Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper wow in trailer for Netflix’s Prince Andrew film Scoop
Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis in the first trailer for Prince Andrew film, Scoop. (Netflix)
The first trailer for Netflix’s forthcoming film about Prince Andrew, Scoop, has arrived – and it stars none other than sapphic Sex Education favourite Gillian Anderson and Doctor Who legend Billie Piper.
Based on the memoir of the same name from TV producer Sam McAlister, who secured the infamous Newsnight interview with the Duke of York, the film narrates the story of how McAlister negotiated with Buckingham Palace, all the way to the interrogation itself.
The interview, which took place in November 2019, was supposed to be an opportunity for Prince Andrew to end speculation about his interactions with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Instead, it became a PR disaster.
Gillian Anderson (Sex Education, The X Files), responsible for a generation’s lesbian awakening, stars as journalist Emily Maitlis, while Billie Piper (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) portrays McAlister.
Rufus Sewell (The Holiday, Dark City) plays Prince Andrew, Romola Garai (Atonement, One Life) is Newsnight editor Esme Wren, and Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty) is Prince Andrew’s former private secretary Amanda Thirsk.
In the first trailer, we see the preparation behind the infamous interview culminating in Maitlis welcoming Prince Andrew with a brief: “Your Royal Highness.”
With brown contact lenses and a short, blonde bob, Anderson is her absolute spitting image – as is Sewell, who has similarly transformed into his Pizza Express-loving character with prosthetics.
As per the film’s logline, it explores the behind-the-scenes of the interview, encompassing everything from identifying the first leads to communicating with the Royal Family’s staff.
“The inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade that led to the catastrophic fall from grace of The Queen’s ‘favourite son’,” reads the official synopsis.
“From navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, the high stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal – to the jaw dropping interview itself.
“Scoop is the insider account of the inner workings of the Palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British Establishment, spotlighting the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings – and into the inner sanctum and calculations of a man with everything to lose.”
Scoop premieres on Netflix on 5 April.
