To play Prince Andrew without having him on board was the challenge Michael Sheen faced during the making of A Very Royal Scandal.

The mini-series is based on the disgraced prince's well-publicized interview with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis, which was called, "nuclear level explosion bad," according to Washington Post.

So, to play the Duke of York, the Twilight actor went back into his heydays and took a sharp look at his photos of that time to understand him and get into his character.

At the screening of the series in London, the 55-year-old said, “Whenever I’ve played a character based on a real-life person, first and foremost, I’m looking for where’s the point of connection? What’s the thing that hooks me in?” 

"It was the footage of Andrew when he came back from the Falklands on the dockside with the rose in his mouth - that’s about as good a moment as you’re ever going to get," he continued.

Those images, Michael said, gave him an insight into who Andrew was at the time. “You’re the brave, conquering, hero returning. You’re really fit! Really hot! And everyone thinks you’re great. And it was sort of downhill from there, wasn’t it. That journey was my hook in.”

A Very Royal Scandal will air on Amazon Prime on 19 September.