Michael Sheen got some insight into what it's like to be a member of the royal family while filming the latest movie, but he says he can't imagine actually living as one.
In a recent interview With the PeopleSheen was speaking about his latest project, “A Very Royal Scandal,” in which he plays the disgraced Prince Andrew in the days leading up to his “Newsnight” interview with Emily Maitlis, in which he spoke about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
While preparing for the role, Sheen conducted extensive research to understand what it would be like to be a member of royalty, but ultimately decided that he “absolutely” didn't want to be a part of it.
“No. The fairy-tale image of living in a palace and having everything you want and servants and all that seems so extraordinary,” he said. “But the reality seems to be that there are far more restrictions than freedoms. No amount of wealth or property or privilege can compensate for not having the basic freedoms that so many of us take for granted, so I don't want that life.”
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As Sheen prepared to play Prince Andrew in “A Very Royal Scandal,” he realized being a member of the royal family wasn't what he expected. (Hoda D'Avanine/Dave Bennett/Getty Images)
Although this is Sheen's first time playing a royal on screen – he previously played British Prime Minister Tony Blair in two separate productions, 2010's “The Special Relationship” and 2006's “The Queen” – he still has a lot to learn about how the royal family works.
“The reality is that there seem to be far more restrictions than freedoms. No amount of wealth, assets or privilege can compensate for the lack of basic freedoms that many of us take for granted. So I don't want to live that life.”
One of the biggest things he learned was that the royal family and the media have a special relationship with each other, saying: “I had always naively imagined that the media and the royal family were completely separate entities.”
“But then it became clear that there was this negotiation going on between the two institutions, like, 'If you do this, we'll do that, and if you give this interview, we'll cover this up,' and you know, there's deals going on between the institutions all the time and I thought that was very interesting, but I wasn't aware of it. It was a big surprise,” he said.
This relationship with the media is on full display in “A Very Royal Scandal,” the basis for the film's 2019 interview in which Prince Andrew attempted to defend himself against allegations that he had slept with underage girls trafficked by Epstein.
Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview has done more harm than good to his reputation. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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Prince Andrew has often been described as defensive throughout the interview, and at one point said he did not regret forging a friendship with Epstein because the opportunities that arose from it were “actually very beneficial”.
While researching Prince Andrew's life, Sheen watched many other interviews in which the prince took part, but one caught his eye in particular because of a “shocking” laugh that he felt was unusual for a member of the royal family.
“For a royal family that is usually so private and so subdued, it was a moment of intense, shocking emotion, even if it was just a laugh,” he told People magazine, “but there was something so profound about it that it stayed with me.”
Sheen explained that playing Prince Andrew was more difficult than he expected because, although there was a lot of material he could have studied to get a grip on the character, he didn't know what to believe.
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Sheen said he didn't know what to believe when it came to researching for the role of Prince Andrew. (Hoda D'Avante/Dave Bennett/Getty Images, Karwai Tan/WireImage)
“One of the great challenges of playing Prince Andrew, compared to a lot of actors I've played, is that Prince Andrew is like a hall of mirrors,” he said. The Hollywood Reporter In September.
He added: “The royal family keeps a very tight control over what leaks out, so on the one hand you have very staged photos and interviews and personal appearances, and on the other hand you have the gossip and rumours, 'An ex-security guard said…' and you never know what people's intentions are.”
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