Rufus Sewell says his performance as Prince Andrew was inspired by David Brent.
Rufus Sewell's Prince Andrew performance inspired by David Brent
The 56-year-old actor plays the royal in 'Scoop', Netflix's retelling of the infamous 'Newsnight' interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew and he revealed he looked to Ricky Gervais' 'The Office' character for inspiration.
He told The Mirror: "To me, it's a horrible thing but watching the interview his performance reminded me of David Brent more than anything else. That's not to be ignored.
"When I read the script, my immediate feeling was, 'Yeah, I think I could do this’. Of course, I thought of the possible repercussions. And then I thought, 'I'm not gonna get a knighthood anyway'."
When asked what he thought Andrew's motivations were for doing the ill-advised interview, Rufus said: "I think he feels a genuine sense of victimhood, and how not fair everything is, which is quite palpable. It's also a very, very limited imagination as to the humanity of other people. I think he has enormous compassion and sympathy... for himself.
"There was no getting away from the fact that what he did, and the answers he gave, were absurd as well as jaw-droppingly outrageous and impossible not to laugh at really."
The movie is based on the book 'Scoop' by former 'Newsnight' booker Sam McAlister, who secured the interview.
Sam - who is played by Billie Piper in the movie - said: "This was a man who was now persona non grata. He was the Forgotten Prince, a problem Prince who had gone from a hero to a zero. Princess Beatrice was going to get married: he wanted to walk her down the aisle. He was about to turn 60: he wanted to enjoy his birthday. He wanted to go back to the wonderful way of life that he had had."
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