Who plays Prince Andrew, Emily Maitlis in 'Scoop'? See cast and their real-life counterparts

Prince Andrew's explosive interview with BBC journalist Emily Maitlis on his connections with the late disgraced financer and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has gotten a film version on Netflix.

"Scoop," inspired by real events, takes viewers behind the scenes to the producers and journalists with BBC Newsnight who negotiated with Buckingham Palace to secure the November 2019 interview with the prince.

According to production notes from Netflix, "Scoop" takes viewers inside the story, "with the women who would stop at nothing to get it."

"Scoop" is directed by Philip Martin and stars Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell.

“It’s about who those women are,” Piper said in a release from Netflix, “how their interview made its way to screen, how it was signed off, all the process of getting it up and running and this idea of bouncing between two huge British institutions, the BBC and the Palace. But mostly, it’s about people, I think. It’s about the unsung journalists behind the scoop itself.”

Here's a look at the cast and the real-life people they play in the movie.

BBC Interview:Prince Andrew says he has 'no recollection' of photo with Jeffrey Epstein accuser

Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis

Emily Maitlis, 53, is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor of the channel's current affairs program "Newsnight," when she conducted the interview with Prince Andrew. Maitlis resigned from BBC in 2021 and currently presents the daily podcast "The News Agents" on Leading Britain's Conversation (LBC) Radio.

“It was the first time that I’ve played a real-life character who is still alive,” Anderson told Netflix about playing Maitlis. “And I have to say, its more daunting playing an Emily Maitlis than a Margaret Thatcher [who Anderson played in 'The Crown'] even."

Billie Piper as Sam McAlister

Sam McAlister is the former interviews producer of "BBC Newsnight" and played a key role in securing the interview with Prince Andrew. The film is based on her memoir "Scoops: The BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews from Prince Andrew to Steven Seagal" and McAlister also serves as an executive producer.

In an essay for Tatler, McAlister said that "Newsnight" was initially offered the opportunity to interview the Prince about his charity works in 2018. While she turned that down, she kept in touch with the Palace, slowly persuading them to have Andrew sit down for a tell-all interview and answer questions that the public wanted answers to. Her efforts took more than a year, with the Palace finally agreeing in late 2019.

Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew

Rufus Sewell plays Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He is the younger brother of King Charles III.

Andrew, 64, was sued by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged that Andrew raped and sexually assaulted her in New York in 2001 when she was 17. She claimed that Andrew's friend Jeffery Epstein trafficked her to him and that the prince knew it. The parties later reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed sum and a "substantial donation" to Giuffre's charity "in support of victim's rights."

Keeley Hawes as Amanda Thirsk

Amanda Thirsk, played by Keeley Hawes, was Prince Andrew’s private secretary from 2004 until the spring of 2020. According to Netflix's press notes, she was McAlister and Maitlis’s contact at the Palace and played a "pivotal" role in organizing the interview.

"Amanda Thirsk thinks that this could be a really good idea in terms of PR for Prince Andrew," Hawes said to Netflix. "I think her intentions were very good and very honest − she was a great friend of his and she obviously thought he was a great person and wanted everybody to see Prince Andrew the way that she saw him."

Romola Garai as Esme Wren

Romola Garai plays Esme Wren, who was the editor of "Newsnight," at the time of the interview. Wren ran the show for almost three years, according to The Guardian, before moving to Channel 4 News in November 2021.

Watch the 'Scoop' trailer

Netflix released a trailer for "Scoop" on March 18.

Contributing: Maria Puente, USA TODAY

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.