‘Scoop’: Prince Andrew revealed as Netflix’s next royal target
Netflix revealed its next royal bombshell will drop on the Duke of York, with Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper to star in the film. See who will play Prince Andrew.
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Netflix will continue to milk the royal cash cow with a new feature film chronicling the inside story behind Prince Andrew’s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview, and his infamous “inability sweat” defence of sexual assault allegations.
On the heels of its massive success with the limited series Harry & Meghan and the fictional drama The Crown, Netflix has begun production on “Scoop” with the casting of major British stars Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper.
Prince Andrew will be portrayed by actor Rufus Sewell, who played the villainous Count Adhemar in the 2001 Heath Ledger classic, A Knight’s Tale.
Anderson, who portrayed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, will take on the role of Newsnight’s former lead presenter, Emily Maitlis, while Piper, best known for hit single Honey to the B and Doctor Who, will star as Sam McAlister, the Newsnight producer who booked the interview.
Billed as an investigative drama, the film will be based on the memoir by McAlister, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews.
Prince Andrew’s former private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, will be played by Keeley Hawes, who recently started in Rebecca alongside Armie Hammer.
Directed by Philip Martin, Netflix says Scoop will give viewers “the inside track on the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade that led to the catastrophic fall from grace of the queen’s ‘favourite son”.
From “navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, the high-stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal — to the jaw-dropping interview itself”, the film’s logline says.
While it’s promoted as a “backstage pass” to Buckingham Palace and the BBC as the two institutions clash, Prince Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight interview is already one of the most analysed moments in television history.
Asked about claims by Australian-based accuser Virginia Giuffre that he got sweaty while dancing in a London nightclub, Prince Andrew famously said that couldn’t be a true statement because a Falklands War episode left him unable to sweat.
“There’s a slight problem with the sweating, because I have a peculiar medical condition, which is that I don’t sweat, or I didn’t sweat at the time, and that was —was it —yes, I didn’t sweat at the time--” he said.
“Because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at, and I simply —it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said at the time.
“And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again. So I’m afraid to say that there’s a medical condition that says that I didn’t do it.”
Prince Andrew has and continues to strongly deny accusations of misconduct made by Ms Giuffre, who has alleged in the past that she was forced to have sex with the royal in homes owned by Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17
He is reportedly set to hit Ms Giuffre with a $140 million lawsuit if she repeats her allegations against him in her upcoming tell-all book, according to The Sun.
Prince Andrew settled the civil lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre in February 2022, said to be a deal of between $5.3 million and $8.8 million. But her gagging clause is reportedly slated to end after one year, in February 2023.
The film of the BBC Interview will be produced by Hilary Salmon and Radford Neville for The Lighthouse Film & Television, with Sanjay Singhal for Voltage TV.
Martin, who directed The Crown, said in a publicity statement from Netflix that he’s “thrilled” to tell the story of power and privilege
“ I want to put the audience inside the breathtaking 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,” he said.
“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.”
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