Hugh Grant has responded to claims that he will play Prince Andrew in an upcoming film.

Earlier this week, Deadline reported that a film about the Duke of York’s explosive 2019 interview about his past friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is in the works.

The outlet claimed Grant was ‘one of the unconfirmed names’ on a ‘wish list’ to play the disgraced prince, but the actor has now spoken out and revealed it was the first time he heard about it.

Speaking to The Independent, Grant denied claims he was on a shortlist for the film and said: “I heard about it.”

The film, titled Scoop, is created by screenwriter Peter Moffat and producer Hilary Salmon. The duo say casting for Deadline has yet to begin: “We, of course, have thoughts,” Salmon said, but revealed that “no one is attached.”

The film is set to begin production later this year in November.

Scoop will be based largely on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews and will focus on the infamous Newsnight 2019 interview where Prince Andrew discussed his friendship with Epstein.

The film will also show the behind-the-scenes negotiations to secure the explosive interview with Moffat describing it as a “very exciting drama”.

In November 2019, after years of headlines about Prince Andrew’s close ties to the convicted paedophile, the royal agreed to sit down with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis to answer questions about their relationship.

He also used the interview to deny accusations that he had sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts-Giuffre.

Although there were many shocking moments during the 49-minute interview, the Duke said he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Giuffre and said his claims that he “sweated profusely” during their time together couldn’t be true. as he has “a particular medical condition which is that I don’t sweat…it was almost impossible for me to sweat”.

The moment has since been widely ridiculed.

Since the shocking interview, Prince Andrew has settled his civil case with Giuffre and been stripped of his royal titles, but he still continues to maintain his innocence.