Entertainment
Hollywood stars to play Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis in explosive series about Newsnight interview-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro
Maitlis is also on board to help produce the show.
Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview is being turned into an Amazon drama series (Picture: BBC)
The bombshell Newsnight interview that saw journalist Emily Maitlis infamously grill Prince Andrew is being turned into a series starring two Hollywood stars.
In November 2019, Maitlis interviewed the Duke of York about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in August 2019 whilst awaiting trial.
In the interview, the Duke of York also denied having sex with Virginia Giuffre in March 2001, and said he had ‘no recollection of ever meeting’ her.
His responses sparked a huge reaction, with Andrew stepping back from royal duties and pay a financial settlement to his alleged victim, who was 17 at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile Maitlis won several awards for her scoop.
The interview is now set to feature in a series based on the explosive exchange.
He was slammed for his responses in the 2019 interview (Picture: PA)
Michael Sheen will star as Andrew, while Ruth Wilson will take on the role of Maitlis in the Amazon Studios show A Very Royal Scandal.
The three-part series will ‘follow Emily Maitlis’s professional and personal journey as a Newsnight journalist, leading up to her acclaimed interview with Prince Andrew’.
Maitlis, who left Newsnight to host The News Agents podcast with former BBC journalists Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, is an executive producer on the production.
The royal will be played by Michael Sheen (Picture: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
The 53-year-old broadcaster wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Blimey. First time I’ve seen this in print. What an exceptional cast.’
The series is written by The Last King Of Scotland writer Jeremy Brock and directed by Becoming Jane’s Julian Jarrold.
The cast also includes Joanna Scanlan as Andrew’s ex-private secretary Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings as the late Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young, and Eanna Hardwicke as BBC Newsnight editor Stewart Maclean.
Maitlis has already been an executive producer of a Channel 4 documentary about the interview called Andrew: The Problem Prince.
A Netflix film adaptation of the interview, titled Scoop, is also currently in the works.
Ruth Wilson will play journalist Emily Maitlis (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI)
In that version, Maitlis is played by Sex Education star Gillian Anderson while The Man In The High Castle actor Rufus Sewell appears as Andrew.
The Netflix adaption is based on former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister’s memoir Scoops: The BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews From Prince Andrew To Steven Seagal.
The Amazon Studios series follows on from A Very English Scandal, which dramatised an alleged affair between model Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw) and leader of the Liberal party Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant).
Meanwhile, A Very British Scandal dramatised a divorce court case between Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy) and Ian Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll (Paul Bettany).
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