Commenters asked for more “normal” photos of Rufus Sewell, so here you go. These are photos of Sewell from the March 27th premiere of Scoop in London. Scoop is the Netflix movie about everything around Prince Andrew’s infamous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, and Sewell plays Andrew. They really uglied him up for the role, which begs the question – why hire such an attractive actor to play Andrew in the first place? Well, Sewell is sort of revealing why he scored the role – he took it seriously, he prepared for it thoroughly and he really spent a lot of time studying the interview and Andrew’s sleaziness and mannerisms. Sewell recently spoke to the Radio Times (via the Telegraph) about his mindset and preparations for playing Andrew.
Sometimes likeable people are terrible: “The idea that people who are likeable sometimes do terrible things is a very important one. It’s comforting to assign a blanket of evil towards anyone who does anything bad – not to say that he did or didn’t etc. But it’s important to remember that sometimes the nicest people are not good.” The actor insisted that the film “doesn’t make any case for guilt or innocence, one way or another”.
Andrew was always the blokey brother: “Andrew actually has this blokey quality alongside the Windsor clenched-jaw thing. If you listen to him, as opposed to King Charles, he has a lad’s lad quality. He’s Randy Andy who chats up the working girls when he visits the factory.”
He tried to see things through Andrew’s perspective: “His wishes are caught up with all kinds of muddled ideas. One is that he believes he’s a victim of being too honourable. But he’s afraid of what the repercussions will be for other people. And he also feels that he has been set up. Watching him, it’s clear that he has very mixed-up feelings of culpability and innocence and victimhood – and that is fascinating to play.”
Some people still like Andrew: Sewell also said that while researching the role, most people he met who had worked with the Duke genuinely liked him, adding: “And there are people who still like him, you know?”
Sewell isn’t wrong that “some people still like Andrew,” and what that possibly says about Andrew’s charisma on a personal level. I mean, he was his mother’s favorite and before the Epstein catastrophe, Andrew really was one of the most popular people in the family. I think Sewell probably hits on something that Andrew had more of a “common touch” and he was more outgoing than his siblings. I also understand why Sewell is trying to explain his process and how he didn’t want to play Andrew as flatly evil or just a bad actor/liar. That being said, I feel perfectly comfortable saying that despite some positive qualities many years ago, Andrew is ghastly – an abuser, a trafficker, a narcissistic POS. And that makes it difficult to see his humanity.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.
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- Rufus Sewell at the Scoop World Premiere at Curzon Mayfair in West End, London, United Kingdom on 27 March 2024.,Image: 860112412, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Rufus Sewell at the Scoop World Premiere at Curzon Mayfair in West End, London, United Kingdom on 27 March 2024.,Image: 860112487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Rufus Sewell attends The World Premiere of Netflix ‘Scoop’ at Curzon Mayfair, London, England, UK on Wednesday 27 March, 2024.,Image: 860145407, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/Retna/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Sam McAlister, Romola Garai, Rufus Sewell, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson and Philip Martin at the Scoop World Premiere at Curzon Mayfair in West End, London, United Kingdom on 27 March 2024.,Image: 860157863, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Rufus Sewell attends ‘ Scoop ‘ – World Premiere, at the Curzon Mayfair in London, England. UK. Wednesday 27th March 2024 -,Image: 860352773, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: Scoop – World Premiere, Credit line: JW / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
That crinkle at the corner of his eye with an almost smile just gets me. Swoon! Looking forward to hearing about the press coverage of this next week.
I’ve been a big fan of Rufus Sewell for a long time. His eyes are pretty incredible, I’m looking forward to watching his interpretation of Andrew.
I watched Scoop and although not familiar with Sewell who played Andrew I thought he did a bang up job. He captured the very essence of the man. I wished they had done a series showing him avoiding getting the summons and a few of the royals reactions. I’m not a royalist and the royals really do not impact my life in any way, the difference between him and his siblings is shocking. Charles should limit Andrew’s public appearances and they should all distance themselves from this creepy man.
He also recently got engaged to a 26 year old woman. (Side-eye) The thirty year age difference makes me cringe, however consenting adults can do whatever they want.
That’s just ew. What a disappointment. And I say this as someone who married a man 18 years older than me when I was 22. Nope. Nope. Nope.
So the people who have worked with him? Would this be the same type of people working for the royals who resented working with Meghan? Just because some people like him doesn’t say much. It depends on who the ones are who liked him.
I thought the pedo was very arrogant and hard to deal with. So I would never put him as a nice person that did horrible things. He is a horrible person that does horrible things.
I’ve heard that he’s anything BUT likeable. Difficult, arrogant, stunned, entitled, childish … that’s all I’VE heard about him. The BS from the BM is unreal this morning. Also, Kate’s shy? My arse she’s shy, oh please.
20 yrs ago I had a colleague who went to a small cocktail event in Cambridge and he was there. She said he was wholly obnoxious and entitled and pretty lewd.
That’s what I heard about him as well. It occurred to me that Rufus Sewell may end up with a knighthood yet.
Rufus clearly didn’t talk to the woman who got screamed at because Andy’s teddy bears were out of order on his bed & his curtains weren’t quite closed the way he liked them.
I can see this, especially when he was younger and didn’t seem as swarmy – in older pictures and clips he seems more laid back and approachable than Charles. but being more personable than Charles doesn’t make him a good person obviously.
But I would then also say that his personality probably added to his sense of entitlement and arrogance because he knew he was more popular than his older brother, heir to the throne – and I’m sure that fed his ego. Factor in being his mother’s favorite, and Andrew probably has long considered himself immune from any consequences for his actions.
Anyway I think its a good take from Sewell – people who do bad, evil, criminal things don’t always present the way they do in the movies, you know? They don’t walk into a room to the sound of ominous music and always sit in the shadows and stroke a little cat or whatever. A person can be charismatic and charming and can also do some really awful things. Often being charismatic lets you get away with those awful things to a large extent.
Likable?! By all accounts, Prince A is deeply unlikable, bratty and entitled and has never been anything but. Why make excuses for this man…?
Unfortunately Abusers can be reallly charming…
I can believe he was charismatic to some people. And yet he was so deeply uncharismatic in that interview. His whole vibe was repellant, entitled and arrogant.
I watched the whole interview last night in preparation for seeing this movie. I had to stop every 10 minutes or so, because it was so cringy I had second hand embarrasement the whole time. He looked like an entitled unintelligent ass. Not to mention his excuse of learning about finance and business from Epstien after he “was isolated in the navy” so he can fulfill the role of trade ambassador. Yeah, why not appoint a person with zero knowledge and experience to represent UK interests. He could just have some sleepovers and dinner parties with influencial Americans and catch up.
Emily was amazing in throwing the ice bucket at him when he was getting carried away with describing his own honorable amazingness. She didn’t even point out his obvious contradicting bold faced lies, just let him get caught up in them and hang himself.
Some of the friendliest and most well liked men and women I know are the meanest people behind everyone’s back. Very Regina George “I love your sweater” “that is the fugliest sweater I’ve ever seen.” Obviously that is very different than horrific criminal activity! But he’s not wrong. Someone can be friendly, personable, likable, charming, and an absolutely horrible and vile person all at the same time.
I remember the actress who played Daenerys Targaryen saying “you always have to be on your characters side “to be an effective actor. That’s the vibe I’m getting here in a way. Not necessarily that he thinks Andrew is a great person, but in order to portray someone fully and effectively you can’t flatten them.
An actor has to identify with their subject up to a certain point. Sewell’s not going method acting, and his comments aren’t actually excusing Andrew, but reflecting on a meta level about how Andrew’s image circulates. So this makes sense to me.
In all my years of observing the British royal freak show, I have never ever heard of the alleged sex offender being referred to as likeable. Like legit, never. It has always been stories of things like him walking into a room, being annoyed no one stood up to acknowledge him “properly”, him leaving the room and coming back in saying “let’s try that again shall we?”
With a lot of these British actors when it comes to the BRF I sometimes view their comments in the context of whether or not they seem the type to want a knighthood/ damehood down the line.
Yeah back in the 80’s when I lived in London he was sometimes seen as a bit of a scamp – Randy Andy and all that. But definitely not a likeable/relatable guy like Harry. I don’t think anyone had that role back then (other than Diana and for a brief time, Fergie).
@Sid: I mentioned the knighthood possibility before reading your comment, but I agree wholeheartedly with that take. Anyway, wasn’t Andrew the one who pushed the railway worker out of the way, saying something like, “Don’t touch the queen” or something? Andrew was always seemed to have the “common touch”.
I thought that was Edward?
Yeah, that was Edward. And wow, was that rude. The Queen had no problem with the guy.
I remember that. It was at a house party. Andy walked in for breakfast where other guests were already eating & he acted the complete entitled arse.
I don’t think staff is included among the common folks who like him. Everything I’ve ever heard about him describes him as abusive to staff. That he can summon a certain amount of charm for people he wants to impress? That I can believe.
This is the same Andrew who shoved an employee into a wall? The same one who berated a maid about how she arranged his teddy bear collection? I guess its hard for him to say that Andrew is a loathsome prick when he’s still walking around, unlike a historical or fictional character. But still, Andrew is Andrew, lets not get it twisted. There’s nothing charming about a person who punches down. He doesn’t need to try and “sell” Andrew to the world, nobody wants to buy that.
Narcissists are charming and charismatic and likable toward those people they can use, but that all changes if they’re thwarted, or disappointed, or dealing with a person of “lesser status,” or faced with someone who doesn’t buy into their bullsh&t.
Bingo.
It’s hard to believe now, but at one time Andrew was considered a bit of a heart throb – the papers were full of him. Especially in the Falklands days. Even then, the stories were that he was very grand, didn’t really mix with the non-officer class, was boorish, expected people to bow and scrape, etc. But I guess there must have been some superficial charm there, at some level.
Looking forward to this film though. Hoping that my crush on Rufus Sewell survives it.
He was the best-looking sibling of the 4. Chuck & Anne lacked chins & Eddie was very nondescript.
Obviously most predators and abusers arent horrible to everyone, its usually the opposite. Its easier to abuse the ones you want when you know that people around you will say “They would never, ” etc.
I always found Andrew to be a cringe-y boor — an entitled dumbass.
And Rufus Sewell’s handsomeness isn’t my thing. It’s the kind of handsomeness that’s cold, almost cruel and villainous. And yeah, I’ve read he’s a decent guy.
I have this irrational dislike of him purely because of his character in The Holiday.
Yes! He makes me slightly angry, too, because of The Holiday. Always features in my yearly Christmas romcomathon.
Yes having seen Sewell’s photo he strikes me as a cold person. Kate and William both strike me as cold people, where as Meghan and Harry are warm. Anne although distant has a warmish likeable side. I’m not British but Camilla looks like fun so does Charles but because of Diana they lose points.
I’m old and I remember the young Andrew, the happy-go-lucky flyboy with a hotty girlfriend, the dashing party-boy and quite handsome. He clearly had a charisma his siblings didn’t have. Fast-forward to today and he hasn’t matured in any way shape or form other than grey hair, bad teeth, balding and an expanding waistline. You can appear one way in your youth but if you don’t grow properly into maturity as befits a royal statesman, and hang onto the blokey, jokey, yobbo, tits-n-bums kind of personality you had in your teens and twenties, you’re not going to be taken seriously. Add to that his mother spoiling and cossetting him and you have a perfect storm of arrested emotional/intellectual development without any kind of discernment or understanding of what’s right or wrong.
Didn’t this arrogant oaf on a trip to US in about 1984 deliberately spray paint photographers and ruin expensive cameras and suits which no doubt cost the UK tax payer a packet to replace?
Andrew cost the UK a lot of money and caused an equal number of diplomatic headaches when he was allowed off shore. Dropping here there and everywhere across the world for social events and a bit of golf, and going way too far beyond his official brief with foreign states, to the extent that British Intelligence feared that his lack of discretion would cause real trouble if he’d been allowed to carry on, Andrew was a money grabbing, intellectually stunted, lying piece of work. They used to nickname him the duke of hazzard.
Overall pieces like this have me thinking that too often we use people’s “humanity” to justify or downplay their behaviors. Human beings who are fun and charismatic are still capable of great harm and that great harm requires great accountability. Locking Andrew up for the rest of his life so that he can’t hurt anyone else and send a message to other “charismatic humans” that this will happen to them too. Locking him up forever would be the most humane thing to do.
In The Man in the High Castle he pulled a Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List and made his Nazi character fascinating and sexy. 😆 This type of character is definitely in his wheel house. Lord Melbourne in Victoria too. People were like ‘forget Albert, go for the much older Prime Minister’.
Even before the Epstein story broke, Andrew was in the serious news for his personal grifting as a paid-by-the-government “British Trade Representative.” And, he was also already on the sleaze-radar for his other personal relationships.
In a strange way, the Epstein story eclipsed the grifting stories and (I think) the palace was secretly glad of that. Like it could make all the RF-grifting stories go away (Charles suitcases full of cash?) just through Andrew’s “charm”