Rufus Sewell will play Prince Andrew alongside Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis in new Netflix film, Scoop, about the royal’s ill-advised Newsnight interview.
In November 2019, Prince Andrew sought to clear his name over his links to his disgraced friend Jeffrey Epstein. The Queen’s second son agreed to appear in a broadcast interview helmed by Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis. It did not go well for the Prince.
His claim to have been eating at Pizza Express in Woking the night of an alleged non-consensual encounter with Virginia Guiffre and his detailing of a temporary inability to sweat following the Falklands War drew condemnation and ridicule.
It was a huge story. And should make a fascinating film. Alongside Sewell, Billie Piper plays Sam McAlister, the producer who set up the interview and whose book has been adapted by Peter Moffat for Scoop. Keeley Hawes plays Prince Andrew’s former Private Secretary, Amanda Thirsk.
But why is the casting so complimentary to Prince Andrew?
No one is doubting Rufus Sewell’s ability to transform. He is a fine actor and an Olivier Award winner. His screen roles range from idealistic Will Ladislaw in the popular 1994 adaptation of Middlemarch to US Nazi officer John Smith in Philip K Dick’s dystopian alternative history drama The Man In The High Castle.
But with his angular features, razor-sharp cheekbones, lithe figure and those piercing eyes, Sewell is also quite the pin-up. The same can’t be said for Prince Andrew. Seven years Sewell’s senior, the royal has rarely been described as having leading man looks.