An ‘unnecessary’ sequence in the Prince Andrew drama Scoop, featuring Rufus Sewell as the Duke of York, has left Netflix watchers stunned.
The no-holds-barred drama, which also stars Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis and Billie Piper as former Newsnight booker Sam McAlister, takes viewers behind the scenes of the car crash interview that ended her public responsibilities.
While Scoop does toy with the facts by generating dramatic scenes, one scene left viewers terrified.
As the interview airs on BBC, Prince Andrew takes a bath as millions watch him deny ever having a sexual contact with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was 17.
After the Newsnight show, he gets out of the tub as his phone starts bleeping with alert messages, leaving viewers staring at his bare torso.
‘I was watching Scoop on Netflix Eating my dinner And we saw Prince Andrew naked,’ stunned viewer Tiphanie wrote on X. ‘I was like nope, I didn’t want to see butt please that never was on my bucket list.’
X user Sofa reacts agreed: ‘Just watched #Scoop was spellbound – glued to my seat. But Christ – did we really need to see him naked?!?’
Julien Duncan added of the scene in question: ‘That wasn’t at all necessary.’
Sewell, 56, had to wear a sizeable prosthetic bottom for the scene.
‘It’s not that I’m ashamed of my own [bottom],’ he stressed to Radio Times. ‘I get it out whenever I get the chance – but this bum was specially shipped in.’
The actor’s transformation into Andrew is remarkable with barely a trace of Sewel recognisable.
‘At one point there were eyelids on me and I look so much like him it was uncanny but then I couldn’t move my eyes properly and when you watch the interview so much of it is in the eyes,’ he said on This Morning ahead of the film’s release.
Unsurprisingly, the Royal Family has yet to comment on Scoop, but Maitlis explained last week why she avoided the film.
‘I’ve left them very much to do their own thing because I think the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges offering my [views],’ she told Deadline.
Scoop is available to stream on Netflix now.
