Scoop film: Netflix releases first photos of Prince Andrew movie

Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell star in Scoop

The first official pictures from an upcoming Netflix film of Newsnight's interview with the Duke of York have been released.

The photographs show how notable scenes from the 2019 interview between Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis have been faithfully recreated.

Rufus Sewell portrays the duke, while Gillian Anderson plays Maitlis.

The "car-crash" interview saw the duke talk candidly about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Netflix movie, called Scoop, will dramatise how the BBC Two programme secured the interview and looks set to imagine the drama behind the scenes as it unfolded.

Sewell is said to have spent about three hours in the make-up chair to become Prince Andrew, while Anderson's portrayal of Maitlis is described by producers as "astonishing", the Sunday Telegraph reported.

In the first of three photographs released by Netflix, seen above, Sewell and Anderson are shown in conversation as they walk through a recreation of Buckingham Palace, where the interview took place.

Emily Maitlis asked Prince Andrew about his links to Jeffrey Epstein

It is strikingly similar to the real interview, with the pair also wearing identical outfits to those worn by the duke and Maitlis.

A second picture recreates the interview itself, which saw Prince Andrew discuss his links to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite now serving time in prison for helping Epstein abuse girls.

In the film...

... and in real life

Prince Andrew used the interview to emphatically deny having sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, saying he was in Pizza Express in Woking on the day the encounter was meant to have taken place.

The duke has subsequently paid a financial settlement to Ms Giuffre, formally ending a civil case brought against him in the US.

The out-of-court settlement accepted no liability and Prince Andrew has always strongly rejected claims of wrongdoing.

Gillian Anderson wears a recreation of the outfit worn by Emily Maitlis

Another photograph released shows Anderson as Maitlis apparently preparing to ask a question.

The interview was widely regarded as a "car crash" and the whole episode did huge damage to the prince's reputation.

Netflix's Scoop is based on the book "Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews" by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister.

The film synopsis says it shows "the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade".

It also stars Billie Piper as McAlister, Keeley Hawes as Prince Andrew's former private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, and Romola Garai as Esme Wren, who led Newsnight at the time of the interview. It is written by Peter Moffat, who wrote BBC One drama Silk.

Another streaming giant, Amazon Prime Video, is producing a three-part series based on the memoirs of Maitlis and set to cover the Prince Andrew interview. Michael Sheen is reported to be playing the duke in that adaptation, with Ruth Wilson as Maitlis.

Scoop will stream on Netflix some time in the spring.

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