Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell on recreating Prince Andrew’s car-crash interview in Scoop

When Newsnight suddenly announced they had an exclusive, hour-long interview with Prince Andrew to discuss his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in November 2019, the country was gripped.

An hour of unfiltered television. People in positions of power and privilege simply don’t do that these days. It was absolute must-see television and did not disappoint.

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The sight of a senior member of the royal family being held to account by a skilled journalist of Emily Maitlis’s calibre was compelling.

New Netflix film Scoop – starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes and Rufus Sewell – tells the story of how the interview happened.

We all know the interview went ahead, that Prince Andrew talked about going to Pizza Express in Woking and being unable to sweat. And we all know it was a PR disaster for the royal family.

But while the tone of Scoop is light at times – it opens with Emily Maitlis’s dog Moody sniffing his way around the BBC – this outstanding film is as pacey and exciting as any thriller, and doesn’t ever lose sight of the victims at the heart of the story…

Billie Piper, who plays Sam McAlister, the tenacious Newsnight booker who arranged the Prince Andrew interview: I had an immediate feeling of connection to the script. I didn’t see the original interview live but I really followed the story behind the interview and have seen everything on it. I was really invested in telling the story. This is about the women who got this interview. 

Keeley Hawes, who plays Amanda Thirsk, the PR adviser to Prince Andrew who facilitated the interview: Casting Rufus as Prince Andrew is wonderful. Everyone thinks it’s very generous. But Rufus has lovely, funny, likeable bones. So you sort of get that for free. And Prince Andrew, for everything that’s come about him recently, people I’ve met during this are very fond of him as a person.

Gillian Anderson, who plays Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis: I was following the Epstein story quite closely, but I was nervous about watching the Prince Andrew interview on Newsnight. I usually don’t avoid feeling uncomfortable, but for some reason I was avoiding the cringe element.

Rufus Sewell, who plays Prince Andrew: I watched bits of the original interview and found it painful and fascinating and so instructive to watch – not just about him or about the class system, but about humans and the stories we tell ourselves and our relationship with guilt and victimhood. I have my own feelings about his culpability. I would not want to make a statement that would be more black and white than my performance shows.

KH: It was extraordinary. How has this been allowed to happen? They spent a lot of time going over what was going to be said, yet the extraordinary series of comments that came out of him… the other extraordinary thing I found out was that his team thought that it had gone really well.

RS: What’s interesting about him is he plainly feels wronged. He feels there is an innocence about him that people will see – and that if he does have to lie, it’s for the greater good of protecting his natural innocence.

BP: I don’t know that I’ll ever see another interview like that in my lifetime. It was arguably one of the most exposing interviews I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t make sense of it – it felt like he was taking the piss. How have you let yourself unravel like this?

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GA: It feels more shocking every time you see it. I remember rewinding it over and over again when I was properly watching it. Did I hear it quite right? Is that really how that answer is being structured? It was fascinating. It does beg the question why he subjected himself to this line of questioning, particularly if he wasn’t going to answer the questions in a fulsome, potentially more detailed, honest way. This type of forum that Newsnight presents is really important.

BP: I’ve lived through a time where people could ask me what the fuck they wanted to in interviews. It might make for a better interview, but as a person, it feels like a breach of your humanity and can really fuck you up. Maybe I enjoy reading interviews less now, but on a more personal note, it’s probably a healthier experience. But it’s very different when it is the people running the country. Then it feels more than unfair that you can’t get a straight answer. It makes you feel sick with anger.

GA: Emily Maitlis has been formidable for some time. She is known for delivering no-holds barred interviews and doesn’t let people get away with anything. I was surprised how gentle she started it – and possibly he responded in that way because of the tone she set up. It’s an interesting question about whether because she is a woman, he expected a softer, gentler, lighter interview.

RS: What Andrew has never had is anyone who’s just said, “Oh, fuck off!” There are a couple of jokes that fall flat. One in particular, where you can tell he thinks he’s being mildly devastating. But the old magic doesn’t work. There’s certain things I don’t think he would have tried on a man. But there’s a limit to how much adjustment is possible with that level of natural-born power. I’ve seen those same things play extremely well for him in some situations, where people laugh or smile along with him.

KH: When I was growing up there was no social media, rolling news wasn’t a thing, we were just fed the news twice a day and that was it. And it was very different world. Randy Andy was his nickname. That was a thing. Bill Wyman was going out with a 15-year-old girl and being celebrated for it. We’ve come so far, which is great. But Prince Andrew was part of that. It was, wow, who’s going to marry Prince Andrew, who’s going to be the lucky one?

GA: The fact that Scoop starts in front of [Jeffrey Epstein’s] townhouse in New York, and that we see the girls and you get a sense of how long it’s been going on is important. To get an idea of how many people are involved in keeping it going, despite Epstein being arrested, despite warnings, newspaper articles and suspicion. It’s a machine that keeps operating and is supported by powerful people. It was important to set the tone and set the stakes. We continue to namecheck some of the girls – there is a shot where Emily mentions all three of their names before they drive into Buckingham Palace, just to remind everyone why we’re there.

RS: One would hope that this story points to the arc bending towards justice. From the Andrew camp, not that it was said, but there is a vague feeling that there are uncles or majors saying, well, you should have seen what your grandfather got up to and he never got any trouble! That world, hopefully, is a thing of the past. But there’s a lot of people who are furious we’re moving away from it.

BP: Making Scoop hasn’t changed my thoughts on Prince Andrew. I’m just in more shock. But it makes me think, let’s hope there are more journalists like Sam McAlister and Emily Maitlis being seen and heard and rooting for women. I think the women were the key to the success of this exposing moment.

GA: It’s important to remember that, as entertaining as this film is, we are talking about girls who were taken advantage of and manipulated and abused. It’s important this stays as a news item to show that authority figures can be held to account.

Scoop is on Netflix from 5 April.

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