Sienna Miller is playing a political wife thrown into the spotlight in Anatomy Of A Scandal, the new Netflix thriller series arriving worldwide on Friday, April 15.
Sienna joins fellow British actor Rupert Friend as the pair play fictional Westminster MP James Whitehouse and his wife Sophie in the political thriller based on the bestselling book by Sarah Vaughan. Their high-profile, privileged marriage is torn to pieces after he’s accused of rape. Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery plays barrister Kate Woodcroft who is hellbent on bringing James to justice.
At a recent Netflix event, Sienna revealed her thoughts on playing Sophie Whitehouse and what she thinks Anatomy Of A Scandal will mean to Netflix audiences...
Sienna Miller on signing up for Anatomy Of A Scandal
Sienna says: "I got sent the scripts and all six episodes came through which can be really overwhelming. I read the first one, then I couldn't stop reading all of them. It instantly felt like something I'd want to make, and something that people really would want to watch. I then had a conversation with director SJ Clarkson as we've been trying to find something to work together on for a long time as I've admired her hugely.
"I just think these sort of six-part dramas are fantastic. I really loved the undoing of this couple and I love the characters involved in the story. I also wanted to be English for once in something!"
What Sienna made of Sophie's situation in Anatomy of A Scandal
"I was excited to kind of play somebody who deals with some not dissimilar things that I've very publicly dealt with over the years and responds to it in very, very different ways.
"I found it interesting to think what would a rational person's response be to some terrible behavior? You're a little bit of a tourist into psychology here, so it just felt weird and uncomfortable."
What was it like to collaborate with Rupert Friend playing Sophie’s accused MP husband James Whitehouse?
“It was obviously a really intense subject matter. And there are versions of somebody playing James that could be really heavy, and Rupert himself is a ridiculously funny person in real life.
"We needed that balance because it was a weird time in the world. It was October 2020, it was full-on COVID then, so we were just so grateful that we got to leave our houses to go out and make something.
"Rupert, honestly, is just brilliant. He's probably one of my favorite people I've ever worked with because he's so good. He's so natural, and he makes everything look so effortless. There's no ego whatsoever with him, which can often sort of eat up the energy on the set. And, and he's very open. So we kind of ended up having really deep conversations about all sorts of things. Working with Rupert was really seamless. I would love to work with him again and again. And we're all really close from our time together on Anatomy Of A Scandal."
What do you think viewers will take away from watching Anatomy Of A Scandal?
“One of the most exciting things about the drama is how it deals with the really, really intense subject matter and understanding there's an accusation of rape, which is something very difficult to prosecute.
"It deals with privilege, in a way that we're seeing unravel daily in our own government. It really is very close to the bone. I think it's really polarising. There are people that have watched Anatomy Of A Scandal and they have different views on what actually happened which is amazing. I hope there are wild arguments across dinner tables about this series. It's complicated, and people feel differently about it. That is how you sort of start to inspire interesting conversations about change. And it's the perfect moment for this kind of drama to come out.”
* Anatomy Of A Scandal is a six-part thriller that arrives as a box set on Netflix in the UK, US and around the world from Friday, April 15 2022.
