Netflix finds appropriately sweatless stars for its Prince Andrew movie

Rufus Sewell will be playing the disgraced royal, and he better not ever sweat if he wants his performance to be authentic

By Sam Barsanti  |  February 7, 2023 | 9:25pm
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Netflix finds appropriately sweatless stars for its Prince Andrew movie
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Rufus Sewell Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Universal

In 2019, British royal Prince Andrew appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight to address allegations about his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and it… went poorly. So poorly that, here in the United States, there’s a reasonable chance that you only know who Prince Andrew is because of how bad the interview went. Among other things, Prince Andrew defended his friendship with Epstein, which had apparently continued even after Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in Florida in 2008, and he chose to try and disprove sexual assault allegations from Virginia Giuffre (who was underage at the time) by mentioning the specific pizza chain he had visited on the night in question and by insisting that she couldn’t have seen him getting sweaty because he had an inexplicable medical condition at the time that made it impossible for him to sweat.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter says that Netflix—no stranger to pissing off the British royals—has bought the rights to Scoop, a feature film based on the interview and how it all came together for journalist Emily Maitlis. The film will be adapted from Scoops: Behind The Scenes Of The BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, a memoir by Sam McAlister (who managed to secure the bombshell interview with Prince Andrew). Philip Martin, who has previously worked on The Crown, will direct.

Rufus Sewell, from the beach that turns you Old and The Man In The High Castle, will star as the completely bone-dry Prince Andrew, opposite Gillian Anderson as Maitlis. Keeley Hawes from Bodyguard will play Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk, and Billie Piper from I Hate Suzie will play McAlister—who noted that, as a first time writer, this is an “extraordinary cast” to be able to work with, especially with one of her “favorite actresses” playing a fictionalized version of her.

 
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