Gillian Anderson said she found it ‘scary’ to play Newsnight interviewer Emily Maitlis

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Gillian Anderson has said it was “scary” to play former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis in a brand new movie about Prince Andrew’s car-crash Newsnight interview.

In a brand new interview, Anderson, 55, said she was so daunted to play Maitlis, 53, that she initially turned down the position within the new Netflix drama referred to as Scoop.

“It was just too scary to play Emily Maitlis, because she’s still living, because she’s so formidable, because people know her so well,” the Sex Education star informed the BBC.

She ultimately realised that it is perhaps a superb problem and that she ought to take the position.

“I thought I probably do have to do it because I’m so scared of it,” she said.

Prince Andrew appeared on the BBC information programme to speak in regards to the scandal surrounding his friendship with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. The interview, performed by Maitlis, was broadly thought to be a PR catastrophe and Andrew was broadly mocked following its transmission.

In it, Prince Andrew denied claims he had intercourse with Virginia Giuffre, who would have been 17 on the time. He said he couldn’t have had intercourse with Giuffre in London on 10 March 2001 as alleged, as a result of he had taken his daughter to a celebration at a Pizza Express chain restaurant in Woking, Surrey.

Giuffre additionally claimed they attended Tramp nightclub collectively and recalled Prince Andrew being “sweaty” as they danced. But he said it couldn’t have been him as he was unable to sweat on the time on account of trauma attributable to serving within the Falklands War.

Netflix’s Scoop relies on the guide Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister.

The movie’s synopsis says it reveals “the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade”.

Scoop additionally stars I Hate Suzie’s Billie Piper as McAlister, Bodyguard actor Keeley Hawes as Prince Andrew’s former non-public secretary, and Atonement actor Romola Garai as Esme Wren, who led Newsnight on the time of the interview.

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Referring to Maitlis, Anderson said she thinks the journalist is “amazing”.

“I’ve since met her and behaved with her as if I knew her. As if we were best friends.”

She said she bumped into Maitlis at a charity event at Bafta headquarters last year.

“The hilarious part of it was that I had come to this charity event not having prepared at all and was really dishevelled.

“And she showed up as Emily Maitlis, who looks like a movie star and was tanned, short white skirt and everything. I look like her great aunt in the pictures.”

Scoop might be launched on Netflix on 5 April.