Prince Andrew actor Rufus Sewell has opened up about his initial thoughts on playing the disgraced Duke of York in the upcoming Netflix drama Scoop.

The streaming platform is recreating the infamous Newsnight interview in November 2019, where Andrew was grilled by journalist Emily Maitlis over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms Maitlis will be played by Gillian Anderson, with Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes, Romola Garai and Charity Wakefield also starring in the film.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Sewell admitted that after agreeing to play the part his first thought was “What have I just done?”

He explained: “When I read the script, I immediately had an instinct that I could play it for various reasons. In one way, I was flattered to be offered the part because it was flattering as an actor, that they considered that I could do it.”

He continued: “I ummed and ahhed about it [before I said yes] because it’s kind of scary to play somebody that everyone knows [and] you know, the royal thing.

“And then I did, and afterwards I thought, ‘What have I just done?’ It’s going to take a lot of work because you know, I’m not a natural mimic and I don’t really look like him etcetera.”

When asked about the preparations he made for the role, the Victoria actor added: “One thing I did do, was really obsessively watch that interview.

“I mean I watched at the time like everyone else, and was kind of transfixed you know for various reasons and like most people I had my own judgements.

“But then doing it is a different thing and trying to put yourself in the position of someone like that, and work out [what] their reasoning and justification in their own head might be, because that’s what people do.

“I felt more comfortable working on it than thinking about it because when I thought about it, it was like ‘If you get it wrong, what are people going to say? Are you going to be accused of trying to make someone look good, trying to make them look bad?'”