In a role that will surely be no sweat for the actor having already portrayed numerous real-life figures from Tony Blair to David Frost and Brian Clough, Michael Sheen is set to play Prince Andrew in a limited series from Amazon which is based upon the disgraced royal’s Newsnight interview with journalist Emily Maitlis, played by Ruth Wilson.
As per Variety, A Very Royal Scandal is being produced by Blueprint Pictures (A Very English Scandal, A Very British Scandal) and “will follow Emily Maitlis’ professional and personal journey as a Newsnight journalist, leading up to her acclaimed interview with Prince Andrew.”
In addition to Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson, the three-part series also features Joanna Scanlan (After Love) as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings (Your Christmas or Mine?) as Sir Edward Young, and Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) as Stewart Maclean. Julian Jarrold (A Royal Night Out) is directing from a script by Jeremy Brock (The Last King of Scotland).
A Very Royal Scandal isn’t the only Prince Andrew Newsnight interview project in the works, as Netflix also has its own competing project, the feature film Scoop, which has cast Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson in the roles of Andrew and Maitland.
