‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ Cast on Making the Series, and How They Were Riveted by the Scripts
Netflix recently dropped all six episodes of the latest creation by David E. Kelly (Big Little Lies, The Undoing).
Titled Anatomy of a Scandal, directed by S.J. Clarkson, and created and written by Kelly and Melissa James Gibson, the show follows the life of British politician James Whitehouse, played by Rupert Friend, as his extra-marital affair becomes a national scandal once her co-worker, played by Naomi Scott, accuses him of rape. The cast is rounded up with Michelle Dockery, who plays the prosecutor of the case, and Sienna Miller, who plays Friend’s on-screen wife.
The cast had the chance to talk to The Wrap about the process of making the show, as well as their excitement over finally letting the public see Anatomy of a Scandal. Dockery said:
“We were all given all six scripts to begin with, so we got to see the entire story and we read, some of us, well, most of us by the sounds of it, all read the book so that we have a sort of source of where the story came from. I am a very big David E. Kelley fan and so I was really excited when I when I got this script and … these stories he does, he does so well at executing them.
These stories of these seemingly perfect lives exploding into chaos is really entertaining. I think people really love seeing that. There seems to be a sort of trend for it. And of course, the show tackles some really, really tough issues. And I think it’s entertaining, but it’s also really informative and potentially creates conversation. And so, to be part of something like that, all of the ingredients really were there for me, it was it was a no brainer to jump on board.”
Rupert Friend commented that, once he got all six scripts, he “just inhaled” them, as they were “addictive in the way that” they hope the show will be felt like by audiences. In another small exchange with Hey U Guys at the premiere, Friend also went on to discuss what attracted him to playing such a despicable role:
“[S. J. Clarkson] is one of the most intelligent, passionate, well-read directors I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. She spoke to me over Zoom during the pandemic for… I’m gonna say hours, cause it was. We started to dive into why make this? Why portray such an odious man who does such hideous things? Why explore privilege? Why explore entitlement? What is the relevance?
And we decided that actually, and I think we’re seeing that at the moment, that entitlement, that privileged elitism, that cronyism is more in the news than it ever has been. And the way we understand as storytellers a theme, is to step into the shoes of the guys and girls. And that’s what we did. I won’t say it was the most joyful headspace to be in, but it was an incredibly joyful cast and crew, led by, as I say, the absolutely wonderful S. J. Clarkson.”
The show features a lot of courtroom scenes in which the setting and the procedure are slightly different from what audiences are accustomed to seeing on American television. Sienna Miller explained this to The Wrap:
“Our legal system was founded hundreds of years ago so there is this kind of archaic aspect to it that I find really interesting. It’s sort of riveting the pomp and ceremony are really very much unchanged since its inception.”
Friend added:
“There’s a theater about it. If you think about sort of classical images of London for tourists, you’ve got Beefeaters and changing of the guard, who don’t actually guard, you know. They don’t actually kind of fight anything. That’s more of the dress and the hat and the horse and all that and I feel like elements of the legal system here have that about them. There is the symbolism of the wig and there is, you know, these ceremonies, the pomp and circumstance as Sienna said which give it … yeah, kind of theatrical air.”
Anatomy of a Scandal also featured some storytelling techniques that helped the present and the past feel like part of the same moment in time. Naomi Scott said the following about the directing choices by S.J. Clarkson for those transitions:
“Something that was interesting was S.J.’s use of transitional flashbacks and kind of going from one moment and saying a line in the past that you’re saying in the present in the courtroom.
It’s a really good tool, I think, and a really interesting cinematic choice that I think really pays off.”
Anatomy of a Scandal is currently streaming on Netflix. You can check out our complete review of the series here.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
