The duke is portrayed by Rufus Sewell, and Gillian Anderson, star of The X Files, plays BBC Newsnight interviewer Emily Maitlis. A picture of Billie Piper, who will play former corporate producer Sam McAlister, has also been made available by Netflix.
The book Scoop will be based in part on the memoirs of former BBC producer Sam McAlister, who detailed how he obtained the controversial interview in which the royal discussed his acquaintance with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was jailed.
The duke is portrayed by Rufus Sewell, who previously acted in The Man in the High Castle and The Diplomat. Gillian Anderson, who has starred in Sex Education and The X Files, plays interviewer Emily Maitlis.
Additionally, a picture of Billie Piper, who will play McAlister, has been made available by Netflix.
Piper’s performance as her was described by McAlister as a “pinch myself moment” when she posted a picture of the actor on social media yesterday with the caption, “Mind.” blown away.”
According to director Philip Martin of Scoop, Sewell spent about three hours in the makeup chair before the shoot began. He told The Sunday Telegraph.
The Emmy and BAFTA-winning director added that Anderson carefully watched the interview to learn Maitlis’s demeanor.
“The inside scoop”
Scoop is touted as “the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade… spotlighting the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings” .
The purpose of Prince Andrew’s presence on the BBC show was to allay growing concerns about his link with Epstein, who passed away in jail earlier that year, and claims that he had intercourse with a female who was 17 years old.