Scoop's Prince Andrew star reveals how he approached taking on controversial role

Rufus opened up about filming certain scenes of the infamous interview
Rufus Sewell has reflected on stepping into the shoes of Prince Andrew.
The British actor is portraying the Duke of York in the Netflix drama which is based on his November 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. During the interview, filmed at Buckingham Palace, Andrew, 64, reflected on his friendship with convicted sex offender and paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, who died in August of the same year.
Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles, was also questioned on claims he had sex with Virginia Guiffre when she was 17. He vehemently denies these allegations and claims to have never met her. In legal documents filed in the US, Virginia claims she was paid to have sex with Andrew. “Yes, I did receive $15,000. I don’t know what equivalent that is to pounds. I received it in American dollars,” she said in a 2015 legal deposition.
The Duke paid an unknown sum to Virginia in an out-of-court settlement, on no admission of liability. Despite the allegations surrounding Andrew, actor Rufus has explained how he approached filming the famous scenes with Gillian Anderson who is playing Maitlis.
Rufus Sewell is playing Prince Andrew in the Netflix drama, Scoop
Speaking to the PA News Agency, he said: “It’s this question of sympathy versus empathy. Empathy is very interesting. Like the way a camera works is a grayscale, it looks at either a bright scene or a black scene, and it sees grey. That’s a good way of getting all the detail and you try to do that – to be able to really try to see something from someone’s perspective, what they would be thinking, what the truth they’re telling themselves about that moment, their reasons for being the way they are, so that you can represent them fully.”
The 56-year-old went on to say: “Not make them look good, not make them look bad, but just try to be truthful. And it’s very tempting sometimes to slant it one way or another. Because you can be criticised for going too far in either direction, especially playing someone like this.”
But Sewell, who stated that he’s not a natural mimic admits watching the original interview several times in order to perfect Andrew’s laddish mannerisms. “I watched the interview obsessively,” he said, before adding: “I would just basically try at first to sound like him, to mimic, but more than anything, just to try to understand not just what he was thinking when he was speaking, but all of the hesitations, all of the body language, to find something that might be the root of that.”
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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