Rufus Sewell admitted that he initially regretted accepting the role of Prince Andrew in Scoop because it was outside his comfort zone.
The actor, 56, said he thought he could ‘get behind’ the role but panicked when it was offered to him and confessed he thought ‘what have I done?’
Rufus spoke openly while appearing on Wednesday’s episode of Good Morning Britain, where he detailed “obsessively watching the Newsnight interview for hours.”
In the film premiering on Netflix next month, Rufus stars alongside Gillian Anderson’s Emily Maitlis, who hosted the now-famous interview.
Speaking about his thoughts after landing the role, Rufus said: “I felt like I could get behind it and then when I got the role I thought, ‘God, what have I done?’ I am not a natural imitator.
Rufus Sewell admitted that he immediately regretted accepting the role of Prince Andrew in Scoop because it was outside his comfort zone.
The actor, 56, said he thought he could ‘get behind’ the role but panicked when it was offered to him and confessed he thought ‘what have I done?’ (Rufus depicted as Prince Andrew)
“I watched the interview obsessively. I saw it at that moment like everyone else, I was a little paralyzed for various reasons. Like most people, I had my own judgments.
‘But doing it is a different thing and trying to put yourself in someone’s position like that and work out what their reasoning and justification might be in your own head. Because that’s what people do.
And I spent hours and hours every day trying to figure out what I was thinking. You could only guess. When there was a hesitation or a stutter, or a particular movement of the head, what was behind it?
“So Gillian and I could play out our side of the story.”
‘I thought about what people might say, they might accuse me of trying to make him look bad, of trying to make him look good. “That’s the danger of playing a real person.”
Rufus, who got engaged to his girlfriend Vivian Benitez in December, underwent a total makeover to become Prince Andrew and described the result as “the perfect mix of him and me”.
Rufus said: “At one point I had eyelids and I look so much like him it was strange, but then I couldn’t move my eyes properly and when you watch the interview, a lot of that is in the eyes.”
‘One of the reasons I was so hesitant to accept it was because I didn’t want to be seen getting on the train.
Rufus, who got engaged to his girlfriend Vivian Benitez in December, underwent a total makeover to become Prince Andrew and described the result as “the perfect mix of him and me”.
Rufus said: “At one point I had eyelids and I look so much like him it was strange, but then I couldn’t move my eyes properly and when you watch the interview, a lot of that is in the eyes.”
The full trailer for the Netflix drama was released on March 18 and shows Rufus playing the embarrassed Duke of York when he meets the BBC journalist.
“I just wanted to make a truthful representation of him and that includes the good and the bad. It’s to show the light and the dark and we all have both. He’s a human being like everyone else.
The full trailer for the Netflix drama was released on March 18 and shows Rufus playing the embarrassed Duke of York when he meets the BBC journalist.
A standout moment from the trailer came from Billie Piper, who plays Sam McAlister, the Newsnight producer who landed the 2019 interview.
Trying to woo the prince to talk to the BBC about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Sam investigates: ‘With all due respect, you already know how people see you.
As the late queen’s third son looks on blankly, he muses, “Spell it,” prompting Sam to blurt out, “Randy Andy…”
After a terribly awkward silence, the prince smiles: “With respect?”
The trailer begins with Sam announcing, “One hour of television can change everything,” before cutting to a montage of Emily presenting the news and headlines about Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein.
A standout moment in the trailer came from Billie Piper, who plays Sam McAlister, the Newsnight producer who landed the famous 2019 interview when she tells the Prince he is known as ‘Randy Andy’.
With the BBC under pressure to land an interview with the royals, Sam is seen working his charm on Prince Andrew’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, played by Keeley Hawes.
While Amanda warns there is a “red line” when it comes to securing the interview, the scene cuts to Emily huddled in the back of a car on her way to meet the royals.
The trailer ends with the world’s media clinging to the car accident interview and the prince visibly under pressure as the news cycle spirals out of his control.
With the BBC under pressure to land an interview with the royals, Sam is seen working his charm on Prince Andrew’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, played by Keeley Hawes.
While Amanda warns there’s a “red line” when it comes to securing the interview, the scene cuts to Emily huddled in the back of a car on her way to meet the royals as she quips: “I’ve never been smuggled into a palace before.’
Then the BBC team has their first meeting with the prince and that awkward exchange between Sam and “randy Andy” before she increases the pressure by reasoning, “You can’t stay silent.”
Sam and Emily are then under pressure to make sure everything goes to plan, with Newsnight editor Esme Wren (played by Romola Garai) warning: “Make no mistake, if we don’t get the tone right, the story will win.” “. It won’t be him. It will be us.’
It then cuts to Emily sitting with the prince in a montage she calls “like a Western” as the royal walks away admitting, “I thought it all went very well.”
The trailer ends with the world’s media clinging to the car accident interview and the prince visibly under pressure as the news cycle spirals out of his control.