Actor inspired by Ricky Gervais's creation for his role in Scoop

Rufus Sewell says he modelled his version of Prince Andrew on David Brent.

The actor plays the Duke Of York in the upcoming Netflix drama Scoop, about his car-crash Newsnight interview.

And the 56-year-old said he turned to Ricky Gervais's gloriously unselfaware alter-ego to help ‘find a line where the humour of it lay’.

 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.’

He made the same point to Rolling Stone magazine, saying: ‘When I watched the interview, when I studied it, he reminded me quite a lot of David Brent, in that particular circumstance, minus the charm or the sweetness.’

Sewell added that he decided to play the Prince, having accepted he was never going to make the honours list. 

‘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, "Fuck it, I'm not gonna get a knighthood anyway".’

The Netflix movie – which will stream from Friday – is told from the point of view of former Newsnight booker Sam McAlister, who managed to secure the interview, and who is played by Billie Piper. And  Gillian Anderson plays interviewer Emily Maitlis

Published: 30 Mar 2024