Michael Sheen has opened up on how difficult he found it to prepare for taking on the role of Prince Andrew, in the upcoming Amazon Prime series, A Very Royal Scandal.
The series – which drops on Thursday – has promised a fresh insight into Prince Andrew’s notorious Newsnight interview and is said to offer a different perspective compared to Netflix’s Scoop – which aired in April.
Ruth Wilson from The Affair will take on the role of former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, with Michael Sheen, 55, known for his roles in The Queen and Midnight in Paris, transforming into Prince Andrew.
The star-studded cast of the show includes Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings, as Sir Edward Young, Eanna Hardwicke as Stewart Maclean and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson.
The character of Sam McAlister, the producer who landed the Newsnight interview and was pivotal to Netflix’s Scoop, takes a huge back foot compared to the Netflix film.
Sheen and Wilson have recently opened up about their time working on the series, with the former admitting he found it “difficult” to get into the shoes of Prince Andrew.
Michael Sheen portrays Prince Andrew in the upcoming Amazon Prime series
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When asked if he had any help delving into his character, Sheen admitted to Radio Times: “God, no. I had no help at all. Usually, you’re trying to get certain props or clothing you know the character would wear, but it was quite difficult to get people to give you things because of the association.”
Touching on whether the pair had seen the Netflix version, Wilson revealed: “I didn’t watch it. Gillian’s brilliant, so I didn’t want to be intimidated by what she was doing.”
Sheen added: “I watched it immediately and I was completely intimidated by Rufus! But I was also very relieved because it was very different to what we were doing.
“Their main character is Sam McAlister. Andrew and Emily are the main characters in our story and it explores the aftermath more. How did this interview affect the lives of these people and what did it lead to?”
Ruth Wilson portrays Emily Maitlis in the upcoming Amazon Prime series
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A Very Royal Scandal is reportedly set to aim to “demonstrate the power of journalism through a pivotal moment in British history”, getting into the nitty-gritty of Maitlis’ headline-grabbing Newsnight interview with the disgraced Royal Prince Andrew about his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
A Very Royal Scandal is the latest instalment in Amazon’s Scandal series, coming after hits such as A Very British Scandal and A Very English Scandal – however, the BBC is not involved in the Prince Andrew project unlike the other two.
Executive producer Karen Thrussell recently discussed the notion of dramatising real-life events and said during a press screening of the first episode: “We approached it with a lot of legal advice. Every single script got sent.
“I mean, Jeremy [Brock, the writer] was pulling his hair out sometimes, because there’d be things that we thought were just really funny and we would not be allowed to have them. You have to be careful because obviously, we don’t want to upset people unnecessarily either.”
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Michael Sheen admitted he found it difficult to get into the mindset of Prince Andrew
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It has been reported that there were debates within the former Newsnight team regarding how the interview came about, with Maitlis explaining on her own podcast, The News Agents: “The hardest thing for me was getting other people right.
“The best thing actually for me in the drama was that the writer straight away went to lots of other members of the team and said: ‘Tell me your recollections.’ That was so helpful for me, because that meant it wasn’t just my interpretation.”