ACTOR ON ROLE AS THE DUKE OF YORK

Rufus Sewell has said he wanted to show the “light and dark” when portraying the Duke of York in the drama based on his explosive Newsnight interview.

The Holiday actor stars alongside Gillian Anderson, who plays journalist Emily Maitlis in the new Netflix series Scoop.

The series documents the “high-stakes negotiations with Buckingham Palace” through to the BBC’s headline-making interview with Andrew about his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Discussing on Good Morning Britain whether he feels “any pity” for the duke, Sewell said: “It’s one of the reasons I was so hesitant about taking on the role, because I don’t want to be jumping on some bandwagon.

“I think it’s so important to remember whatever someone is going through, that, however high up or low down they are, these are humans and that people are a product of their circumstance.

“For me, one of the concerns was wanting to do a truthful representation of him, which included him at his best as well as his worst, because people are a mixed bag.

“I think my responsibility to the film, and any human that you’re playing, is to show the light and dark, and we all have both.”

Following the Newsnight broadcast in November 2019 and the furore over Andrew’s friendship with Epstein, the duke stepped down from public life.

The new series shows the moment the interview took place as well as the aftermath.

The actor also said he was “flattered” to be offered the role but admitted he did hesitate over accepting it due to the status of the character portrayed.

To ensure he was prepared to take on the part, he said he “obsessively” watched the infamous interview to try to understand Andrew’s “reasoning and justification” for his answers.