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Michael Sheen After playing, I still think there is “a mystery at the heart of the drama”. Prince Andreas in Prime Videos A very royal scandalwhich dramatizes the disgraced royal’s 2019 BBC run News night interview about his connections with Jeffrey Epstein.
“We don’t know what he did or didn’t do after a certain point,” Sheen, 55, said We weekly exclusive ahead of the three-part series premiering on Thursday, September 19. “We know to some extent that he was in this place at that time. …And even some of that is disputed. But beyond that it is unknowable.”
Sheen plays Andrew in the miniseries next door Ruth Wilsonwho takes on the role of British journalist Emily Maitlis. Viewers will see the lead-up and subsequent fallout after Andrew spoke to Maitlis on an infamous BBC News night job interview November 2019.
During the interview, Andrew denied knowing Virginia Giuffre – a woman accused him of sexual assault – over his connection to convicted sex offender Epstein. Giuffre eventually sued Andrew for the alleged assault and they settled out of court.
‘There has been no court case. There has been no final judgment on that, it was settled out of court,” Sheen explained Us. “That was the challenge for me. How do you play a character where you don’t know the most important fact.”
Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew.
Christopher Raphael/Blueprint/Sony Pictures TelevisionThe actor said he had to “make choices” about where to take the fictional version of Andrew for the miniseries.
“I have to be specific about what I do and how I play this person. But that was a big challenge,” Sheen continued. “When you play a member of the royal family, it’s generally a bit like a hall of mirrors. There is so much that is not known about them and so much that is based on gossip, rumors and things like that. That was a challenge. There was a lot of guesswork involved.”
Members of the royal family may dedicate their lives to public service, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make money. The monarch’s main source of income comes from a taxpayer-funded settlement known as the Sovereign Grant, which is paid out annually. The Sovereign Grant was worth £86.3 million, or close to the equivalent […]
Both Sheen and Wilson told it Us they watched Andrew’s BBC interview “hundreds and hundreds of times” after taking on their respective roles.
“I’ve played real characters before – not necessarily when it comes to an interview – but I will record interviews with them. That’s good research,” Sheen said Us. “I record the audio of something so I don’t get distracted by the video element of it. You both watch the interview and listen to it.”
All three episodes of A very royal scandal premiere on Thursday, September 19.