seemed preposterous when people would catch me doing it. it was really embarrassing.
“But i would do that and watch the interview, obsess for hours and hours, just trying to get behind it. i just did as much studying as i could until it started to come through.”
“it’s quite a responsibility [playing andrew] but watching him when the charm worked was quite interesting, when he was younger – talking to people and actually being quite funny,” he adds. “What he believes are his natural-born gifts as a person are entirely reliant on people giving him the status of prince. Without
‘I WOULD WATCH THE INTERVIEW AND OBSESS FOR HOURS’ RUFUS SEWELL
that, he can’t get his oxygen in the same way. It was really fascinating.”
With the help of some serious prosthetics, applied over the course of four hours, Rufus transformed into the prince. He wasn’t thrilled by his 10-yearold daughter’s reaction, however. “I was Facetiming her [in the prosthetics] and she didn’t bat an eyelid!” he laughs.
“The first four-hour process was slowly watching the change and getting used to it layer by layer so it feels like your own face. After a while it felt very comfortable,” he says. “I bumped into Connor [Swindells, who plays paparazzo Jae Donnelly] at the bar and he said, ‘Sorry I keep staring at you. I’ve never seen your actual face before.’”
Rufus’s first foray into filming the drama was shooting the actual interview opposite Gillian.
“We filmed the interview for two days on a loop,” he reveals. “It was very strange. It was the first encounter I’d had with her in character. It was top to bottom, over and over and over again. I ended up sitting opposite Gillian, who had been doing her own version of the work – and it was astonishingly close [to Emily Maitlis].”
While Gillian transforms into Emily for the film, she reveals that she originally turned down the role. “When I was first asked to play her I said, ‘Absolutely not. No way. It’s too hard,’” she says. “We all know Emily and love Emily and we see her all the time. We hear her in our ears. She’s a formidable journalist and an incredibly impressive woman.
“I thought, ‘Everybody knows her too well and so I will undoubtedly fail.’ But here we are!”
From the tense negotiations between Sam Mcalister and Andrew’s aide Amanda (Keeley Hawes), to the aftermath of the jaw-dropping showdown, Scoop covers it all – and also brings a new perspective, according to its stars.
“I feel like there are some unsung heroes in this story that need recognition for what they did,” Billie says.
Scoop, Friday 5 April, Netflix