Rufus Sewell will play Prince Andrew in Netflix’s upcoming film Scoop on the royal’s 2019 interview on BBC’s Newsnight with Emily Maitlis. Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Keeley Hawes have also been announced as part of the cast. The film is based on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by producer Sam McAlister who landed Prince Andrew’s interview. Peter Moffat is adapting the memoir for the fictional drama. (Also read: Prince Andrew’s tribute to the Queen: ‘Dear mummy, mother, your majesty, 3 in 1’)
Gillian Anderson will play interviewer Emily Maitlis, while Billie Piper will play Sam. Keeley Hawes plays Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew’s former private secretary. Scoop is expected to begin filming later this Month in London, England. Hugh Grant was previously attached to the project for the role of Prince Andrew. The interview, which aired in November 2019, found the royal trying to explain his relationship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in prison three months before.
Prince Andrew spoke about his association with Jeffrey and expressed some regret about continuing his friendship after the financier admitted to soliciting underage sex in 2008. But the royal also stated that he made connections through Jeffrey that were “actually very useful”. He also denied that he had relations with Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was forced to have sex with him at 17.
Since the one-hour interview, Prince Andrew has remained out of view from public life since May 2020, but efforts to restore his reputation continue. Virginia filed a civil lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault in the New York; the lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2022.
Philip Martin, who also directed episodes of Netflix’s The Crown, will direct Scoop. In a statement, he said, “Uptempo, immersive and cinematic, I want to put the audience inside the breath-taking sequence of events that led to the interview with Prince Andrew – to tell a story about a search for answers, in a world of speculation and varying recollections. It’s a film about power, privilege and differing perspectives and how – whether in glittering palaces or hi-tech newsrooms – we judge what’s true.”
