It was the biggest interview of 2019, arguably of the decade. Newsnight anchor Emily Maitlis drilled Prince Andrew on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew gave increasingly absurd responses. There was mention of a Pizza Hut in Woking, of the royal’s inability to sweat, and of his decision to go to Epstein’s mansion because he didn’t want to end the friendship the “chicken” way.
For Prince Andrew it all ended in tears, and he stepped back from performing public duties. Maitlis, on the other hand, won Interview of the Year and Scoop of the Year at the RTS Television Journalism Awards.
Now the tale of the tense lead up to the bombshell interview, which very nearly didn’t happen, is becoming a new film, Scoop, which premieres on Netflix next Friday. Here’s a breakdown of who is playing who in the drama.
Gillian Anderson plays Emily Maitlis
Gillian Anderson, star of The X-Files, The Fall, The Crown, Sex Education, The Great and so many more, will play British journalist Emily Maitlis.
Maitlis started working at the BBC in 2001, and quickly rose up the ranks. Over the years she worked as a news presenter on nearly every BBC News programme, eventually becoming lead anchor of Newsnight in 2018. The interview with Prince Andrew was undoubtedly a highlight of her stellar career.
“Whenever the BBC and the royals meet, someone always gets fired,” Maitlis said in the documentary Secrets of Prince Andrew. “I didn't think it would be him.”
“He lost a lot from doing that interview,” she said. “My intention was not to ruin his life. That was not on my radar.”
Rufus Sewell plays Prince Andrew
Rufus Sewell is utterly unrecognisable as Prince Andrew in the film. The 56-year-old actor, who is still arguably best-known for playing the roguish editor in The Holiday, has featured in dozens of films and TV shows over the years, including Paris je t’aime, The Illusionist, The Tourist, The Father, Eleventh Hour and The Diplomat.
He plays the third child of Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of York. Andrew’s absurd responses during the interview included admitting he was “too honourable”, and arguing that sex for a man is a “positive action”. Apparently Andrew initially felt the interview had gone quite well.
Billy Piper plays Sam McAlister
Billy Piper plays booker extraordinaire Sam McAlister, who had been securing exclusives for Newsnight a decade before the shocking sit down. The trained barrister and single mum secured stars such as Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Höss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange. But it was after the Prince Andrew scoop, which was described by one viewer as “a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion”, that she gave up her staff job and wrote a book. Scoop is based on her account of the drama.
“The interview is so significant, but it’s five per cent of the story,” McAlister told Netflix’s Tudum site. “What we do is we take you on the journey to how this all began.”
Keeley Hawes plays Amanda Thirsk
Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk is played by Keeley Hawes, the 48-year old British actor known for her roles in The Vicar of Dibley, Ashes to Ashes, Line of Duty, Bodyguard, The Durrells and It’s a Sin.
Just two months after the BBC interview aired, Thirsk stepped down from her role after working for the palace for around 15 years. According to Sky News she allegedly reached a legal settlement “worth tens of thousands of pounds”.
Romola Garai as Esmé Wren
Esmé Wren was BBC Newsnight’s editor and oversaw the Prince Andrew interview win. Her tenure saw an all-female team of Maitlis, Kirsty Wark and Emma Barnett present the show, but in 2021, after just three years in the role, she quit to become head of Channel 4 News.
It was one of Wren’s Tweets that catapulted Sam McAlister into the limelight. Speaking to a magazine McAlister said: “My part in this royal tale had been largely invisible – until my editor Esmé Wren sent a tweet: ‘Full credit to our indefatigable interview producer Sam McAlister for securing this world exclusive.’ A whirl of articles followed.”
Connor Swindells as Jae Donnelly
Connor Swindells plays photographer Jae Donnelly, whose photos of Prince Andrew walking in the park with financier Jeffrey Epstein became a key point of discussion in the interview.
Actor and model Swindells is best known for playing Adam in Netflix’s Sex Education and David in the BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes, but he’s also had roles in The Vanishing (2018), Emma (2020), Barbarians (2021), and Barbie (2023).
Charity Wakefield as Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice, Prince Andrew’s eldest daughter, needs little introduction. The 35-year-old royal, who is ninth in line for the throne, has lived her adult life in the public eye. It’s not widely known, however, that Princess Beatrice was present during a critical meeting between the Newsnight team and the palace.
“Sarah [Ferguson] was abroad so Beatrice sat in on the discussions. Initially, Beatrice was sceptical that a television interview, which would inevitably delve into her father's private life, was such a good idea,” an ‘insider’ alleged, speaking to The Mail on Sunday.
“She was asking lots of pertinent questions and had her doubts. But by the end of the meeting she was convinced by the Newsnight team and Amanda Thirsk that they had no choice – that it was the only way to put all the rumours behind them.”
In Scoop she’s played by British actor Charity Wakefield who has starred in Sense & Sensibility (2008), Wolf Hall (2015), Bounty Hunters (2017) and The Great (2020-2023).
Lia Williams plays Fran Unsworth
Three-time Olivier award nominated stage and screen actor Lia Williams is best known today for playing Wallis Simpson in The Crown, but she’s had roles in a wide range of films, plays and TV shows including His Dark Materials (2019; 2022), Benediction (2021) and Mr Bates vs The Post Office (2024). In Scoop she is Fran Unsworth, the legendary BBC director who left the institution in 2022.
