The 'Masters of Sex' actor has landed a lead role in a television adaptation of the infamous interview between the disgraced Duke of York and BBC journalist.
- Nov 22, 2023
AceShowbiz - Michael Sheen is set to play Prince Andrew. The actor, 54, who has found fame portraying figures from Tony Blair to David Frost and football manager Brian Clough, will appear alongside "The Affair" actress Ruth Wilson, 41, in a BBC and Amazon recreation of the shamed royal's car-crash interview on "Newsnight" in 2019.
On the show titled "A Very Royal Scandal", Ruth will play interviewer Emily Maitlis, 53, with Variety reporting production is already underway.
The official description of the show says it will follow Emily Maitlis' "professional and personal journey as a 'Newsnight' journalist, leading up to her acclaimed interview with Prince Andrew."
The notorious grilling saw the prince confronted with allegations over his relationship with billionaire paedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in his New York jail cell in 2019 aged 66 while awaiting trial on charges he ran a global sexual abuse network.
Andrew stepped back from royal duties as a result of the scandal, and paid an undisclosed, out-of-court financial settlement to his alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, who insists she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17.
When asked during his "Newsnight" interview why stayed in Epstein's mansion in New York after he was convicted of a separate sex offence, Andrew, 63, called it a "convenient place to stay." He added, "I admit fully my judgment was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but that's just the way it is."
Michael Sheen is currently starring in Amazon's "Good Omens" fantasy series alongside former "Doctor Who" actor David Tennant, 52. Ruth was last seen in the acclaimed TV drama "The Woman in the Wall".
"A Very Royal Scandal" will also star Joanna Scanlan, 62, as Andrew's former aide Amanda Thirsk.
